By Joe Bastardi
Severe impacts to East Coast beaches (in addition to the habitat of whales) are threatened by the wind turbines being put up off the east coast. I asked here:
https://www.cfact.org/2024/03/12/where-are-the-true-environmentalists
Where are the true environmentalists with what is going on?
A wind turbine that collapsed closed Nantucket Beaches recently. They are open now, but what makes anyone think the numerous bits and pieces of this are not floating around? Perhaps washing on shore leading to problems with people not only with swimming but also with even walking on the beach?
There has been no strong storm around. So what caused this?
But now let me ask this question as if this is being ignored. If this happens with nothing going on, what do you think will happen if a storm like 1821 runs through these wind fields?
or 1944 comes back
or Carol 1954
Donna 1960
Belle 1976
Gloria 1985
Bob, the last one in 1991.
In a typical two-faced fashion, the people driving the whole climate disaster scenario are also pushing wind turbines in an area where you are asking for trouble. This hurricane drought on the NE coast can’t last forever (nothing in 33 years, when it was once every 7 years from 1938-1991). We hear how bad it is. It’s not, but a return to the “normalcy” that was the East Coast hurricane frequency (of course, if that happens, they will blame man-made climate change) means they have set up a disaster. Suppose 10-15% of the turbines are damaged by a cat 2 going through there. The cleanup of the resort beaches will be in the billions. Given the motives of these people that drive the man-made climate agenda, maybe that is what they want. They pump everything as a result of man-made climate change. A recent WSJ article on how the eastern heat is causing billions in uninsured losses fails to mention the counter. When it gets hot, more people go to the beach, and the resorts prosper. Of course, if wind turbine parts are washing up on shore, who wants to go to the beach? My point is in every single thing the left does, from climate to what you are seeing now across the board, they set the whole thing up with deception, distortion, and delusion, create the problem, and then blame something they are targeting for it.
This is no difference. And it’s a fiasco in the making.
I guess if one of these washed up in Barack Obama’s place on Martha’s Vineyard, it would get his attention—no paddle-boarding for a while (sarc).
Discover more from Watts Up With That?
Subscribe to get the latest posts sent to your email.
The first question to ask any wind energy promoter is – What is the extent of the available resource you are harvesting? Second question – How much of the resource can you harvest before you create seriously detrimental climatic effects?
Most wind energy harvesters honestly believe that the wind resource is unlimited. Yet no one knows how long it took to develop the wind energy.
There are going to be huge environment impact with coastal air stilling if jurisdictions continue to pay China to burn coal to make wind stillers and those stillers are festooned along coastlines.
Just like any story about the Democrat Frontrunner any story about Kampala Harris should say Border Czar Kampala Harris…
Any story about Wind Turbine should be Wind Turbine Fiasco
Just realized my Autocorrect changed Kamala to Kampala
Lets go Brenda
Don’t forget “Superstorm Sandy”
Joe Baloney is an El Nino Nutter who thinks all climate change is caused by El Ninos. BeNasty2000 would love his typical articles.
This article brings up potential problems with offshore windmills but resorts to idle speculation:
“Suppose 10-15% of the turbines are damaged by a cat 2 going through”
Joe Baloney
Suppose we examine all available data for offshore windmills to determine how safe they are?
When wind speeds surpass a modern utility-scale turbine’s rated wind speed, the blades begin to feather, or point into the wind to reduce their surface area. In some instances, although not common, the blades can even be locked down to ride out severe gusts.
The taller the turbine, the more epic the tumble. Turbine failures are on the uptick across the world, sometimes with blades falling off or even full turbine collapses. A recent report says production issues may be to blame for the mysterious increase in failures.
And those problems are not including hurricanes … that can only make the existing problems worse. I could not find any data on whether offshore windmills actually surviving a hurricane.
But I did read false claims by climate alarmists that offshore windmills have a lifespan of 30 years Also speculation not based on data.
All windmills and solar panels are a waste of money because grid reliability is important.
One windmill blade breaking apart is not sufficient to demonize all offshore windmills.
That would be similar to using Three Mile Island to demonize the US nuclear power industry.
Who are “we”?
Good question as it pertains to the apparently dual personality “Richard Greene” commenter account, which has put on its anti-skeptic pro-Greenpeace hat today. Would be nice if the person(s) running the account would pick a side and stick with it. The account holder(s) has … shall we say …. issues. More here, paragraph 2.
Perhaps a few of the larger models should be commissioned in a hurricane zone so there is some practical experience on survivability. Considering that wind power rises as the cube of wind speed I am not optimistic.
RG is a clueless anti-science twit, with zero credibility.
Still can’t show any warming in the UAH data that isn’t cause by El Ninos.
Still can’t provide a single bit of empirical scientific evidence for warming by atmospheric CO2.
Joe Bastardi is absolutely correct, and RG has zero scientific counter… just his usual mindless blethering.
You are the right commenter to name others Baloney 😀
Again you lead off with insults. That is a shame since you do make some good points.
However, claiming something is idle speculation is an error. The whole climate syndicate is based on idle speculation not based on data.
In this specific case, it was a scenario, presented to foster critical thinking.
Note: Your speculations on feathering or locking blades is no less idle speculation of 10-15% damaged turbines.
The one point missed is the supposed increase in violent storms, including hurricanes, based on media hysteria over incremental increases in CO2.
Yes, one windmill blade breaking is not sufficient to reach any conclusions, but it does combine with many other factors (grid reliability being one of the foremost) to lead to real concern in the directions being taken.
Story Tip
Windmills as Health Risk
Due to carcinogenic ‘nasty fibres’, which are about as ‘nice’ as asbestos–media is mostly silent, ‘experts™’ deny problems, and the ‘green™’ shift provides a perverse incentive
I think you meant …and the ‘green™’ grift provides a perverse incentive.
??
Change “shift” to “grift”.
As it’s a citation I change nothing….
Beside hurricanes, nor’easters are also a threat to the windmills in the New England region in
winter.
Wiki has list of major nor’easters that begins 1888 which describes their power and destruction.
hmmm…. ice buildup on the blades in a nor’easter? Should be a big problem.
They can send a helicopter out with de-ice fluid and take care of the problem.
Sure, but… when there’s hundreds or thousands of wind turbines- and if the ice is thick, it won’t be easy. They’ll be shut down for many hours- and they won’t be able to begin that clean up until the storm has passed. If it’s a severe storm (like we’re told will be common)- the airport might also be not functioning for some time, so the ‘copter won’t be up quickly.
And what about the pollution from the deice fluid???? Not to mention all the fossil fuels for the helicopters.
(I assume you were being sarcastic)
“And what about the pollution from the deice fluid?”
Environmentalists don’t care about that sort of thing any more.
Gotta have wind turbines.. regardless of the utter destruction of wildlife. !!
When they are all inoperable smashed or BER in 10 years time no one will build any more.
My point is in every single thing the left does, from climate to what you are seeing now across the board, they set the whole thing up with deception, distortion, and delusion, create the problem, and then blame something they are targeting for it.
It’s them nasty exploiting retailers and nothing to do with the rollout of fickles-
Bill shock: Energy retailers have a nasty surprise with smart meters and time of use tariffs | RenewEconomy
We really have to do better than this.
Leftys don’t do irony
I expect that if a major storm destroyed a large number of offshore windmills is that we will be told that it would have been much worse if we hadn’t put up the windmills to reduce CO2 emissions. We’re told that CO2 makes for stormier storms (as well as drought-ier droughts and flood-ier floods) so obviously the windmills made the storm less strong than it otherwise would have been.
I can hardly wait for a good storm to destroy these things.
The free real estate hides the maintenance costs and transmission line repairs for the first couple of years. But aren’t there enough of these things now to show real numbers ?
Build enough windmills, there won’t be any more hurricanes!
Until we build enough, just “reverse the polarity” and blow them back out to sea!
Ah yes, the Barbarella solution!
Nice Joe. This is a good reason to reconsider off shore wind energy. The most important reason to abandon wind is because it isn’t suited to the grid, it is expensive, it has a huge foot print, it is intermittent, it is an animal killer, it is ugly and it isn’t recyclable there for it is not sustainable.
Well, the broken blades might grind up, eventually, into an odd type of beach sand.
I remember reading about a beach somewhere where the bay, some years ago, collected a lot of broken glass bottles.
Time wore off the sharp edges. Now it’s just “colorful”.
(Maybe if they infused colors into the fiberglass blade …)
What level of stupidity is required by voters to subsidize putting this trash in harms way when it does nothing positive for the environment and only makes electricity more expensive?
“My point is in every single thing the left does, from climate to what you are seeing now across the board, they set the whole thing up with deception, distortion, and delusion, create the problem, and then blame something they are targeting for it”.
About as good a summation of leftists that I have seen. Attempting to have discussions with true believers is pretty much pointless. They have been thoroughly brainwashed and will likely never be convinced even when the grid ultimately collapses due to over reliance on unreliables.
“I guess if one of these washed up in Barack Obama’s place on Martha’s Vineyard,” It would get Federal Disaster Relief and the Army Corps of Engineers to make things right.