In Episode 20 of @cfact’s Conservation Nation video series, host @GabriellaHoffman returns to the Wild West to investigate 20+ proposed wind projects in southern Wyoming. Tune in to learn about the environmental trade offs to onshore wind and how to preserve the Western way of life.
Filmed/shot by @itsmadisonhughes
WildWest #windpower #onshorewind
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City people want and need the power but country folk are forced to supply the acreage. Smallest footprint common sense would tell you it’s nuclear gas or coal. The left over acreage can be used to grow your food!
What do the Indigenous People think of the Windustrialization of their ancestors homeland or the White Mans Towers of Hubris?
“Save the Wild West from Wind Industrialization”
Perplexity tells me that 745 sq km of Wyoming has been dug up for coal mining. That is pretty major.
And it can be restored. Whacha gonna do with dead wind turbines?
I suppose they could be recycled, but my question would be, whacha gonna do with the dead avian wildlife?
Components of the generator can be recycled…but are they?
The mast is steel and can be recycled…but is it?
The generator nacelle is steel and can be recycled …but is it?
The blades are fiberglass with an epoxy resin coating and will sit in landfill until well after the next asteroid caused extinction.
Those 900 sq yd concrete foundation footings will also remain in the ground essentially forever.
The nacelle is fiberglass too.
EEEEYIKES even more long-term lightweight composite trash every 20 years
“can be”, but won’t be. Shirking these obligations is an American Tradition. It’s too late to get the polluters to cleanup after coal, gold, copper. But we need to force escrow on the 12 $ figures worth of shirked and to be shirked US oil and gas retirement obligations. Want a “level playing field”? This comes first.
OTOH, the value in wind farms is over the site, not under it. Yes, poorly sited projects should be forced to retire/restore, and ALL power sources, extractive or no, should be made to insure/lockbox for those obligations in advance. But, until you have real long term nuc storage and a plethora of SMR’s, well sited locations will be constantly upgrading and (unlike private land oil and gas fields, paying rent) and cleaning up on the fly. It’s in their self interest to do so…
BOB, coal mines are restored on the fly. Please read my response to Nick. I have been in coal mines. They restore during active mining. While mining is still going on the wildlife has returned to reclaimed portions of the minesite
Now I have read the submissions of the wind plant developers, and they are filled with inconsistencies about how they plant to restore 20 years down the road — one that I read had a budget of $57,000 per wind turbine to decommission, but were promising to completely dismantle the project. Now tell me who is the shirker here?
The applications tell fibs by omission, extract only the helpful parts of EIAs or EAs, and clamin all sorts of things they don’t know. Oh, and they promise new football uniforms for the local high school too.
“BOB, coal mines are restored on the fly.”
In your dreams.
https://www.mining.com/top-miners-reclamation-obligations-could-surpass-industrys-total-debt-by-2033/
“Environmental reclamation and site restoration costs for 24 major mining companies reached $72 billion in 2023, up from $40 billion in 2013.”
My youngest bro, the EPA On Scene Co-Ordinator, when not directing all LA fire haz waste identification/clean up activities, spends loads of time assessing abandoned coal mines. Both under fed auspices and as a called in authority.
“Now I have read the submissions of…”
Read for comprehension. ALL of these obligations should be fairly assessed and escrowed. A good example is the old Tehachapi wind farm (I paraglided there, so I know about it 1st. hand). They were poorly sited, and the machines were not economic. That asset retirement should have been escrowed in advance and AFAIK, they are still an eyesore.
Those problems pale against the systemic business plans of oil and gas producers. Here’s how they do:
“
When you “clean up” all the hazmat stuff, where do you put it? Isn’t an equal volume of hazmat “clean up” required to be placed somewhere? Why isn’t that area now classified as “dirty” and require “environmental site reclamation” and why don’t we care about that?
Does your ultimate plan for “clean up” include blasting it off the face of the earth in rockets never to return to pollute again? If not, why not?
“When you “clean up” all the hazmat stuff, where do you put it?”
Good question. I understand that some can go to special dumps. Lots is incinerated in special processes. The evaluation process is YUGE. My bro mustered over 700 EPA employees and vendors at 6AM and again at 8PM every day in a parking lot. By the time he was relieved last week he had a map with tens of thousands of burnt cars, houses appliances, factories, etc. pinned. If you lit on any one pin, it had a pickup plan, and a preliminary disposal plan.
As for the rest of your post, wut?
How many cities and subdivisions are there in the US?
What’s your plan to “reclaim” all those areas?
Again, wut? If you are referencing my brother’s work in LA, that could go many ways. More barrier areas, with haz waste left in place (already done with asbestos). Ground scraping/incineration, as we did 35 years ago with oil Unocal oil lines that leaked under houses. LA obviously needs new rules for frontier area development.
The EPA will work with state, county, local to co-ordinate haz waste disposal and redevelopment. They just need Musk’s back pack Poindexters to stay the If You See Kay away…
Lots of coal mines in LA, are there?
Kevin is exactly right. Modern operating coal mines are reclaimed on-the-fly and the reclamation is inherent to the process. In most cases the grasslands that result are healthier and more productive than what existed prior to mining.
Paint them Green?
Total area of WY is 253,335 sq km. And as Scarecrow says, it can be restored.
All areas on the face of the earth subduct underground eventually. Think of it as a self cleaning operation that’s free.
Patience is what is lacking with all environmental restoration ideas.
745 sq km of Wyoming is less than 1% of the land area for the state. As noted in the first response a lot of that land has been restored. What towers do exist in that area are for cell phones.
*snort* Maybe Nick can start a company repurposing worn-out wind turbines for cell towers.
“745 sq km of Wyoming is less than 1% of the land area for the state.”
0.30% if the math I did on my calculator is correct (rounded up). Not worth kicking up a fuss about.
I would have been surprised if Nick actually did the math himself. It would have made his comment above essentially pointless. I still wonder why he keeps coming to this blog and posting deceitful and misleading comments like the one above.
Who is paying you Nick? Who do you work for? What do you expect to accomplish at this blog with your trolling?
Spoken by a person who has not observed a coal mine in action. Nick, a coal mine is a scar that moves across the ground that is but a few miles long and a few wide. Ground is reclaimed behind as you go — they move overburden laterally to reclaim ground behind, replace topsoil, seed and that is that. They don’t get paid a dime for dirt that doesn’t have to be moved. Within a couple of years the pronghorn, deer, and raptors are back living their best lives. They even replace rock outcrops that are cover for rabbits, coyotes, etc.
I’ve been in many coal mines in Wyoming and Colorado. Brownfields they are not.
And even more coal and other mining is required to produce wind turbines and solar panels. https://media4.manhattan-institute.org/sites/default/files/mines-minerals-green-energy-reality-checkMM.pdf
How many defunct strip mining sites in the US have not been restored?
(Sure, a tree that was removed isn’t preserved and replanted. But other trees have been planted to take it’s place.)
And there are coal mines that never did strip mining.
“How many defunct strip mining sites in the US have not been restored?”
I used your question as search terms First response:
https://www.blm.gov/programs/aml-environmental-cleanup/aml
“As many as half a million abandoned mines are believed to exist, and the location of many more is still unknown. Usually, sites have no signage at all to warn people about their presence or their dangers.”
Easy….
Half a million strip mines?
Almost every mine is a haz waste source. Do you deny the number?
And how many are nothing more than glory holes?
Cheyenne is much too close, just down the road, to the Polis rot in CO.
CO in the ’70s was a beautiful Western state. It’s long since been ruined by an influx of Californians. The gang of four (Polis, Stryker, Bridges, Gill) have spoiled that previously beautiful state.
Seems like WY is next unless the natives fight back. There is hope w/Congresswoman Hageman.
And yes, this is about politics, influence and corruption, not about climate. Windy mills and solar have nothing to do with climate, only subsidy harvesting.
Just wait for Gruesome Newsome to run in 2028. He will most certainly, if elected, try to Californicate the other 49…welcome to the United.States of California.
California taxes
California gas prices
California wokeness
California emission standards
California EV mandates
For all 50 states if Newsome runs and wins.
Sadly that rot has already infected WA and OR, mostly the Western strip of both. There are glimmers of hope, but in states where all three branches are Demo, the decay increases and accelerates.
U-Haul thanks Newsom for being their best salesman for escapees from Cali.
But U-haul also curses him as those Rentals are generally One Way so the Trucks aren’t returned to the rental location. U-haul must hire people to drive them back.
Just like the Dems via Obama and Biden have Californicated the USEPA.
The author ought to do a study of windmills and solar in Oklahoma.
Oklahomans are not happy with windmills and solar.
The Oklahoma legislature is putting forward bills to ban windmills and solar.
One new proposed law would give the landowner the choice as to whether a windmill can be installed on their land. If they don’t want one, they don’t have to put up with one.
Lots of pushback to windmills and solar in Oklahoma.
Once the major political figures in the state began talking about their “all of the above” energy strategy, which they thought sounded smart, they were helpless to hold the line on Wind Turbines. It is stupid to think that all energy sources are just interchangeable parts. You need 100 acres per MW nameplate for wind. 640 arces can host an entire 400 MW — dispatchable — coal plant.
Wind plants will never replace lost jobs, government revenue, nor reliability and price of coal-fired power. Wyoming supplies around 10% of US48 power. To do that with wind and solar requires waaay more Wyoming than there are Wyomings available.
I wrote about the problems of wind plants in “Wind Turbines out West”, Parts I, II and the epilog. Here is the Epilog which has links to the others.
If windmills are such a great idea why are they not being put on buildings in cities? Ya know? Where the electricity is needed?
As it turns out, not seeing windmills is a political advantage to people who desire windmills.
No, they’re supposed to plaster solar panels over every roof. I live in a large city, and just today I got an email saying that I may be eligible for financial assistance for putting solar panels on my roof…no, I want the sun to heat the house, cutting back on heating bills, thank you…
It’s too late for NM and states in the way for transmission lines to reach CA.
Take away the government interference and this whole stinking mess goes away.