The number-one challenge
of our times is to separate the wheat from the chaff. To assist
in this task, we are blessed with more information than ever before – but we
are also simultaneously burdened with more misinformation than any prior
generation has ever had to deal with. We look back and wonder how
trusting citizens were so easily victimized by snake oil salesmen, but today,
in the golden age of cons, we are being duped on a daily basis.
As a representative matter (and a national
issue of great significance), let's look at what's happening with industrial
wind energy.
The primary reason why wind energy has
been a success has nothing to do with wind
energy! Instead, its success is 100% due to the fact that wind
energy proponents are masterful lobbyists. If one reads The
Business of America Is Lobbying, it's apparent that the wind industry has
used every trick in the book, and then written some of its own.
For
example: Wind lobbyists have
successfully infiltrated our language with totally inaccurate and misleading
terminology, such as "wind farms" and "clean
energy." Neither exists.
For
example: Wind marketers have
successfully portrayed their product as "Free, Clean, and Green" –
despite it being none of those. The reason they have coined these
malapropisms is simple: those who control the words control the
narrative.
For
example: Wind salespeople have
successfully convinced financially distressed communities that hosting a wind
project will be a economic windfall – even though numerous studies from
independent experts indicate that the net local economic impact could well be
negative.
For
example: Wind-peddlers have
successfully sold technically challenged local representatives that the
wind-developer is their friend and business partner – even though these
sophisticated and aggressive entrepreneurs typically look at these rural people
as rubes and marks, and their number-one focus is to make as much money as
possible, at the rubes' expense.
For
example: Wind developers have
successfully persuaded much of the public that wind energy is an inevitable
matter, so fighting it is a lost cause. The reality is that in many
cases, local communities can effectively defend themselves by simply passing a
proper wind ordinance.
For
example: Wind-supporters have
successfully imparted the belief that a certain wind project will power 20,000
homes – even though that project will not actually power a single home
24/7/365.
For
example: Wind advocates employ a
sleight-of-hand tactic to dismiss noise complaints by claiming that "wind
turbines don't make any more noise than a refrigerator." The
fact is that the main acoustical concern with wind turbines is the infrasound
generated (which is below our level of hearing). So discussing theaudible part
of turbine noise purposefully distracts from the serious inaudible(but
still very much experienced) noise issue.
For
example: Wind propagandists say that
wind energy is saving the environment – even though the evidence indicates that
it is environmentally destructive on multiple fronts.
For
example: Wind-promoters have
successfully conveyed the idea that wind energy is a low-cost option of
electricity – even though when all its costs are fully
accounted for, wind energy can be three to five times as expensive as
traditional electricity sources.
For
example: Wind advocates have
successfully communicated the notion that using more wind will directly result
in the closure of coal plants – even though 10,000 wind turbines could never
equal the performance of even a single coal facility.
For
example: Wind-boosters have
successfully disseminated the impression that wind is a major and essential
contributor to preventing climate change – even though there is no empirical
scientific proof that wind energy saves any consequential CO2.
For
example: Wind champions have
successfully relayed the conviction that the DoD Clearinghouse assures us that
wind projects will not adversely affect the mission or operational readiness of
our military or our national security – even though the DoD Clearinghouse was
set up to accommodate wind energy (not the military), and the actual process is
much more about promoting political correctness than protecting our national
defense.
I
could go on and on, as the list of wind lobbyists' deceptions is distressingly
long. That said, there is an additional major falsehood that needs
to be exposed:that there is such a thing as wind energy by itself. This
seemingly innocuous deceit is actually extraordinarily important.
The
fact is that there is no such animal on the grid as wind energy by
itself. What actually typically exists is a "Wind+Gas"
package. This is mandated by the inescapable reality of wind
energy's unrelentingly unpredictable and uncontrollable output. No
conventional source of electrical energy has these characteristics, so none
need this special augmentation.
The
importance of understanding this reality is that when we are talking about wind
energy economics or environmental consequences, the only truthful analysis is
objectively and comprehensively looking at the results of the Wind+Gas
package.*
For
example, it should be apparent that wind
energy (i.e., the Wind+Gas package) is not a CO2
zero-emitter. In fact, due to other technicalities (never
acknowledged by wind lobbyists) some studies have concluded that gas (combined
cycle) by itself produces less CO2 than the Wind+Gas package.
Let
me restate that extraordinary finding: gas can produce less CO2 than
wind energy does!
Is
the success of wind energy due to the sophistication of the con artists they've
engaged or to our gullibility? In either case, the takeaway is that
lobbyists are not reliable sources of information, especially when it involves
significant money, our health, or our national security. The bottom
line is that wind energy is palliative pabulum, not suitable for prime time.
*Some
sample studies and reports about the Wind+Gas package: one, two, three,four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten and eleven.
