Wind farms to be barred

Gov. Martin O'Malley plans to announce today that his administration will prohibit the construction of wind turbines in Maryland's state forests and parks, according to administration sources.

[consertative]

maybe the windfarms should bar yo'amlley in maryland. now that would be a winning idea.

[Lindberg]

You have got to be kidding me. We should be doing everything to promote clean energy. Maybe we will Waite until electricity cost $1000.00 a month before we do anything. There must not be any money in this for someone! I am looking for a new state to call home!

[wondering]

Its interesting that the wind farms aren't approved yet there's quite a bit of logging going on in the very same area.
Have to agree with the poster named Lindberg. We do need to be thinking about other ways to generate energy.

[not in my backyard]

BGE is bad
We need alternative fuels
Opps, not in my backyard (see also Kennedy's, windfarms and Cape Cod)

[MDR]

Put the windfarms in Annapolis; there's enough hot ait to drive the turbines for centuries..............

[falling circulation]

So what is the Statue of Limitations for blaming Governor Ehrlich? I realize most, if not all of the Sun staff get a mushy and gooogly eyed when MOM makes a speech or a rare public appearence (as anyone notice he doesn't mingle with us common folk any more?) but it's getting a bit ridiculous.

Wait, I see you are just preparing for when Ehrlich runs in 2010 against you beloved boy gov. Well good luck with that plan by then your readership will be below 190,000 (avg 4% fall for the next 3 years) but hey it's just because everyone is reading online and nothing to do with your content. Besides your staff won't losing their jobs or cuts in pay. MOM will take of them

[Dave]

just another part of the vast oil company conspiracy. you see the oil companies have bought up all the patents for alternative fuel devices and will slowly be releasing them for thier benefit as we get tired of paying for expensive fossil fuel. you will see

[Scott G]

As an adament MOM hater, I have to back O'Malley on this. There would have been someone making a killing off of this, thats sure, the power company. Leasing public land at a discount rate Im sure. As for those claiming climate and environment, has anyone checked to see what is more efficient? The trees absorbing CO2 (global warming) gasses, or the wind turbines replacing them? Let them build on private land, where the property owner can see if its a good deal or not, not on public, where you have some bureucrat deciding whats a fair lease price, with the promise of a lucrative job with the company once he leaves office. Unless I totally missed it, I did not read where the wind farms are in the other states, private or public. I dont mind as much as in public prairie lands, but cutting down trees to put up wind turbines is stupid. Cutting off your nose to spite your face of sorts. Let them put them up off the coast. I dont mind seeing them from the beach. One question I have though, who will be responsible for the dismantling of said turbines when the lease would run out? Or if the company goes under and they go into disrepair because of another energy break through not yet foreseen? Wind turbines have a place, but not in State forests. This company was trying to stick the Maryland residents a shaft so it could get a sweetheart deal.

[ann]

Gee, no surprise here. Typical Maryland type response to anything that might be innovative or in anyway useful to Joe B Taxpayer. As usual they're more interested in sampling and consuming Smith Island Cake (what a crock) What a pile of self-serving gas bags.

[foggylong]

I think it's pretty funny they want to put them in the state forests. Preservation of forests and wildlife habitats is also a factor in taking better care of our planet. Why is it they can't find better alternatives, like on full dump sites or contaminated lands sites, there are multiple other possibilities.

[Ann]

Wind farms: Energy supply or security threat?- It is not very reassuring to learn that an enemy or hijacked aircraft could escape detection if it enters over airspace over a wind farm. NATO has begun investigating British findings that wind farms make overflying planes invisible to radar. The US has been attending tests by Britain's Air Warfare Center after it made surprise discovery that the energy plants create blind spots in air defense. Better not put them off the coast of Ocean City!!

[Scott G]

ann wrote:

Gee, no surprise here. Typical Maryland type response to anything that might be innovative or in anyway useful to Joe B Taxpayer. As usual they're more interested in sampling and consuming Smith Island Cake (what a crock) What a pile of self-serving gas bags.

I fail to see how it is useful to Joe B Taxpayer. The taxpayer would lose a nature park, and it would lose the local benefits of a resource proven to absorb CO2/global warming gasses, in return for granting a private company a sweet heart lease deal that would give MD a pittance in return for energy they would sell elsewhere. With the way the energy market was stupidly set up, that electricity generated could go anywhere, and would not eleviate the electric bill in MD. MD would have gained nothing by allowing this, and the global warming people would lose too. Plenty of areas to build wind farms that dont have trees. They can build them on the farm behind my house, that would not bother me.

[Scott G]

Ann wrote:

Wind farms: Energy supply or security threat?- It is not very reassuring to learn that an enemy or hijacked aircraft could escape detection if it enters over airspace over a wind farm. NATO has begun investigating British findings that wind farms make overflying planes invisible to radar. The US has been attending tests by Britain's Air Warfare Center after it made surprise discovery that the energy plants create blind spots in air defense. Better not put them off the coast of Ocean City!!

Thats interesting, I had not heard that, would be an interesting twist. But off the coast of OC still not a danger, they would be picked up before and after they enter the zone. Amazing how all of this new technology creates as many problems as it "solves". Evidence from British scientists are also showing evidence that cell phone towers are the likely culprit to the disappearing bee populations. Which will lead to a rise in food prices as the bees do the pollination. It appears the waves sent out by the towers disrupt with the bees homing signals, get lost, and die.

[Cal35]

The people have to make a choice between being energy hogs (using electricity to do everything from cool the house to rake leaves and heat pools, open cans, light their yards from sundown to sunup etc) AND having to spare some sightlines for the right to be 'power hogs' or they might consider using far less energy (who really needs outdoor lighting from sundown to sunrise or leaf blowers--get out and rake or sweep-it's a great aerobic activity and does not use electricity!)...and perhaps keeping those valued sightlines on mountain tops. Even we 'environmentalists just love to hog power. something's got to give.

[kenny]

They b*tch about coal, b*tch about oil, b*tch about nuclear, now they cant even agree on a clean energy scource like wind. Screw 'em all. this just goes to show that some people don't want a fix, they will have nothing to cry about. Gotta keep the agenda alive.

[Anonymous]

This is great for my current events article on the enviroment!

[Anonymous]

yhil

[MikeWall]

Boy the Republican liars will say anything - regardless of the truth!- The only reason they want to destroy our public lands is so they can continute to make obscene profits off of the backs of the working people - there is no statute of limitations on blaming that a****** Ehrlich - he and his ilk are, and will remain responsible for most of the ills our state faces now!

[Jim]

What a shameless hit on Bob Ehrlich! I mean if they weren't then what they have called O'Malley's shady land deals like the Kudner Farm deal...you know, the deal where he sold a bunch of state land at 1/4 of the price to a politically connected-developer (the irony being Bob Ehrlich never sold any of the land to politically-connected developers, he only explored it as a revenue generating measure). They must be worried about Bob Ehrlich making a comeback. After Martin O'Malley pushed the largest tax hike in Maryland history and after Martin O'Malley's hand-picked PSC rubber-stamped the massive BGE rate hikes, I can understand why!

[Scott G]

MikeWall wrote:

Boy the Republican liars will say anything - regardless of the truth!- The only reason they want to destroy our public lands is so they can continute to make obscene profits off of the backs of the working people - there is no statute of limitations on blaming that a****** Ehrlich - he and his ilk are, and will remain responsible for most of the ills our state faces now!

Thats kind of an absurd comment, considering, Ehrlich as a Rep Governor, this state has been ruled by a Democratic legislature for 40-50 yrs. He did not pass anything the Democratic controlled Senate and House (by VAST margins) did not allow. Your statement was just completely ignorant.