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Monday, January 25, 2010

Breaking Wind

    This blog title needs some clarification. It is not about what you may think, however, it is about windy things. The rhetorical winds emanating from our nations capitol have elevated to hurricane force as our elected officials trudge forward with never before seen spending adventure. While this is going on, states like California and NY drift toward bankruptcy. Climate change fanatics and cap and trade believers seem to be interested in tightening the choke hold on the general working public. Polls show most Americans do not

agree with the direction of our political wind blowers, yet the bloviators simply will not listen, as they continue to print more money and then spend it. 

    The volcanic eruption of spending proposals does not however find its way to the NYS Bureau of Fisheries as fishery budgets are curtailed and new hires and needed programs are in the strangle hold of belt tightening situations. Things are tough and our fishery people must do more with less. So far we have made do with less and that is solely because of our dedicated fishery personnel. We are lucky to have such a committed fishery staff running our programs.

    The latest winds in the lake area are being fueled by the recently announced preliminary plans to erect hundreds of wind turbines along the shoreline of Lake Ontario. Now when I say shore line I am talking about following the shore line but actually building the huge generating structures off shore, right in the middle of a major bird flyway and smack dab on top of fish spawning grounds. Remember the wind turbine farm that Senator Kennedy did not want built within his view from his Hyannis home, well how do you feel about dumping the tri blade behemoths into Mexico Bay? We are talking about hundreds of turbines.

    Ah yes, green energy, doesn't that make you feel good? The truth is that the turbines are very inefficient power generators, as they work on average only about 30 percent of the time according to a blog article by Margaret Collins titled "Environmentalists Need o Rethink Wind Energy". The video attached to this blog shows some recent fierce December winds blowing across Lake Ontario. This is great for generating wind power, right? Not so fast sports fans, wind turbines would be shut down during this kind of weather. Too much wind such as this would damage the turbines.

    Oh well, it is just another chapter in the book of pipe dream energy solutions. It is green energy alright as the green equates the dollars that will be reaped by the developers. We have 3 nuclear plants in the Mexico Bay area and a 4th unit is proposed, would the one additional nuke plant be better than 500 inefficient wind generators? Duh! Wind turbines cannot replace fossil fuel energy as this type of energy will remain necessary because of constant fluctuations in the wind turbines efficiency. These fluctuations require back up power to feed the grid. Turbines are a money making scheme which will line the pockets of a few.

    We shall see what happens as the public meeting phase begins. It is going to be interesting as John Q becomes more informed about "turbinegate". As a small business endeavor, the charter life is not easy; however the intangible rewards are many. Things like big smiles, whoops and hollers, looks of pride and people having fun make a charter trip an enjoyable experience to both the captain and his fishing patrons. So in spite of the doom and gloom of 2009, we look forward to the 2010 fishing season. It is time to get stimulated in a good way. Treat yourself to an exciting and enjoyable day on the water without dodging a gaggle of blade swooping feel good turbines.

For more wind energy information check out
www.wind-watch.org and www.windpowerfacts.info  Get the facts man, just the facts!

 

 

 

Posted By: Capn Gerry Bresadola @ 8:11:23 AM

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