The wind energy sector produces a significant amount of toxic waste.
The mining of rare earth minerals is an extremely dirty business.
Is it worth the cost?
One would think that wind energy is so clean, with breezes spinning the blades.
What could be so toxic about the blades spinning?
What could be dirty about that?
According to the Data Center Journal, for one the answer is, “Plenty.”
Wind turbines require an enormous quantity of rare earth minerals in order to operate. But, the mining and processing of these rare earth minerals results in an over whelming amount of, “hazardous and radioactive byproducts,” the DCJ reports, which “can cause tremendous harm to both people and the environment.”
The environmental impact of rare earth mining kills off the local farming.
“The soil and groundwater are saturated with toxic substances, …(the local farmer) had to get rid of his sick pigs, the last survivors of a collection of cows, horse, chickens, and goats, killed off by the toxins.” Source: “The Guardian” August 7, 2012.
“The environmental damage that rare earth production requires might be one of the major reasons the U.S. is happy to let China do most of it, and, but the finished product from them.” Source: “Industry Market Trends”, “Rare Earths and Other Chemicals Damaging the Environmental Value of Renewables,” August 22, 2013.*
Yet, we all know, the U.S. runs a massive trade deficit with China, and they hold a significant amount of our debt.
Ask yourself, do you really want to be more beholden to the Chinese?
Do you trust the Chinese?
Research conducted at M.I.T. (Massachusetts Institute of Technology), “A single wind turbine (rated at about 3.5 WM) typically contains 800kg, or about 1,300 lbs, of rare earth metals.” Source: drgnewsservice.org, 2012/04/09, bright-green-technologies-dependent-on-rare-earth-metals-that-may-soon-be-economically-unviable.
The grim trade-off between obtaining power from wind, and the mining and processing methods required to make that happen leave those within the industry uncomfortable. Nicholas Curtis, executive chairman, Lynas Corporation, in a speech to an industry group said, “We can’t do it and leave a product that is glowing in the dark….,killing people.” Source:* See above.
Wind Turbines Kill Humans:
What about humans being killed by wind turbine accidents? A colleague at the Massachusetts of Technology (M.I.T.), shared a paper from the “Caithness Windfarm Information Forum 2013” “Wind Farm Accidents & Fatalities”, that was rather enlightening. “In England, there were 163 wind turbine accidents that killed 14 people in 2011.” Source” “Forbes,” September 29, 2013.
Who pays for those deaths? Who has the liability? What if someone trespasses on your land, or hunts on your land and is killed by ice flying off of a turbine blade?
What if your land is adjacent to the wind turbine location, and the accident occurs on your land? Ice has been known to fly up to one mile from the turbine location. The scenarios are endless.
Contact all of your Federal, State & local elected officials. Research their positions on the energy sector. They have websites that are easily accessible via the web.
“The truth is inconvertible. Malice may attack it, ignorance may deride it, but in the end, there it is.” - Winston Churchill
- LINDA PAULSON, Minneapolis (Former Bowman County resident)
