Energy Alternatives for West Virginia

According to the West Virginia Environmental Council citizen energy plan, surface mining accounts for only 5,500 jobs in the state, and 80% of West Virginians oppose removing our mountains. Yet the coal industry (Gov. Joe Manchin is a former coal trader) holds a vise-grip around the Capitol dome. The political influence of extractive industry has kept West Virginia from putting priority on nature and history tourism, agriculture and forestry, which all offer hope for jobs. Both major presidential candidates made wimpy noises on both sides of mountaintop removal and called for "clean coal."

Is there a better future for West Virginia other than being an energy colony? Because we don't have a large population, energy self sufficiency is possible, but we have to be committed to it.

In the line of renewable energy itself, is bigger always Better? In 2008 a in California struck down a huge solar project in the desert and recommended small rooftop collectors instead. Could the same principle apply to some of the gargantuan wind turbines that have invaded our Allegheny Front?

Check out the latest worldwide renewable energy news from the Ohio Valley Environmental Coalition.

The >West Virginia Environmental Council has a Renewable Energy Campaign that you might want to check into.

Reduce Carbon Dioxide

To save our hills and planet, we must reduce energy and CO2 emissions. The following CO2 chart show the pounds of CO2 released during manufacturing and/or operations. More details and sources are available at CO2.NumbersInstitute.com.

CO2 CARD

POUNDS
OF CO2

To save our hills and planet
we must reduce energy and CO2
We need CO2 labeling

CO2 RELEASED BY DAILY OPERATIONS

Electricity

1.34

per kilowatt-hour

Gasoline

20

per gallon

Diesel, heating oil

22

per gallon

Natural gas

12

per 100 cubic feet

Propane

13

per gallon

Hot water

0.08
0.18

per gallon, gas heater
per gallon, electric heater

Airplane

370 +
1.1 X miles

per passenger, per takeoff

Car, 1 person

0.8
0.6

per passenger mile at 24 mpg
per passenger mile at 33 mpg

City or county bus

0.7

per passenger mile

Train

0.4

per passenger mile

Private bus

0.1

per passenger mile

CO2 RELEASED DURING MANUFACTURE

Steel

0.8

per pound of steel

Aluminum

1.5-2.2

per pound of aluminum

Newspapers

2.1

per pound of paper

Personal computer

61

per pound of equipment

Energy Discussion Queries

Barack Obama has called for solving the energy and climate change dilemmas as a way to get our economy on the right track. We don't have all the answers, but we do have some questions for discussion. We hope these will lead to getting unstuck from positions and illusions. We have to see the way things really are in order to make changes.

  • If you can't afford to build in a solar collector up front, can you rent solar cells and put them on your roof?
  • What if the government taxed energy so that the cost of gasoline and electricity tripled charged a nickel per pound of carbon emissions, and distributed the money in dividends to everyone? This would change the economic picture so that industry we would have to become energy efficient. Meanwhile, give cash aid to consumers and taxpayers to survive the transition.
  • Can we get products labeled with the energy used to make them?
  • Could you place windmills on city rooftops-generating power right where the need is-- and make use of updrafts caused by tall buildings?
  • Are wood furnaces less polluting now? Is it now better to burn trash at home than spend gas hauling it to distant landfills? Should government subsidize recycling so there will be less trash?
  • West Virginia is rich in one resource-abandoned, used buildings. The energy cost of quarrying, shipping and building new buildings is much more than fixing old ones-even if this has not been seen til now as far as dollar costs. There is also historical value, and, sometimes, in quality of older materials. How can this resource be put to work to create jobs and build communities?
  • If development is going to happen, what's the ideal size in terms of people and wildlife? A cluster development where infrastructure (roads) is concentrated in one spot, with open space next to it? A more spread out model of 5 or 20 acre lots? Will they keep pressing to build on the open space?

Energy Action Queries

It is widely accepted that humans need to reduce the emission of carbon into the atmosphere. What can we each do as individuals? Can we cut our personal carbon use 20% - 50%?

Cars

  • Can we drive 40-55 mph to save gas? (Safety & speed limits permitting!)
  • Can we use conference calls for half the meetings we drive to?
  • Can we stay under 1 gallon of gas per day?
  • Can we rearrange our trips to use public transit? (To both save gas & to help have more public transit in the future.)
  • Can we put a trip computer in our vehicles to display miles per gallon continuously?

Buildings

  • Can we keep our buildings at 60° in winter, especially when guests come? (Energy use is proportional to the gap between inside and outside temperatures. When it is 40° outside, the gap between 4° and 60° is 2/3 the size of the gap between 40° and 70°, so energy use is 2/3 as much.)
  • Can we air condition to only 80° or use fans? (When it is 90° outside, the gap between 90° and 80° is half as much as the gap between 90° and 70°, so energy use is half as much.)
  • Can we close unused rooms in heating and air conditioning seasons?
  • Can we have a smaller home or share the house, to avoid unused rooms?
  • Can we set the water heater at 115°?
  • Can we turn off the water heater at night and when no one is home?
  • Can we stop shower flow while soaping, and fix the dripping tub diverter?
  • Can we turn off the stove pilot lights, and use a lighter?
  • Can we and our friends share a wattmeter to find electricity used by each item?
  • Can we add insulation?

Other

  • Can we avoid flying?
  • Can we avoid powerboats? (See fuel.boatwakes.info)
  • Can we drink tap water? (Every bit of bottled water from the store uses energy for packaging and transport)
  • Can we avoid wasteful packaging?

January 2009: Overwhelmed by Wind Towers; Still No Answers For Birds, Bats, Landowners

In November, AES Laurel Mountain notified the West Virginia Public Service Commission of its intent to construct a wind project at New Creek, Mineral and Grant Counties. That's in addition to groups of wind turbines AES is already working on Laurel Mountain in Randolph and Barbour counties and on Backbone Mountain, Greenbrier County. The proposed project by Liberty Gap Wind Force, in Pendleton County was denied by the PSC.

There are questions about how much energy these huge wind turbines provide in exchange for killing birds and bats and impacting property values in sensitive natural and scenic areas. Longtime energy researcher Rick Webb, who spoke at a West Virginia sustainable fair in Buckhannon in 2007, questions whether the wind power boom is truly green, or taking advantage of government tax breaks; see vawind.org. Many wind energy companies are reluctant to address the issues of birds, bats, site earthmoving, and scenery. Here they are behaving like typical energy companies, and therefore need to be watched. is a site generally opposed to wind power. There are no doubt good uses and sites for wind; we just want to see our ridges valued and protected.

January 2008: Wind Turbines - Too Many, Too Big, Wrong Places

Imagine a single wind turbine over 400 feet tall on a 3,800 foot mountain top -- a curiosity, perhaps a point of interest for tourists. Now add hundreds of them, up one ridge and down the next. Then add acres of tree clearings and roads to build them -- many in wild areas of the Potomac Highlands. Now you have an eyesore and environmental plague. Plus an excuse, now that the mountains are scarred, for more industrial invasions. This is not imaginary, but is actually happening. This is why landowners and residents throughout West Virginia are coming together to save our mountains and challenge the proliferation of wind "farms" in West Virginia.

Must the Potomac Highlands be sacrificed for this green energy scam? Why aren't alternatives to these monstrosities being implemented? Small turbines could be installed on roof tops right in the cities where power is needed. (A type of windmill called a vertical axis wind turbine doesn't kill birds, bats, or views! More information is available at WikiPedia.org/wiki/Wind_turbine.)

Greenbrier County conservationists are challenging Beech Ridge Energy LLC / Chicago-based Invenergy LLC over a $300 million, 124-turbine project in western Greenbrier County. Residents are awaiting a WV Supreme Court ruling on their appeal of the PSC approval decision.

Friends of Beautiful Pendleton County successfully intervened at the Public Service Commission against US Wind Force's Liberty Gap project in Pendleton County. The developer proposed 50 turbines on Jack Mountain, running from the state line north for approximately 6 miles in the county.

The Laurel Mountain Preservation Association is challenging the romantic green image of wind power. AES, a $14 billion power company from Virginia, wants to build up to 80 windmills on Laurel Mountain, crossing both Randolph and Barbour counties.

Landowners in Grant County, represented by former WV Supreme Court Chief Justice Richard Neely, filed a nuisance law suit against NedPower/Shell Wind Energy/Dominion protesting property devaluation, noise and hazardous effects of the giant spinning blades. Phase I turbines of the huge Grant County project are now visible for 40 miles. Sadly, our mountains--our backyards, our wilderness areas, wildlife, and wildlife habitats are being sacrificed by large companies not just to grab coal, but now in the name of "green energy." The road building and clearing of forests will pollute watersheds and destroy highland wetlands.

Federal tax benefits pay as much as 65% of the cost of building huge windmill "plants" in the U.S. Huge energy companies use these well-intentioned renewable-energy tax breaks to cut costs and continue to generate most of their power with fossil fuel. The huge windmills also require a reserve of power to operate -- in other words, they have to take electricity from the power grid in order to generate power.

The unfortunate truth is: Big Wind is mostly hot air. Help us save your mountain top today! Send donations to Stewards of the Potomac Highlands, and don't forget to ask questions of your county commissioners, state legislators and Congress members.

January 2007: Wind Turbulence - Big Energy Blowhards Batter Birds, Bats, and Blustery Citizens

Landowners on and near the Allegheny Front in Grant, Pendleton, and Greenbrier Counties possess some of the most beautiful, sensitive, historical and scenic spots in the East. Many inherited a love of the land from their grandparents and great-grandparents. Others recently invested in their dream homes in the wilds of West Virginia, only to find their dreams interrupted by the unnerving rush of wind turbine blades from 400 foot high, unsightly industrial towers on the spine of the Allegheny. Fueled by another year's extension of federal tax breaks and high prevailing wind patterns around mountaintops along the eastern continental divide, the wind companies plan hundreds of turbines. Dozens of these 400 foot towers have already been erected in Grant and Tucker Counties. Mountains are damaged in the construction of the huge tower bases. Whirling blades have been killing thousands of birds and bats.

Since the wind turbines are labeled renewable "green" energy, some environmentalists support them without knowing all the pros and cons. In 2004, the wind industry said it provided nearly 17 billion kilowatt hours, enough to serve some 1.6 million households. This is less than 1% of the country's electricity production. Analysts said future expansion of the industry depends on more tax breaks.

Among environmental groups, supporters and opponents of the turbines agree there should be regulations on where the towers can be sited. Local county commissioners are always courted by the companies and often fail to ask tough questions, but more recently, the U.S. Department of Interior did act to protect the Sinnett Thorne Mountain Cave System in Pendleton County. And federal representatives, including Congressmen Alan Mollohan and Nick Rahall, have expressed concern. Please encourage Rep. Mollohan's efforts; call his office at 202-225-4172.

Local groups continue defending their beloved mountains against the onslaught of the giant windmills. Check out their efforts and see pictures of the turbines and their destruction at ResponsibleWind.org.

Because there are no siting regulations, landowners and neighbors are protesting the wind companies' utility permits at the Public Service Commission. They're also filing lawsuits charging that the turbines' damage to scenery, land and wildlife constitutes a public nuisance. Earlier this month, Citizens for Responsible Windpower went before the PSC and charged that NedPower Shell Wind Energy has changed the scope of the project by placing turbines less than 400 feet from homes and in bald eagle habitat north of Dolly Sods. In addition landowners in Grant County, represented by former WV Supreme Court Justice Richard Neely, filed a suit against NedPower. The Supreme Court voted to hear arguments in spring 2007, but NedPower ignored the Court decision and began construction.

A PSC hearing scheduled for December 12th about the Liberty Gap wind project was postponed until April 16th. Eve Firor of Friends of Beautiful Pendleton County, opposing the Jack Mountain turbines, reported that the group agreed to a continuance rather than ask the company to resubmit its application. Liberty Gap did not reveal that while they applied for a siting permit for up to 50 wind turbines on Jack Mountain, their request to Allegheny Power to intertie at the North Franklin Substation was to connect 112 turbines, meaning they have plans to extend the wind farm into Highland County, Virginia.

Eve said that Friends was told of the canceled December 12th hearing only the day before, after many members were already on their way to Charleston. This is one of the many nightmares that put citizens at a disadvantage.

Small companies that first propose wind projects are usually bought out by big corporations, such as NedPower, acquired by Shell, which is now selling part of its stake to Dominion. As with the coal industry, the new companies often insist they don't have to follow agreements that the former companies made with landowners and citizens. Landowners and tourists who love the scenery are worried that, like the West Virginia coalfields, the Allegheny Front could become a national energy sacrifice zone.

Large wind companies have mounted a massive public relations campaign that vastly overstates the benefits of industrial wind power. They have managed to persuade some state legislatures to mandate its use, thereby creating an artificial market for its product.

Stewards believe we should not follow like sheep, but ask serious questions. Questions such as:

  • Who said wind power has to consist of enormous, intrusive towers?
  • Who is working to encourage small scale wind power to be more effective?
  • Why are environmentalists not concentrating more on this potential for appropriate small-scale technology?
  • Companies such as Turby are now marketing nine-foot windmills that can be placed atop buildings in windy cities. Development for appropriate small-scale home windmills is being slowed by the sale of inadequate equipment, according to the British newspaper The Guardian.
  • These wind turbine projects are another overbuilt monster invading our Potomac Highlands, like Corridor H and the proposed 10-lane I-81. Someone must stand and ask questions.

Studying Birds and Windmills

Citing inadequate bird impact studies by wind farm developers along the Allegheny Front, Friends of the Allegheny Front (FOAF) in 2003 announced plans to hire an expert from Cornell University to carry out a thorough nocturnal bird migration study beginning in Spring, 2004. The study will verify the relative numbers, species, and dynamics of spring bird migration along the ridgeline. The Front is one of the major routes for bird migration in eastern North America.

FOAF also asked the WV Public Service Commission for a moratorium on the NedPower project pending one complete year of monitoring studies. Evidence continues to grow that wind farms pose serious danger for birds, bats, and other wildlife. Studies released in October from the new Backbone Mountain wind project in Tucker County, owned by Florida Power and Light, reported over 400 bats killed. This is the largest bat kill in the world at a wind turbine facility, and it is conceivable that 100,000 more may be killed annually at this site. Mutilated bats had broken forearms, broken wings, and severed heads. This is intolerable considering many of these species only produce one young a year. The endangered Virginia big-eared bat is known to use a cave that is approximately 3-1/2 miles from the proposed Allegheny Front windmills.

In response to the deluge of wind power facilities planned or under construction in the tri-state area, FOAF is forming a coalition with groups in Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia. A citizens group, Friends of the Appalachian Highlands, in Meyersdale, PA, recently issued a letter announcing a possible lawsuit against a planned wind power project on a 2-mile long swath of ridgetop near Meyersdale. The letter, which is a prerequisite for legal action under the Endangered Species Act, states that the erection of turbines and operation of the facility pose an immediate threat to an endangered species, the Indiana bat.

Responsible Wind Power: Tilting At Windmills

windmillsizeStewards oppose 200 enormous steel windmills on the tops of 14 miles of mountains from North of Dolly Sods to East of Mount Storm Lake.

It makes no sense to save mountaintops and then cover them with whirling steel.

The windmills would reach over 400 feet above ground - visible for miles - and would be lit at night for the safety of airplanes. The blades turn at up to 200 miles per hour. They actually produce very little power, and coal-based power plants are still needed as backup when the wind is too weak or too strong to run the windmills. It would take 3,000 windmills to match the power of just one coal fired plant like the one at Mt Storm, and we would still need the fossil-fueled plant as backup.

The Campaign to Preserve Malpeque, a citizen's group against the construction of windmills in their tranquil community on Price Edward Island, Canada, has an infomative web page: The Problems with Wind Turbine Industrial Complexes. Closer to home, Glenn R. Schleede, Energy Market & Policy Analysis, in Reston, Virginia has provided his analysis Evaluating the Costs and Benefits of Wind Energy: Overstated Benefits and Understated Costs Creates False Hopes for Wind Power [138KB pdf file]

"Wind power will be part of our energy future, but we have to be smart about where and how we go about it," says Caroline Kennedy of the national citizens group Defenders of Wildlife. "West Virginia has already paid a high environmental price for this country's energy demands."

This rush to build windmills is made profitable only by temporary tax breaks and the fact that consumers in other more affluent states are willing to pay a premium for what they perceive, and are being told, is "green" energy.

Stewards joined local and national environmental groups in opposing the project. Defenders of Wildlife and Friends of Blackwater filed a notice of intent to sue based on potential harm to the West Virginia northern flying squirrel, the endangered Virginia big-eared bat, and migratory birds. Stewards has donated to the legal battles.

A local group of landowners and farmers, Friends of the Allegheny Front, filed a protest with the WV Public Service Commission (PSC) and continue efforts to protect their land and scenic mountain viewshed. They convinced the PSC to block Dutch-owned NedPower's plan to build turbines in the project's southern section, because it was too close to Dolly Sods. However the PSC approved NedPower's 200-turbine facility on top of 14 miles of the Allegheny Front.

Citizens for Responsible Wind Power called for the PSC to halt permits for wind power until the state can develop siting criteria.

West Virginia Highlands Conservancy has debated the pros and cons of wind power on the Allegheny, and decided to oppose one Guascor Group project at Rich Mountain because of severe impacts on recreational views