Anti-solar attitudes (was Calif. fires) [RE-wrenches]

Joel Davidson joeldavidson at earthlink.net
Sun Nov 9 18:03:27 PST 2003


Windpower is harder to sell to neighbors because of the sound (noise to some
people) and sight (in your face and ugly to some people). Some people with
Hollywood Hills mansions get the similar complaints about their noisy parties
and view-blocking big house. One man's beauty is another man's beast.

Matt Tritt wrote:

> Joel and Matt,
>
> Isn't it amazing that there actually IS a segment of society that is
> anti-solar, wind, etc.? I recently attended a county supervisor's meeting
> that featured a very vocal opposition to the installation of a Bergey Excel
> "10" kW in an agriculturally zoned area. The opposition was plainly as NIMBY
> as it gets - no valid arguments against, they just plain didn't want to see
> a windturbine on the offending property.
>
> This group had approached me (as a knowledgeable wind guy) to write an
> opinion expressing the view that there wasn't sufficient wind resource in
> the area to warrant the installation of a turbine. They offered to pay me to
> do this. I actually had to make a decision to back the project, in spite of
> a marginal wind regime, because of the very real possibility that denying it
> would or could have created a negative precedent for future similar
> installations in the area.
>
> The issue for the NIMBYs wasn't the performance of the machine at all; it
> was purely their perception that it would somehow detract from the "pristine
> rural character of the area" (which it isn't) just by being there. I have
> encountered similar attitudes toward PV from people who feel the same as the
> ones opposed to windturbines; they just don't like the looks of the
> technology. The combination of suspicious utility people and ignorant NIMBYs
> can be one hell of an obstacle for our businesses to deal with.
>
> None of this has anything at all to do with burned-out neighborhoods but it
> has a lot to do with a certain element or elements that might monitor this
> list looking for good negative ammunition for possible use against projects
> or equipment, and I can readily see why Matt L would warn against giving the
> wrong impression or one that could be misinterpreted by these people. After
> all, if someone with the experience and perceptiveness of Matt can read
> something iffy into Joel's message, just imagine what the Dark Side can do
> with it! On the other hand, I think it's great to hear positive AND negative
> feedback on the equipment we use. That's one of the cool things about this
> list.It would kind of suck to have to tell only the good stories when it's
> the bad ones that can be the most valuable. IMHO
>
> The other Matt

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