Michele Kearney's Nuclear Wire

Major Energy and Environmental News and Commentary affecting the Nuclear Industry.

Wednesday, October 23, 2019

Wind Problems

In the last 20± years, there have been multiple types of wind energy
conflicts with the military. These problems have fallen into the following
six (6) general categories:
1- Tall structures obstructing low-level flight paths
<https://www.pagerpower.com/news/military-low-flying-and-tall-structures/>,
2- Weather
<https://wattsupwiththat.com/2018/04/29/noaa-nws-document-wind-turbines-affect-weather-radar-create-false-storm-impressions/>
radar interferences,
3- Navigation
<https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/11/13/wind-farms-creating-dead-zones-for-military-radar-report-warns/>
radar interferences,
4- Other radar interferences (e.g. ROTHR
<http://www.thelivingmoon.com/45jack_files/03files/OTHR_AN_TPS_71_ROTHR.html>),
5- Infrasound problems caused to service personnel and sensitive military
equipment: here
<https://waubrafoundation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Castelo-Branco-low-frequency-noise-military-operations.pdf>
and here
<https://www.seismosoc.org/news/mapping-industrial-hum-in-the-u-s/>, and
6- Specialized cases (e.g. interference with military drone operation
<http://www.watertowndailytimes.com/news03/fort-drum-officials-talk-wind-turbine-challenges-plans-to-work-with-developers-20170729>).

Put another way, these interferences can have one or more of these
consequences:
—the lives of military personnel are jeopardized,
—the military facility’s mission is sabotaged,
—the military facility’s operational readiness is undermined,
—the military facility is more likely to have a BRAC
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Base_Realignment_and_Closure> downgrade,
and/or
—our national security is compromised.

What needs to be fixed nationally is the Clearinghouse process which is
highly biased towards promoting wind (vs protecting our military). Please
carefully read Wind Turbines and our National Security
<http://wiseenergy.org/Energy/Military/DoD_Clearinghouse_Basics.pdf> for
background about the DoD Clearinghouse. It explains how it was created,
and what its real objectives are. It cites examples of where wind energy
interference with the military have been well-documented — and have
compromised our national security.

Despite multiple instances of wind energy interference, (e.g. see these
examples <http://wiseenergy.org/Energy/Military/Military_Report2.pdf> in
NC) wind lobbyists have kept the federal government from making the major
improvements to the DoD Clearinghouse process that would genuinely benefit
the military. This puts a stake in the heart of the claim that the
Clearinghouse is all about protecting the military (or our national
security). This has also forced states to fill the gap (e.g. what Texas
did in 2017 with S277
<http://news.cctexas.com/news/defense-communities-celebrate>
).

Once the public (and our representatives) understand the facts, they
should not be susceptible to the wind industry’s claims that the DoD
Clearinghouse process is an objective or thorough assessment and
resolution of any wind energy interferences with military facilities and
our national security. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Note that in the DoD process there is zero analysis of any wind energy
benefits — they are simply assumed. That’s a major error, as any military
costs or degradations should only be agreed to IF there are objectively
proven net benefits.


  There are many other non-military reasons against offshore wind
energy — e.g. see this page <http://wiseenergy.org/offshore-wind/> that
lists numerous studies.

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