For centuries, people have pursued “something out of nothing” dreams such as alchemy and perpetual motion machines. The latest example may be on exhibit in a remote part of western Michigan. Mason County, better known as the home of Ludington State Park, is one of the latest parts of the country to get a wind farm.
The 56-turbine project will cost $235 million, or roughly $4.1 million a piece for the beasts, which sit over 400 feet high. The components are so big, in fact, that a public education campaign warns motorists to watch out for the trucks that carry them.
The Ludington Chamber of Commerce, relying on the novelty of the project and green hype, has inhaled the pixie dust, selling the giant sticks as a tourist attraction. Some nearby residents, however, aren’t thrilled by the project, so say the least. Some of that may be due sour grapes (not getting the mitigation funds they wanted), but windmills do have some negative environmental effects (bird kills, noise, light flutter). The Lake Winds Energy Park comes on the heels of a now-defunct proposal to place turbines in Lake Michigan.
Are wind farms a good idea? Maybe. Maybe not. The technology is improving, which is a good thing. And some of the opposition to wind farms comes, no doubt, from NIMBYism, which afflicts any sort of power-generation plant. My chief concern is that the prospect of “free” and “green” energy blinds us to the environmental and fiscal costs, and locks us into a politically driven path towards energy development. The Lake Winds Energy project is a response by Consumers Energy to the states renewable-fuels mandate. That in itself ought to be a warning sign: Does it make more sense to buy something that is wanted by the general public, or something that is cooked up by politicians, lobbyists, and their cronies in business? Considering how important energy is in our lives–for heating, air conditioning, and powering all our household gadgets, not to mention our economy–I’d pick the free choices of millions of people as expressed through markets over the “expert” choices of the powerful.
This is the latest post in a series of commentaries derived from my recent return visit to west Michigan.