September 3, 2013

Great Lakes to become industrial wind wasteland under LEEDCo plan

LEEDCo officers, Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur and Mayor Frank Jackson, hold “MISLEEDing” promo meeting for POWER PLEDGE in Cleveland: Great Lakes to become a wasteland under their watch

Great Lakes Wind Truth powers UP to defeat LEEDCo “incubator” project

With fanciful language and egregious misrepresentations, LEEDCo officers promoted a “sample” offshore wind project for Cuyahoga County, Cleveland, August 22, 2013. This unfortunate “misinformation” meeting did nothing to calm the public relations furor that is now unfolding over this proposed offshore project, which would be the first in fresh waters in North America. (Ontario rejected this industrialization with an offshore moratorium in 2011.)

Congresswoman Marcy Kaptur (D) claimed that “wind power is an important part of energy and jobs in Northern Ohio’s future.” The congresswoman’s assertion that “Lake Erie is the Saudi Arabia of wind power and The POWER Pledge is a perfect way for the public to express its support,” left Great Lakes Wind Truth (GLWT) members reeling. Expressed attendee and Great Lakes Wind Truth member Tom Wasilewski, “In this instance, the congresswoman would have been more accurate had she referred to the environmental damages and economic boondoggle as a Black Hole, and a Love Canal in the making. The Lakes cannot ecologically tolerate industrial turbines with hundreds of gallons of oil and lubricants, toxic rare earth elements, and non-recyclable carbon fibre blades. This kind of promotional swagger does nothing to meet the real needs of people in Ohio.”

Some of the outmoded fancies presented were that jobs would abound with the “incubator” project, as many as 500 while the turbines were under construction, with the lure of more, thousands, as wind power in Ohio “matures.” The other false lures were of reduced greenhouse gases, cost effectiveness, and the elimination of the need for fossil fuels. These fallacies have been exposed for some time now, and Germany is currently building 23-26 more coal fired plants in light of its green debacle. (None of the assertions of benefits is remotely true.)

Some attendees wished for more accurate accounting from LEEDCo, the Mayor, and the Congresswoman, and expressed that advertising standards (fair representation of a product and ethical standards) were seriously abused in the meeting.

In ignored notes to officials in 2010, turbine analyst Jerry Graf outlined the real projected dollar losses for this particular venture: $59.3 million over 21 years, or in another scenario, $65.12 million (see PDFs attached). (LEEDCo is currently working through a $4 million grant, and preparing to apply for a further $46 million (Department of Energy, DOE) for completion of the project.)

GLWT executive member Suzanne Albright expressed her disbelief that the true “story board” of wind turbines in the Lakes was so entirely false. “We are up to speed,” says Albright, “with international facts of economic havoc and energy poverty resulting from wind installations. There is nothing either economical or environmentally sound about wind power, and the misinformation presented at the LEEDCo meeting is nothing short of astonishing.”

Other GLWT members point out that the LEEDCo Icebreaker project is illegal. “Under the Public Trust Doctrine,” points out Al Isselhard, “the State of Ohio’s policy is to protect the public trust held waters and minimize the occupation of public trust lands for private benefit. There is no question that the LEEDCo project is for private gain. There is no public gain at all.” Adds Isselhard, “We, as the Europeans, will actually suffer net job losses and energy poverty, and before the penny drops, the environmental damage to the public trust waters will be huge and irrevocable.”

Sherri Lange of NA-PAW adds that the evidence of willful destruction of landscapes and sacred trusts has reached Europe and Australia, and many jurisdictions are turning back the clock. “How can North America still have its head in the sand with the well-known developments in the world decrying the waste and fraud of wind power? It is inconceivable.”

One needs only to look at the European Union (EU) for a reality check. European consumers have subsidized renewable energy by a “staggering” 600 billion euros since 2004. Nearly 27 million people are out of work and many countries are facing bankruptcy. The Washington Post recently warned that Europe has become a “green energy basket case”. Instead of a model for the world to emulate, “Europe has become a model of what not to do”.

Members of GLWT point out that deployment of a project that has misled the public, and cost jobs, rather than create them, may be willful and possibly criminal negligence. Albright adds, “The profiteering and wastefulness of this project will be recorded for many generations. This project only LEEDS to another facet of the destruction of a natural resource and one of the world’s wonders. The public will never allow this desecration.” Adds Lange, the only Power Pledge we are making is to keeping hydro bills affordable, the number one access to jobs and increased productivity. Wind Power increases energy bills four fold and more, and has without any doubt whatsoever resulted in massive European job losses. “This is not something the people of Ohio will embrace, despite the fictions expressed last week in Cleveland. Imagine signing a pledge to pay more, much more, for wind power, which must always be backed up by baseload power. Pay more, lose more. We surmise that LEEDCo thinks there’s a sucker born every minute.”

Contacts:

Sherri Lange
CEO, NA-PAW North American Platform Against Wind Power
Executive Director, Canada, Great Lakes Wind Truth
416-567-5115
kodaisl@rogers.com

Suzanne Albright
Executive Member, USA, Great Lakes Wind Truth
585-746-4015
salbright2@aol.com

Al Isselhard
Wolcott, New York
Executive Member, USA, Great Lakes Wind Truth
Great Lakes Concerned Citizens Coalition on Article X
Lake Ontario Riparian Alliance
speedway2742@gmail.com

Sources:

Please see PDF documents by Jerry Graf:
Great Lakes Wind Energy Pilot Project
Great Lakes Wind Energy Pilot Project Modified Energy Estimate

http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2013/aug/20/green-politics-harvest-subsidies-not-energy/

http://pasenategop.com/committees/community/2011/031411/schmidt.pdf

http://canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/55677

http://www.cleveland.com/business/index.ssf/2013/08/lake_erie_wind_turbines_by_201.html

http://www.earthtechling.com/2011/10/great-lakes-offshore-wind-project-shelved/

http://blog.acton.org/archives/509-cuisinarts-of-the-air.html

http://news.ontario.ca/ene/en/2011/02/ontario-rules-out-offshore-wind-projects.html

http://www.aei.org/article/energy-and-the-environment/the-myth-of-green-energy-jobs-the-european-experience/

http://lockportjournal.com/local/x124774474/Wind-power-discussions-settle-few-questions

http://www.citizenscampaign.org/news/story.asp?id=195