I'm interested in your views on the subject..

[Latestarter]

Problem is... there are too many problems... More than any one person can concern themselves with (govt planning IMHO). The result is you're concerned with one thing that 80% of the population doesn't care about. And that goes for just about every problem. The result is, there aren't enough people that care on any one problem to get serious dealing with it. And more new issues/problems get added every month. Between the "news" idiots, the lobbyists, the professional, lifelong politicians, and the far left/right extremists, everything is gridlocked. Our govt is wearing us down steadily, bit by bit, so that we get so tired/overwhelmed, we just give up and no longer fight.

 

[greybeard]

Nothing wrong with wind and solar and both are currently heavily subsidized by DOE. The only thing that's stopping any state from getting into either is NIMBY.
I've seen wind farms up close. If you like a constant 'whuuff, whuuff, whuuff, whuuff" sound 24/7, you need to apply to have one (or more) put on your property...just make sure you have wind rights reserved before signing the paperwork.

The turbine blades in a gentle breeze look like they are turning lazily thru the air, and the generator's shaft is turning pretty slow..80-100rpm, but the blade tips are moving thru air at a very high velocity.

Around 180 MPH at the blade tips or in metric, 80 meters per second.

It may look slow, but the next time you are near one of the big commercial units, watch one blade as it makes it's circle. When it gets to 9 or 3 o'clock position, (Parallel to the ground) blink your eyes quickly and take notice how far that tip moved while your eyes were momentarily closed. A human eye blink takes on average, 1/3 of a second. In that blink, a blade tip has traveled about 27 meters.
If just one out of the 3 wind turbine blades had a light on it's tip, it would look like a solid blurred circle at night.
Rotor circumference X shaft rpm/60=tip mph

That, is where the noise comes from, and in a big wind farm, it translates into a constant dull "Hummmmmmmm".

I took this picture near Nolan Texas, as one part of a 180 deg panoramic view. It looks the same no matter which direction you look, for as far as you can see.

We buried my aunt that same day in a little community cemetery surrounded by the wind turbines. You could barely hear the minister's words at the graveside service.
Decibel levels are relatively low, probably maxing out around 60, maybe 70db but it never stops.

Go for it..they'll pay you for the inconvenience I'm sure.
Texas has a lot of wind turbines.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_power_in_Texas

 

[greybeard]

Australia needs to “tread carefully” in reacting in a way which could cause even greater retaliation from the US,

You won't have to worry about it. Nothing to retaliate about now. Australia has been granted an exemption on the new tariffs.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day greybeard,exemption yes,but in exchange for what? This is yet to be detailed.T.O.R.

 

[greybeard]

Hopefully in exchange to decrease the import of beef to North America...or to get them to stop circumventing the sale of cattle genetics to China.

 

[MiniSilkys]

I think President Trump is doing a great job considering. The media never tells any thing positive about him.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day unfortunately GB the govt is not in the cattle business and all the agricultural business is driven by private industry.

I expect that at some point we will be called upon to send our navy into the South China Seas in support of the US,as there is no such thing as a "free lunch'.....This has been an interesting exercise as the variety of comments show...T.O.R.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G';day GB,unfortunately the ship was sunk in Indonesian waters and so although the ship was ours we have "no' control over it's resting place.It's a shame I know but once again its the result of money overriding everything else.I hope your ship receives a better outcome...T.O.R.

 

[greybeard]

G'day unfortunately GB the govt is not in the cattle business and all the agricultural business is driven by private industry.

I expect that at some point we will be called upon to send our navy into the South China Seas in support of the US,as there is no such thing as a "free lunch'.....This has been an interesting exercise as the variety of comments show...T.O.R.

I concur, but then too, the govt isn't in the steel and alum business either.
just sayin.

If there was ever a movie in need of being made, it's that of the last weeks of the Asiatic fleet. I've read lots of in person accounts of that little fleet's last days and it is ever bit as important and awe inspiring as Pearl Harbor, Iwo Jima or any other Pacific War scenario.

 

[The Old Ram-Australia]

G'day and granted GB on the steel and alum comment,but it's an indication of the "power" of large corps and multinationals have over govts wherever they may be...T.O.R.