From the map you see.....I live over on the far right side....in the tiny village of Naurod. The red striped areas? That's the areas where the windmill folks have done the studies and project lots of wind. Naturally, it's a ridgeline on a hill, which is about 1.5 to 2 miles from Wiesbaden.
Folks get peppy about landscape....especially from Wiesbaden. They believe God descended down from the heavens, and blessed them with the best darn landscape that you could ask for. Never mind the fact that TV towers can be seen in six different directions, on various hilltops overlooking the region.
The anti-windmill mafia? Well, they've gotten to organizing. Part of the scheme is to get locals writing letters to political folks and the newspapers. Naturally, most folks aren't bright about this.....so there's a hint to help them along in writing their thoughts on this.
What they suggest is that you need to lead off and really harp on landscaping damage and recreation limitations. If you just see a windmill....it gets you depressed and negative....especially if it's two miles down the road. Yeah, I'm not sure how you'd get this across....other than admitting you were drinking a lot and it was all caused by windmill viewing. The more windmills.....the more booze.
So, we move onto issue point two.....fire, ice thrown from the blades and lightning. Yeah, the 200 meter tall windmills are a magnet for lightning. Frankly, it'd be kinda nice to sit on my balcony in a thunderstorm and watch bolts of lightning struck the blades. Course, TV towers also are a magnet. In fact, most houses now in my village have lightning rods on the roof.....to absorb the bolt and send it to the ground. The logic in this political statement? Well.....your very own house is a problem, if you start talking like this. And the ice? Unless you are standing underneath the blade there on some cold afternoon when the ice breaks off from the blade....that's the about the only way to get whacked.
Issue point three? It's bound to affect drinking water. I sat there for five minutes....trying my best to think how water would be affected. You see....most everyone in the entire region.....drinks water coming off the ridge. There's underwater caverns on the ridge, which pump out tens of thousands of gallons per hour.....to twenty different communities in the region. An effect on water? If there were chemicals involved in windmill usage, maybe so. But I've yet to see any windmill that had some chemical gimmick. Bad excuse....if you ask me.
Issue point four? Bird strike. What the windmill mafia will readily admit.....birds get into some dive related to the blades, and get whacked. No one wants to talk numbers, but you can assume one single windmill with three blades....likely kills at least a dozen birds a month.....minimum. Maybe it's a decent reason to forbid them.....ALL of them....but then we kinda opened this Pandora's Box a long time ago.
Issue point five? Infrasound. A lot of folks in smaller towns where the windmills were built near.....have complained in recent years of continued issues of dizziness and a throbbing sound. If you live within a kilometer of a windmill.....you might have an issue to complain about. The locations on the map? Well....to be honest....it's at least one kilometer from any community.
Issue point six? Air safety. Supposedly.....a low flying plane might get whacked by the blades. In the nine months I've been a "prisoner" of the village here.....I've never seen a low-flying plane.
Issue point seven? Property loss. If you throw up a windmill farm of five windmills....they consume around ten acres of property. There's not much way to avoid this issue. Course, all of the regions under discussion are state forest properties, and in the middle of walking trails. It's not taking away village property, farming land, or urban acreage.
Issue point eight? Bats and wildcats. Yeah....it's a pretty long stretch. The woods are full of bats and I'm guessing it might be a problem. Course, all these bikers and hikers disturb the bats, and no one says much about that. The wildcats? I have walked the woods on dozens of occasions, and never seen such an animal. Lynx and wildcats? Maybe you should make up stories about the wolves of Naurod, or the wild bears that roam the woods....with little girls wandering around in red capes....going to grandma's house.
Issue point nine? Beetles. Yeah, somehow, it'd disturb the various bugs and beetles of the region. Roads also disturb them....as do bikers and hikers. It's a lousy argument.
Issue point ten? The all inclusive UNESCO heritage project. They seek to have the town put into the sacred category of spa resorts of worldly renown statue. The only issue is that the resort spa town status died off in 1914, and most of the hotels that were part of that tourist scheme are long gone....as are most of the spas. Course, there is the enteral worry that this windmill deal would really screw up the application. Never mind the fact that no one really believes it will do much for the city except add one more sign, and one more status symbol to the city.
I will admit.....these guys are bright in their endeavour to stand against the windmill project. The fact that they are the same ones who stand against nuke power, believe in climate change, and generally always side with environmentalists.....taking a stand against windmills....makes them look hypocritical. I'm guessing they will get at least three thousand of the locals charged up and each will write a letter. Chatting up a storm over their precious landscape.....talking about the wildcats of the woods, and harping over the UNESCO project. At least it keeps them busy.
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