They had a vote this weekend in the region.....over in Eltville. The vote discussion? Well....the windmill electrical power folks want to put up several windmills over the Taunus Ridge that overlooks the Rhine River. On the Pfalz side of the river.....there's already various windmills.....but on the Hessen side....none.
What the news media will say is that 13,300 people were eligible to vote in this election. The final tally in this vote were 3390 people against any windmills in the area, and 2921 people in favor of windmills. Statistically, roughly forty-percent of the voters showed up, and barely fifty-one percent of those who voted.....carried the election. Numbers-wise.....it's not a clear majority and so most folks think the discussion will continue on.
What's the whole thing about? The windmill folks have come to realize that river regions and hills overlooking the river....are the best place to put a windmill operation, if you want a successful profit margin. On the Pfalz side of the river.....no one ever said much. On the Hessen side.....everyone got all hyper when you suggested a windmill operation might be put up. It was a harsh situation over landscape and the 'view'.
Oddly, if you counted up the first ten-thousand windmills built in Germany.....I doubt if any public debate or public vote was ever done. The local city council would have read the proposal, and had a simple vote. Over the past five years, you get the impression that this anti-windmill enthusiasm came out of nowhere. These are the same people who voted for the anti-nuclear power program, and the same folks who voted for coal-power being a bad thing. They will openly say they are pro-windmill.....but they need to be in locations where no one can really observe them.....and if they generate half the power of one on a river hillside....well....that's acceptable.
Yeah, for an American.....it's a difficult reality to grasp.
No comments:
Post a Comment