On a fateful Friday the 13th, the Washington state energy facility site evaluation council (EFEC) voted in favor of a wind farm that most of the Tri-cities has objected to for years, the Tri-City Herald reports.
The state’s largest wind farm has been proposed, reviewed, rejected, and objected to for three years, yet after Friday’s vote, the project is now slated to move forward. It just awaits the approval of Governor Jay Inslee (D). The Democrat Governor has long been a proponent of “green” energy sources and seeks to replace natural gas and hydro-electric sources of energy with wind and solar.
After the initial proposal, the Washington State Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council proposed restrictions on the project. Scout Clean Energy was proposing to have either 222 wind turbines at 500 feet tall or 141 turbines at 670 feet tall. A few back-and-forth revisions reduced the number of turbines.
Also included in the discussions were protections for ferruginous hawks. Wind turbines wreak havoc on bird populations. Concerns were also expressed about the impact to aerial firefighting. The final version of the project was approved without the restrictions previously included.
Benton PUD candidate Mike Massey says that wind energy will not solve the problem Washington state has with future energy needs. Wind and solar are intermittent energy sources and not reliable.
The project is flawed and so is the process. While many Tri-cities residents have objected to the destruction of the natural landscape, Inslee continues to ignore the opinions of those most affected.
“Governor Inslee ignored local opinion and local approval,” Massey says. “The windmills, aka ‘Inslee Towers of Terror’ will degrade the Tri-city skyline, degrade the home values of taxpayers, and degrade the power grid causing blackouts during the winter when the wind does not blow.”
Those voting in favor of the project include the chairperson of the committee, representatives of the state Department of Commerce, the state Department of Ecology and the state Utilities and Transportation Committee.
Voting against the proposal were representatives from the state Fish and Wildlife Department, the state Department of Natural Resources and Benton County.
“People who support this plan mistakenly believe that it will provide the energy needed for our growing region,” Massey says. “It will not.”
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