North Carolina Senate bans mountaintop wind turbines

I would rather see wind turbines on a mountaintop instead of seeing a factory with smoke pouring out of it doing harm to the environment.

North Carolina is the home Duke Energy.........Duke Energy operates more coal fired power plants than other company in the US. I guess it is clear who owns the North Carolina state government.

Apparently people have forgotten how ugly coal fired power plants can be. That's a heck of a blind spot, I think.

And these people think "Green"?
It's amazing, people want to promote greeness but nobody wants it in their backyard.
How strange.

you know what else is ugly polution and death caused by too much carbon in the air but hell why would people in North Carolina give a shit huh

sk8bs55 said, "Maybe the could just make them look more appealing in the same way as wind chimes and motion sculptures. no one seems to think the st. louis arch is an eye sore."
check this out! http://current.com/items/90713850_solar-sunflower-field-energizes-austin-texas.h...

Wind turbines may be ugly to look at in the estimation of some people---but they do not lead to strip mines, acid run off, acid rain, soot, smog and fly ash pond failures.

Nobody I've ever heard of died of looking at a wind turbine.

I guess this is a lot better to look than a wind turbine:

http://science.nationalgeographic.com/science/enlarge/strip-mine.html

That is what "maintaining the pristine wilderness beauty" does. And it keeps doing it, over and over and over----as long as you use coal. Eventually, there will be no pristine wilderness beauty left to maintain.

hey NC - keep on enjoyin that pristine mountain until the climate change turns it into a sand dune and you're clutchin onto your rifle when the lights black out wondering why your republican congress failed you. oops, too late.

" My good friends", please Google, "Marcellus Shale", this will give you some insight into the gas supplies in the U.S. , particulary the Northeast. Maybe, N.C. does need the turbines, maybe we are being sold a "bill of goods". Just a thought to keep in mind.

WTF that dose not make any sense
I wonder if lobbyist from the coal
or oil companies I wish some one from North Carolina
would get to bottom of this.

I really think we should get over ourselves about our "likes" and "dislikes" concerning asceticism and start using our heads.

I don't see how they can just say no without coming up with another idea. Extremely unproductive.

tisk tisk you are not a nice lady are you.

Let us dig a little deeper? What company proposed the wind turbines? Who owns it? Are tax credits or subsidies involved? What state or industry will use the generated power? There is always a con man shilling these projects, we just have to dig them out of their burrow. I can promise you that they are not environmentalists!
P.T. Barnum was right!

I suggest hot wind turbines and bull feces to methane converters, being located in Washington D.C. a seemingly unending supply of both energy sources.

What's so wrong about banning these turbines? The people don't want these giant things destroying the natural beauty offered by North Carolina's mountains. I see no reason for all this uproar, there are still plenty of renewable energy resources that can be utilized there. All people on here seem to be able to do is criticize, but it's these people's land, they are the ones that should decide.

Maybe just around the perimeter of the mountain ranges? Well, if the people don't want it. . . But if they get flooded, they won't have any mountain tops at all, because those mountaintops will be the new sea level.

I can understand that wind towers are an eyesore, yes, BUT, it's better to have an eyesore than eyes burning from solar radiation storms. Matter of fact, why not just install 1 solar tower on the other side of a mountain or in another state, and forget the wind towers. You can put solar towers 100's of miles away from sore eyes and still have your power.

I bet they are for Clean Coal instead,,,, morons... here is a prime example of --> what we have here boys, is a failure to communicate.

Nice commentary, but really not necessary, as the bottom line here is,,, they said NO.

I wonder how many of those id10t's passed the GED.

I agree with wind energy, but I do not agree with ruining natural beauty to do so. The mountains and parks and views must to be protected.

i wish we could pack NC up and sell it back to England...

OIl platforms in the Gulf of Mexico were the biggest ecological boost to the fish population, since restriction of commercial fishing. They serve as artificial reefs and fantastic diving and fishing destinations. Living on one of these platforms is one of the great experiences of your life, if you enjoy the sea and its creatures.

You know what else is really ugly, living in the stone age without power or progress. Oil derricks and cricket pumps aren't too cute either but let them have discovered vast quantities of oil on those mountains and watch how fast they stick a refinery up there. This is far more about politics and payoffs then aesthetics.

lol, I smell a Lobbyist ...

The NC state Gov may be using the ugly argument as an excuse, but that doesn’t change the fact that wind turbines are ugly.

I am not in favor of dotting this nation’s most beautiful natural environments with these eye sores. I say keep them off the coastlines and keep them off mountains. There are plenty of flat windy lands with no natural beauty whatsoever to build on.
Does that make me more or less of a tree hugger?

they should just use the removed mountaintops for turbines, they're already ugly as sin and should get plenty of wind.

I like the wind turbines, they remind me of don quixote. beauty is in the eye of the beholder right? so lets stop basing our laws on superficial trivialities and start thinking about what's going to save our future.

if mountains were meant to have wind turbines on them they would have been born that way. before you tar and feather me let me suggest that there are better places for them,like the waters off the coast(creating fish hatcheries) or the plains. lets just take a deep breathe and think this one through ok

they should just use the removed mountaintops for turbines, they're already ugly as sin and should get plenty of wind.

Well, someone wont get elected next term... hopefully all 41 of the people who voted against

I am an avid backpacker and though it is important to keep places free from human impact, I would much rather see a line of remewable energy tubines on a ridge than no mountain at all.

I am an avid backpacker and though it is important to keep places free from human impact, I would much rather see a line of remewable energy tubines on a ridge than no mountain at all.

So I have to look at Oil wells in the Gulf of Mexico in our tourist areas, but your mountains are too pretty?
GO F#@! YOURSELVES!
Drill baby drill in my back yard, but your mountains will get no pollutants just some windmills and your crying like a bitch?
SOUNDS LIKE A REPUBLICAN TO ME never wanting to sacrifice anything for someone else, assholes!

We who were born and live in Appalachia are governed by the same laws as the rest of the country. As you look at the pics of "Appalachia" in these responses, just picture the rest of the poor in this country, no matter what state. There are these types of homes in every area of America. At least we are willing to TRY different things. Appalachian State is one of the finest schools in the southeast. Who are you people to make light of us? Most of us agree a little with both sides of this issue, but we are smart enough to realize that money and politics play a huge part in as well as the coal companys. Give us a break!! We didn't fall off the turnip wagon yesterday!!!

What the hell? "On grounds it was to ugly" wtf kind of grounds is that? thats like saying in NYC that they would get rid of the homeless because "people are tired of looking at them". This has to be a smart state if 42 on a 43 member state senate voted that renewable energy wasn't a match for "being ugly". But to the one who voted agaist the ban, i say thank you.

I'm thinking someone got a BIG payoff to vote down alternative forms of energy. Unfortunately for them the Federal Gov. can still use eminent domain and put up any windmills they see fit.

Ugly? Wind turbines look 100 times better than any mountain or other horribly screwed up natural entity

a complete ban is absurd. And the person that sites a 15 to 20 year old installation is a great example of the 'forward thinking' of the area. Politicians that pander to people that can't even read are never going to do anything but bring down the country as a whole. Stupid is as stupid does, that's what momma always said. Come on, figure it out people. decide on the best places for the turbines, the best kind to use and compromise a solution. A ban is just sayin that you can't even think.

tehachapi wind farm. the "damage" these rethugs claim is going to happen is nonexistent. this is stupid. coal is paying the tarheels more than renewable energy, so the're agginit it.

who's really going to see these wind turbines anyway???

EVERYONE!!!! LOOK UP under FEMA concentration DEATH camps..

The Government is doing some fucked up shit.....

i waoners if they wants them newfangled internets?

dear god,

why are southerners so dumb?

Fuck North Carolina.

People with sanity, move out.

XVX for life, R.A.S.H. 'til death.

Driving through Germany I came accross many wind turbines, although the presence of giganic towers in the middle of the countryside was somewhat distracting to the natural landscape, it was the attitude of the German people that made it very acceptable and neccessary. If we are really serious about saving our planet then we must develope a mind set that sustainable energy is not an option. Solar and wind power must be harnessed and the slight change in scenary will be nothing compared to the damage from burning coal.

i wonder what lobbyist voted on that law

Sorry but those mountains aren't going to look anything but better if covered with turbines.

This has nothing to do with aesthetics and everything to do with NC senators responding to industries demands for cheap, dirty, energy.

Because they're ugly. That's really the argument? And they won with that argument? Unbelievable. I don't even think they're ugly; I think they're pretty awesome. Do they realize how ugly things are going to get if we don't come up with some alternatives?... Wow.

Why not comprimise and keep them below 3000 feet? That is all the law is doing. I am a big fan of renewable energy, but I am a bigger fan of mother nature and her beauty. That is why I support the new law and hope my state enacts a similar measure before all of the mountains around my house are covered with steel structures, access roads, and powerlines.

i dont get the argument that they are ugly. every time i drive to pittsburgh i look forward to seeing the rows of turbines on the hillsides.

Sooo wind farms are ugly? By that rationale does that mean we can now bull doze trailer parks?
And I like SeaJade's compromise, just use the smaller ones and that way the people who want it can have it.

I agree with the N. Carolina lawmakers: wind turbines are ugly and they should be placed where they are out of view. I live in a state where there is pristine wilderness. Now wind turbines are going up and now the wilderness isn't as pristine as it once was.

A lot of this is politics and timing. The GSMNP and Blue Ridge Parkway's 75th Anniversaries are this year, we don't want to clutter up the postcards, do we? Save it for another budget year.

God forbid we have a few eyesores on the mountains which could later be removed. Better we use mountaintop removal and wait for them to grow back. Don't worry about the whole need for renewable energy in the first place. *facepalm

I swear I'm losing my faith in humankind. Every day that we sit by and do little to nothing makes me so angry. How can our species be so completely daft, gullible, and stubborn? We are the stewards of the earth and we have royally f-ed things up. We have the technology to maintain our way of life AND stay in harmony with our planet but we don't use it... because we want a pretty view of the mountains in the smog as we go the way of the Dodo.

That land is stunning! but if people continue to be so ridiculous, they will not be beautiful for long. 15 yrs ago I might have thought it was silly, installing wind turbines , due to me not realizing how fast our world is heading for a disaster. It makes so much sense on why we should USE WHAT GOD GAVE US, WIND, WATER, SUN!!!!!!!!!! WAKE UP WORLD, BEFORE IT IS TOO LATE!!!!!!!!!

Wow. That's not really very intelligent reasoning. The wind turbines will generate clean energy regardless of how "ugly" they may be.. Unless, the real question here is politics. Who lobbied for the ban and will benefit from this? Probably the coal companies....

Nice to see all the knee jerk remarks from the leftist wind bag....err...turbine experts.