For a while now there has been this question of “Where are the jobs?” The question almost seemed to come out of fruition from #44, saying the stimulus plans have created jobs. I don’t see them Mr. President and I am sure a lot of readers do not see them. But then again what do I know? I’m only a Junior in college. I am only your targeted audience, your future, your “hope for this country” so to speak.
Now I am an Environmental Science major at a great NJ college. So when I saw two articles one on NJ.com and the other in the Courier Post, I was a little perplexed. The are two competing arguments. Let’s all agree on something here… we want jobs. Am I correct in saying this? YES! Maybe one of the problems with NJ having a very small amount of jobs out there is that we are not creating a climate in which we can allow jobs to be grown. There is a kick that has been going on since Al Gore invented the internet that we should start to think about our carbon footprint and think about global climate change. (Yeah, I said change, not warming. Warming is a myth, change which is evident.) While I agree with thinking greener, we do need to be careful in knowing what really is green and what is just green-wash.
Windmills are a great alternative energy source. Almost all of us have seen them when we are going down to Atlantic City, they are not exactly ugly to look at. Sometimes going through Pennsylvania to visit my family in Pittsburgh, there is a stretch where there is at least 20-25 windmills generating CLEAN electricity. New Jersey sits on a the coast (obviously) and we do receive quite a bit of wind, especially along the shores. Having the windmills be on shore or out in the ocean will be great asset. If you place the windmills on shore you receive just the energy from the wind, add some solar panels on them and you add energy from the sun. If you place the windmills in the ocean, you receive a greater return on wind energy as well as adding a device to the bottom of the turbines you could harness the energy of the underwater currents to create more energy. (The ocean current idea is currently being tested in London and somewhere else in Europe.)
Windturbines? Jobs? What do they have in common? Well, you need an engineer to design turbines that will go on land and will be able to stand the test of the elements. You need another engineer to design the solar panels. You builders to build said turbines. The list goes on and on.
The windmills do not make a lot of noise. The most noise they make is almost similar to the noise a pinwheel makes when you stick it out the window of a moving car. I do not understand why people wouldn’t them. Oh, wait it’s the “not in my backyard” (NIMBY) philosophy that we have lived on for so many years. I hate to break it to you New Jersians, we are the most densely populated state in the North East,the NIMBY mindset is not going to work anymore. We need these windmills. One of the other points of complaint that were brought up was the disruption of birds. Ok, birds are not exactly dumb, they are not going to fly into a shiny metal object that spins. They are not going to nest near something that moves constantly. Give birds more credit. The final complaint that was in the NJ.com article was the possible health risks. I don’t really have a response to this. I am almost dumbfounded. I am almost angered too. Because there is no health risk as far as I am concerned.Unless you count someone falling off of one during repairs but that has yet to happen. “Wind-turbine syndrome” was mentioned, and it’s not real. Symptoms of the “syndrome” included insomnia, headaches, and learning disabilities. *headdesk*
Well #44 has already said “NO” to drilling for oil off the New Jersey shore. Okay that’s fine. We need to cut ties with our dependency on oil, blah blah. In the Courier Post article, it brought up a few good points about the fact that New Jersey could be a top player in alternative wind energy.
It’s time that we as a society need to wake up and seek a different direction then where we are going. The solution to a lot of our energy problems lies in renewable resources like wind and solar. This one tiny little solution can ultimately, actually it will change, how the world views New Jersey. And we as citizens of this state harness this power. I do not understand why there is a even a discussion about this. It needs to happen. For our economy sake and to lessen the our energy bills.
So where are the jobs exactly? They are in windmill projects. They are in alternative energy projects.
Recently I saw a great documentary on this subject called "Cool It". I don't think it is in theaters anymore but it is based off the book "The Skeptical Enivromentalist."
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1694015/
Just thought I'd mention that.
This is a terribly written blog.I expect more from Save Jersey. Editing maybe? This seems like nothing more than a rant from one who hasn't done their research. Where are the facts? What about the cost of mantaining the windmills versus the benefits? Waste of a read.
The problem with the writer's argument is that the 'green' jobs, through their products, are all subsidized by the government.
Now, what happened to letting the market decide? The whole green jobs bit smacks of progressivism at its worst.
Bring a technology to market that is more cost-effective than oil or coal, and one will be wealthy after consumers go running toward it.
My theory is simple make green as good or superior then what it is supposedly replacing.
I call it the dish soap test. My wife brought home green or e-friendly dish soap. We tried it and we used twice the amount for lees then the same results. We tried several brands with same results. We went back to our old stand by. This holds true for all products including all things energy. This is why fuel powered vehicles are still with us. Rally who of us wouldn’t want a car that never needed to be fueled up again. I would as long as the vehicle is good or better then what I’m now using. I drive a pickup I would love to have a electric motor with as much or more power, and here is the deal breaker, has a range of say 325 miles and a re-charge that takes the same amount of time as filling my gas tank. Range fear is 90 percent of the problem coupled with charge time. Windmills, solar panels, water power all great but it will just be an extremely expensive supplement to conventional power plants. If 100 percent of the parts and labor are not American then we also deeply loose with anyone of these projects. So no Chinese wind farms or solar panels and no illegal alien labor. Do you really think all this will fall in place? Not anytime soon enough.
Thank you Tom. I will definitely have to check it out.
Alyssa,
First drill the oil, then build the windmills on the platforms.
Alyssa, you would fit in well at Blue Jersey. Looks like SaveJersey 2.0 has made the official move to left of center.
Yeah…because one blogger having an opinion (that clearly drove a lot of traffic) that is outside the Tea Party mentality but still within the GOP framework for NJ (offshore wind power is supported by Senator Kean, for example) that means the whole blog is now left of center.
I thought a pillar of conservative thought was reason? Don't be so dramatic.
Actually, the blogger did not apply reason at all (or research for that matter apparently). Instead, we were given a dose of "feel good liberalism"; opinions not based on any fact.
Wind power and solar panels are both expensive and impractical. It produces nowhere near the amount of energy that coal, nuclear, or hydroelectric does.
Because wind power delivers such little energy, you would need a lot of land to have the number of wind mills needed to meet our energy demands. Solar panels would require even more land – land that NJ just doesn't have.
Read here what wind power is doing to Maine: http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Opinion/Wind…
Offshore windmills are also experimental and clearly pose problems for when they need repairs. Alyssa blows off the fact that these windmills do present risks to wildlife.
Just one example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNVkTqPcQzs
Wind turbines also do cause noise problems. Just Google wind turbine noise and you will see. Many communities that have turbines are now protesting them precisely for this reason. At a minimum, they are a nuisance.
The windmills in AC are a joke. In fact, one of them isn't even turning as we speak. (Might I add, that increased utility rates are hurting the casinos there, also. The Borgata pointed to this specifically as a contributing factor for losses experienced last year.)
Further, it is well known that for every so-called "green" job created, more jobs are lost in the private sector because those jobs are subsidized through increased utility rates, whether it be various fees or, in New Jersey's case, the RGGI Cap & Trade program.
Summing up:
-Solar and wind are expensive and impractical
-The alternative energy industry, so long as it is subsidized by ratepayers through fees/Cap & Trade energy taxes, will result in a net LOSS of jobs.
-Solutions to our "dependence on foreign oil" could easily be addressed by using nuclear and hydroelectric power — methods that are proven to work
The blogger didn't do her homework.
Re-posting as my comments appear to be cutting off.
Actually, the blogger did not apply reason at all (or research for that matter apparently). Instead, we were given a dose of "feel good liberalism"; opinions not based on any fact.
Wind power and solar panels are both expensive and impractical. It produces nowhere near the amount of energy that coal, nuclear, or hydroelectric does.
Because wind power delivers such little energy, you would need a lot of land to have the number of wind mills needed to meet our energy demands. Solar panels would require even more land – land that NJ just doesn't have.
Read here what wind power is doing to Maine: http://www.bangordailynews.com/story/Opinion/Wind…
Offshore windmills are also experimental and clearly pose problems for when they need repairs. Alyssa blows off the fact that these windmills do present risks to wildlife.
Just one example: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNVkTqPcQzs
Wind turbines also do cause noise problems. Just Google wind turbine noise and you will see. Many communities that have turbines are now protesting them precisely for this reason. At a minimum, they are a nuisance.
The windmills in AC are a joke. In fact, one of them isn't even turning as we speak. (Might I add, that increased utility rates are hurting the casinos there, also. The Borgata pointed to this specifically as a contributing factor for losses experienced last year.)
Further, it is well known that for every so-called "green" job created, more jobs are lost in the private sector because those jobs are subsidized through increased utility rates, whether it be various fees or, in New Jersey's case, the RGGI Cap & Trade program.
Summing up:
-Solar and wind are expensive and impractical
-The alternative energy industry, so long as it is subsidized by ratepayers through fees/Cap & Trade energy taxes, will result in a net LOSS of jobs.
-Solutions to our "dependence on foreign oil" could easily be addressed by using nuclear and hydroelectric power — methods that are proven to work
The blogger didn't do her homework.
I'm not endorsing her opinion. I just take issue with the idea that an entire blog has made a huge left turn based on the opinion of one writer on one issue.
Your comment above that breaks down her argument and opinion is much more valuable and far more worth reading than your first.