Wind: Yes.

I attempted to post this from the road using the wordpress app on the iphone. No dice. As slick as the interface is both on the regular web and the mobile device, it really failed to simply allow me to post a bit of text with a photo.

Anyway, it was now last week that we drove through Crowsnest Pass, Alberta and happened on a long stretch of windfarms off the highway. I wanted to announce my official support for windpower as a viable alternative to the traditional fossil-based energy sources. I’ve been on the fence for a couple of years because not only is there a lot of data out there that says that wind-generated power is simply not efficient enough to replace nuclear or coal-based power plants but I couldn’t help but be a little bit swayed by the protests of locals who simply didn’t want to see their views replaced with giant white turbines.

After sitting through weeks upon weeks of bad news regarding the BP oil disaster I have to say that the aesthetic argument has all but disintegrated. I’d rather see every square inch of beautiful grassland covered in these giant propellors than face a future where entire ecosystems are wiped out, globally, due to unnecessary accidents related to our desperation for oil.

Really, my hope is that wind power can be further refined to generate more power and solar panel technology can be refined and applied to surfaces already industrialized and avoid the need for using up all the existing natural landscape for generating machinery. But, the bottom line is that all of this has to be explored and we have to be adults and walk away from what we know is destroying us.

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