In the US many environmentalists are getting infected with the NIMBY-virus* as they realize the unpleasant consequences of renewable energy. New projects, such as the 240-mile transmission line through Indiana to accommodate wind farms (at a cost of $1bn), are unlikely to be completed any time soon. The reason for this is burdensome government regulation and lots of anticipated NIMBY litigation. So much for the green lobby’s urgency argument with regard to global warming:
To wit, the greens are blocking the very transmission network needed for renewable electricity to move throughout the economy. The best sites for wind and solar energy happen to be in the sticks -- in the desert Southwest where sunlight is most intense for longest, or the plains where the wind blows most often….In addition to other technical problems, the transmission gap is a big reason wind only provides two-thirds of 1% of electricity generated in the U.S., and solar one-tenth of 1%.
Protesters in California are blocking transmission lines between solar and geothermal fields in the Imperial Valley and Los Angeles and green lobbyists are obstructing a 150-mile link from solar panels to serve San Diego. Former Hummer addict and hastily baptized eco-warrior Arnold Schwarzenegger pointed out the obvious:
It's kind of schizophrenic behavior... They say that we want renewable energy, but we don't want you to put it anywhere.
Similar melodramas are playing out in Oregon, Arizona, the Dakotas, the Carolinas, Tennessee, West Virginia, northern Maine, and even upstate New York. It’s a nice irony to learn that the only people able to crush this green energy scam are the environmentalists themselves.
* NIMBY = "not in my backyard"
