Awful arguments against green energy

For anyone who has ever read the Detroit News political blog you probably know that our editor - Henry Payne - hates green energy. And while there are plenty of good arguments about green energy Henry's most recent post entitled "Windmill eyesores" is an example of one of the worst.

The two key points of this argument are that windmills ruin an otherwise serene landscape and that birds are "shredded" due to these windmill farms. But if we're being honest I imagine even Henry would have to admit that this talking point only resonates with those who are already against green energy.

If the preservation of natural beauty were the primary argument for how we operate in America one would expect a lot more push back to things like:


Coal fired power plants,


Oil rigs,


Cell phone towers,


Nuclear power plants,


Garbage dumps,


the Highway system,


the Train system,


Ports,


Power lines,


the Logging industry,


Mountaintop coal mining,

I'm not sure anyone would suggest that these items enhance the natural beauty of the areas where they are located.

And as for the argument that the windmills kill birds, data shows that up to 40,000 birds die every year from windmills while as many as 174 million die each year from power lines. Of course if we can save some of the 13,000 people who die prematurely each year from poor air quality that would probably be advantageous as well.

The reality is that these types of arguments only prove how little the anti-green energy crowd understands the motives of green energy advocates and what they think is a clever exposure of hypocrisy is really just an example of ignorance.