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Wind energy is fast becoming a major industry for the Columbia River Gorge and its surrounding counties. Several projects (pdf) in various stages of development promise to bring in temporary construction jobs as well as some more permanent wind technician positions. The local community college already offers a training program for aspiring wind technicians and local landowners are exploring the benefits of leasing their property to accommodate wind turbines for decades to come. Many residents are optimistic that these projects will bring in tax revenue that could offer a much-needed boost to the struggling rural area.
Wind farm development in the Gorge has also met with some local opposition, which cites concerns that turbines will negatively impact the scenic area — specifically the tourism dollars many residents depend on. The Bonneville Power Administration is also uneasy about the spike in wind farm development and the economic drivers behind it (namely tax credits and state renewable energy requirements).
Last year, a developer pulled its proposal to build a 60 megawatt wind project on Seven Mile Hill, close to The Dalles. Another developer is in the permitting process to build a 200 megawatt wind farm on a more rural site known as Summit Ridge, along the Deschutes River south of the Gorge. Though it's a much bigger project than the one proposed for Seven Mile Hill, the Summit Ridge project is far less controversial, in part because of its relatively remote location.
This is part of OPB's Rural Economy Project, a look at how economies outside the metro area are changing.
Do you live or work in the Gorge? How would wind farms in the area impact your life?
Note: We'll be recording this show in front of an audience on May 27th at The Dalles Civic Auditorium There's a reception at 5:30 pm and the show starts at 6:30 pm sharp. It's first come, first seated.
UPDATE, Friday, May 28: We had a wonderful crowd last night! Thank you all for bringing your knowledge and questions. If you weren't there, or want to listen back, you can hear the show here now.
GUESTS:
- Peter Schell: Student in the Renewable Energy Technology program at Columbia Gorge Community College
- Don Coats: Wheat farmer
- Dallas Fridley: Regional economist for the Oregon Employement Department
- Chuck Leber: Vice president of technical services at LotusWorks and project manager for the Summit Ridge wind project
Tagged as: alternative energy · rural economy · wind
Photo credit: qousqous / Creative Commons
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Out of curiousity, what are we going to be replacing wind farms, dams, coal and nuclear technologies with? Hopefully the coal plants will go, and maybe the nuclear since it is so controversial, but why get rid of the dams and wind farms? They're fully legitimate forms of renewable energy. The dams are especially good because not only are they harvesting a renewable energy source, but they are also fairly reliable and stable, as opposed to wind farms. I would like to see solar become a substantial energy source, but until they come up with a way to produce solar modules more cheaply, I don't see it becoming a large contributor to energy sources in the near future. I think that for now, and potentially quite a ways into the future, wind and hydro are our renewable energy sources.
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@jlangdon,
My science fiction answer is that in 100 years, barring we don't wipe ourselves out stupidly, we will harness fusion, Hydrogen, and zero-point energy. We will use magnetism to its fuller potential.
Going X Files on you, the probability is high that several existing energy technologies are being supressed by the government and Big Url (Oil). This is Art Bell territory so I'll stop because I'm blowing the smoke of conspiracy theory. Fire up your web browser and search for zero point energy.
What if the particle physicists discover something new and fundamental about the nature of reality that leads to inexpensive and safe energy?
Solar technology will become more efficient than it is today. I've read that German researchers have designed solar panels that are 40% efficient. Today the most efficient production solar panels in the U.S. are less than 25% efficient.
Finally, many of us have discovered the we live wastefully. Most of us don't need televisions, stereos and IPads. I've got clothes lines in my basement and out in the yard so why do I use a clothes dryer? Out of habit and convenience.
Thoughtless consumerism and not using goods completely are dead-end behaviors.
Oil spilling into the Gulf is a potent reminder that fossil-fuel cumbustion vehicles are dead-end technologies.
For humans to continue thriving on this wonderful planet we will be increasingly forced to change our thoughtless ways. Start with self assessment. I habitually use energy and other resources thoughtlessly and selfishly.
If everybody were to audit their wastefulness and turn that behavior into positive conservation, we'd solve many of our problems without spending more money.
Read Arun Gandhi's lecture in which he describes how his Grandfather taught him the principles of non-violence. This lecture is a blue print that illustrates the way forward for the open minded.
We know fast food is not as healthy as whole fresh food. We know a tremendous amount of waste is created by consuming fast food. We know that fast food production is terribly destructive to the environment. Logic and necessity strongly suggests we stop eating fast food.
Not using electricity or gasoline in the first place is an important step to changing our lives for better.
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This comment has been removed by the TOL staff.
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Shameless plug... you asked...
Columbia Gorge Community CollegeThere is an initiative called 20/20. It means 20% renewable energy by 2020. For wind, which is leading the renewable energy field st this time, that means a sizeable increase in the number of wind turbines that will be constructed over the US. The projection is for 300GW of installed wind power by 2020. This equated to around 150,000 technicians between now and 2020. We produce about 100 to 200 technicians per year. Other colleges and some from the military will have to make up the difference.
Columbia Gorge Community College is one of the leaders in training at this time. The program is maturing faster then most because of wind company involvement and donations of turbine parts and also $$ donations.
To be correct, Columbia Gorge Community College is preparing students for a career in power generation, industrial electronics, and also wind power. We felt that we should give the students more then just an education in wind power, we decided to give them a skill that could be used in many industries. Electronics is the basis for control of almost all power generation. The other part of the program is in hydraulics and mechanics.
Tom
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Correction:
The number of technicians are only 15,000. I got a little happy with the number of zeros.
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The impact of industrial wind development in the Gorge will mean a devastated landscape. Monstrous pinwheels, sometimes spinning on the ridges by day, and pulsing red lights on the ridges above AND reflecting off of the waters of the Columbia River below...ALL NIGHT LONG, every night of the year. It has already happened outside the east borders of the NSA.
The National Scenic Act was intended to protect the spectacular scenic qualities of what we now know as the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. People and business in the Gorge have stringent development regulations, if development is allowed at all, to protect the Gorge scenery for the present and the future. The views are an economic machine within itself. People travle not only from around North America, but from around the World to take in the magnificant and variable views as one travels from east to west or west to east.
The National Scenic Act did not forsee the 400-500 ft high, non static development that is now occuring just outside of the boundaries or they would have been drawn differently. It is now up to the states of Washington and Oregon and people from around the world to step up and protect what Multinational Corporations will destroy in their pursuit for profits.
It would have been nice if OPB Think Out Loud would have chosen a more balanced panel to present what comes down to a simple concept: Some places are worth protecting and the Gorge is one of them. The Columbia River Gorge Scenic Area and the tourism industries that have developed because of the SPECTACULAR scenic qualities of the Gorge also need a voice at the table. Were they invited?
The public expects better from "publicly" funded programs.
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Cheers to Oregon setting an aggressive goal of producing 25% renewable energy by 2025. However, unless I’m missing something, it appears there has been no statewide plan for conservation. I personally would be more OK with a wind farm in a responsible Gorge location if I knew that for every megawatt being produced by wind, some portion of coal power production was being reduced elsewhere.
As it stands, it appears that wind is only allowing citizens to continue living our plush lifestyles that result in the US consuming 25% of annual global energy production while having only about 5% of the global population. Only now, a little more of that 25% is from wind power.
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I am surprised that Think Out Loud would assemble such a one-sided panel after acknowledging that some wind energy proposals, such as Cascade Wind on Seven Mile Hill, are very controversial. OPB's listeners would surely benefit from a more balanced panel that includes representatives of groups that see both the benefits of renewable energy development and also the risks to neighboring property owners, wildlife habitat, rare or endangered plants and scenic vistas.
In supporting renewable energy development, we have to be careful to properly site and design projects to avoid harm to other important resources. After all, wind energy development is industrial development. Like any industrial development, wind energy facilities must be carefully sited and designed to avoid adverse impacts to the environment.
Projects proposed on the boundaries of the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, including Cascade Wind, Windy Flats and Whistling Ridge, have high likelihoods of harming wildlife habitat, killing an enormous number of birds and adversely affecting scenic resources. For example, Windy Flats (Northeast of The Dalles) is proposed within the “Columbia Hills Important Bird Area” in Klickitat County. This area is home to at least 13 species of raptors including bald eagles, golden eagles, peregrine and prairie falcons and ferruginous hawks. The Whistling Ridge project in Skamania County is proposed within a state designated “Spotted Owl Special Emphasis Area.” These sites also have marginal wind power classifications. Projects have been proposed at these sites only because of close proximity to transmission lines. These proposals have very questionable benefits when measured alongside the harm that they would cause.
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Incredibly one-sided. Where's the balance OPB?
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I am happy that there will be jobs for local people in a region that has a below average income and land owners will have a viable means to make a return on their land investment. I realize that I do receive an indirect benefit from those positives.
I am not supportive of turbines in the gorge though. This is a region filled with a unique aesthetic value that draws visitors here. They come for recreation, vineyards, shopping, art appreciation in conjunction to the beauty.
People have decided to move here for the same reason, bringing their above average paying jobs and families. The jobs they bring are often their own business's that they have figured out how to operate remotely or they are unique individuals who can create their own niche because of extensive education and or experience. This creates a diverse economy rather than a singular investment driven economy that is beholden to a tax incentive.
If we clutter the viewscapes and broadly transform this region into the an industrial energy complex we risk loosing the visitors who fund our economy and high value residents who are creating our ultra niche economy and paying a high share of property and income taxes.
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Good post. There is a serious lack of vision especially when it comes to wind turbines moving into the gorge scenic area right across from Hood River which has been featured in the New York Times, Mens Journal and Outside Magazine as top up and coming towns to live and vacation in.
The amount of jobs these turbines create are extremely minimal, non-local, and short lived. Tax payers are paying to subsidize putting them in non-optimal locations without thought to the environmental and economic impact to other more sustainable and important aspects of the local economy such as tourism. So now when visitors stay in Hood River, instead of looking across to the unbroken ridgeline of the scenic area, they will see a field of blinking red aircraft lights. Short-slghted, and it will hurt wind energy as a whole in the long run.
The marketing literature and photos of the site (Underwood) make it look like a wasteland when in fact the area in a national treasure. It's easy for people in Seattle to rubber stamp wind development as green, but please take a closer look.
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Your points are valid but unecessary. There is no proposal for wind turbines in the scenic area and never will be. Not allowed. First Wind (Seven Mile Hill) met resistance due to its visibility from the Gorge and backed out. Whistling Ridge would only be marginally visible from certain points.
You and concernres talk about visual impacts- some people look at these things and think, "Hmmm, these are progressive, forward-looking people here who care to invest in alternatives to dirty coal or nasty nuclear..."
"And they sure are prettier than a smoke-spewing stack"
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Levelthinking: Your thinking is anything but level. What do you mean "marginally" seen from the scenic area? Where have you been? Seven Mile, Whistling Ridge and the just recently (last couple weeks) taken off the table Middle Mountain Project would all have been seen from many points of the scenic area. What about Maryhill Museum? Is it not part of the Columbia River Gorge? It now is a wasteland. I don't know too many tourists who will return to the dead zone of the east Gorge. I can tell you I talk to "tourists" in the Gorge at least one day each week and they are now cutting their trips off before they hit the turbines. My moto: "I won't spend one dollar within sight of a turbine." Hopefully millions of other people with vote with their pocketbook and will save themselves lots of tax dollars and bankrupt communities.
These leases are the biggest land grab since the railroads. Farmers, leasing thousands of acres for pennies and a hope in perpetuity. Unfortunately growing up in rural America doesn't prepare people for the swindlers who come to their doors wearing a smile.
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Maybe one day -- hopefully one day soon -- reliable fusion will be figured out, and then we can shift to that, and away from the toxic oil such as that which is gushing forth in the Gulf of Mexico...
On her show last night (Wed, 26 May, 2010) Rachel Maddow outlined the parallels between the Deepwater Horizon Disaster and the Ixtoc Disaster of 1979...one glaring difference, however, was the depth of the drilling: Ixtoc was in just 200 feet of water, whereas Deepwater Horizon was in 5000...otherwise the parallels are eerie.
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What a joke. Do you really think that OPB can come to the Gorge, fill a panel with pro-wind puppets and expect to have people who's lives and property are so negatively impacted by this scam come out and pour their hearts out?
This is the Columbia Gorge National Scenic Area. Projects are proposed that will be seen from the Mt. Hood wilderness area. You can already see these things from the top of Mt. Adams. How can you think that it is okay to absolutely destroy one of the most beautiful places in the world and their won't be repercussions?
One of the great raptor landscapes in the northwest, the Columbia Hills, has been devastated by industrial windpower. The east gate of the National Scenic area has been defaced. The storied landscapes in the Mid-Columbia from The Dalles to Walla Walla, including the Oregon Trail and the Lewis and Clark Trail have been disfigured by this abomination.
Environmentalism has truly become a religion. To be one, you are expected to park your brain and listen to the national groups who are funded by the multinational energy companies. You are expected to "believe" that huge industrial swatchs of our rural lands criss-crossed with a maze of dusty road-cuts, flanked with noisy, moving, phallic, oil dripping, giant metal objects are green and clean. If environmentalists did their homework, they would find that windpower is so inefficient and unpredictable that additional CO2-belching fossil fuel-fired plants are need as back-up power just to stabilize the electrical grid. You say, we'll fix it. Yeah. Just like the waste problem with nuclear and the oil spill problems with off-shore oil drilling. We always put off the real environmental problems. And what about the bird and bat kills! What about them? What happens when we have to face the music on that one? You can cover up and hide for only so long. What are you going to do when the birds and bats go the way of the salmon. We know their importance.
As I type this I am listening to Fresh Air's interview with Green Day about their award-winning song "American Idiot." I would recommend that you all spend a little time listening to their song and then come back, put together a real panel and have a discussion.
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Hi stoppropagandism,
We taped the show Thursday night with the guests listed and a wonderful audience in The Dalles. It'll be up and available to listen to here shortly. Take a listen and let us know what you think.
Thanks,
Emily
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The link to the show is up now. Look at the bottom of the post. Or just click here.
Thanks,
Emily
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Stopp, please stop...there is no perfect solution unless you want to live in a cave (but we won't all fit). These things are so much more environmentally friendly than the current alternatives...instead of 'no, no, nimby', people might consider ridding the country of the bad alternatives, particulate-filled smokestacks, nuke waste plants, etc.
Instead of 'no, no', if you did your homework, you'd know that the bat and bird issus are being addressed. There are currently systems available to these wind farms that detect birds and bats by radar and can slow or stop the turbines til the birds pass. They are sophisticated enough to actually identify the type bird approaching by its flight pattern, size, etc. They're experimenting with noise deterrants. People could suggest a wind farm use these systems instead of just saying no...
Birds & bats will not go extinct from wind farms. The #1 bird killer is buildings (flying into windows). Should we remove these buildings? (after all, they're not even generating power haha). The # of birds killed by cars, power lines, cats, oil spills far dwarf the # killed by wind turbines (http://www.fws.gov/birds/mortality-fact-sheet.pdf). There's no efforts to stop the kills by these things...at least the wind industry is trying.
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I wonder if the fish ladder enthusiasts who helped bury celilo spoke with such authority.
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After reading the previous posts, I see that Wind, Oil, Coal, Nuclear, and Hydro are "out" and "Sci-Fi" power sources are "in". This should work well!
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There are no free lunches! Any energy production source has negative impacts on the environment. We need to stop looking for that free lunch and stop pretending we've found it. Let's weigh the true costs of production of all energy sources and all of the environmental consequences--not let the companies who are currently raiding the national budget and the world's resources do it for us.
Let's talk about taking responsibility for our own consumption. If you have five kids you need to come up with a family plan that allows you to provide enough housing, energy, food production, etc., for the consequences of that reproduction. Not just quip back that if I have the money, I can have as many kids as I want, and then throw them into some collective pool of responsibility when they turn 18, and expect the rest of us to come up with energy and resources to sustain them.
As a society, we love to segment freedom and responsibility. It is my freedom to have as much as I want and your responsibility to provide me with the resources.
How about an energy quota for each person living on the planet. Each person is required to live within that energy quota. If you live below it, you have more to pass on to your child. Those who want to do more than replace themselves, will know that each of their offspring will live with and pass on less than a full quota. If we looked at energy in this way, we would not constantly be required to fuel an ever growing energy demand with no bounds on growth either in population or consumption. Why should my environment be destroyed to provide heat for your five houses that are empty most of the time? Why should my environment be destroyed because, for whatever reason, you've decided to go forth and multiply and multiply and multiply?
If you think that you are somehow special and deserve more, convince those who are leaving the world without an heir to leave their energy quota to you and yours.
I know that expressing problems associated with wind, oil, coal, nuclear, and hydro doesn't just "get on" with providing you and yours with more, and isn't what you want to hear. If we were all unwilling to go beyond short quips and short answers for solutions, the state of affairs would be even worse than it currently is. Imagine that!
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Well said, Stopp re: consumption responsibility. You outline a difficult to implement system, but logical and equitable.
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That was a horrible horrible show. I would encourage OPB to do this again with a balanced panel. A wheat farmer that makes his money of windturbines, a student that is studying to become a wind technition, an employee of a wind technology company, and an economist who doesn't like tourism and doesn't see it as an economic driver. There is a big controversy here and you didn't even touch it because you didn't invite any guests that could speak to the controversial aspects of the wind development spreading west. The geography is not the same in the scenic corridor as in the east at all. Can you please do another show where you invite some halfway balanced discussion that can properly raise environmental issues, planning issues, effects on important industries such as tourism, agritourism, recreation? Bingen, WA is home to the biggest employer in the region which is Insuitu, owned by Boeing and there are many highly paid engineers employed there. I think around 600 permanent jobs as opposed to the quoted 35 permanent jobs per 300 turbines. They locate here because of the quality of life. What about the fact that high paying jobs are moving to areas such as Hood River, White Salmon, Underwood, etc because of the quality of life and scenic beauty. The wind farm on the show had 300 500' turbines on it and created only 35 permanent jobs and paid one landowner. This might be a net positive for that community but what would it do to an area such as Hood River where its impacts other industries negatively? Your guest economist used the argument of Aluminum Smelters and how they did not produce many jobs by exckuded other viable options (Opportunity Cost Measurement). I was seeing a lot of parallels here with Turbines. They are being subsidized because they are not inheritely profitable now. They produce few long term jobs and they can have actual negative impacts on other industries such as recreation and tourism if located in the wrong place. Yet there is no plan in OR or WA for how to properly place these farms.
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Thanks to Think Out Loud for holding this forum in The Dalles. I just listened to the program on-line and would like to make the following comment:
Toward the end of the program Emily Harris said, "In economic terms we heard that tourism is just a tiny fraction of the economy here. . ."
In fact, tourism is a major component of the Gorge economy. I don't have hard numbers at my fingertips, but a quick search of documents turned up the following:
Hood River County's official website:
Tourism
The many recreational attractions bring thousands of visitors to the county each year making tourism one of the largest economic sectors in the region.
Gorge Future Forum Report: (http://www.gorgecommission.org/client/FF_Final_Report_complete.pdf)
Top Changes Noted: economic shifts from natural resources to new businesses and tourism
Economy
In 2005, the top five employers of the Mid-Columbia (Hood River, Wasco, Skamania and Klickitat counties) were government, agriculture/forestry, leisure/hospitality, retail trade, education and health services.
And this from the Columbia River Gorge Commission:
2. Change in Orientation of the Gorge Economy (Broughton Final Order, PA 06-01, pages 15, 16)
Since 1991, the Gorge has experienced dramatic changes due to growth in the travel and tourism industry. Both Oregon and Washington have become increasingly reliant on tourism as a strong economic driver.
The most significant annualized growth is reflected in Skamania County, with an average increase of 11.8% for the years 1991 through 2005. The change is two to four times greater than the neighboring rural counties and the States. The considerable growth in travel and tourism in the Gorge confirms the significant socio-economic change since adoption of the Management Plan.
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I was also surprised when Dallas Fridley, a regional economist for the Oregon Employment Division, downplayed tourism as an economic driver. I'm going to ask him to respond here as well.
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Just talked to Tony Wendel, a colleague of Dallas at the Oregon Employment Department. (Dallas is on vacation and may be able to add to this thread next week.) To look at agriculture and tourism, here's what Mr. Wendel said: In 2009, in Hood River County, the estimated average annual employment in agriculture was 2380 jobs. (Interestingly, it's an estimate because the Employment Department only gets hard data from farms with a payroll higher than $20,000 per quarter.) In lesiure/hospitality, it was 1751 jobs. That's not tourism straight up; it would include non-tourism business and tourism's impact is felt in other sectors as well.
In Wasco County, the jobs numbers were 1740 for ag and 1156 for leisure/hospitality. In Sherman County, it was 140 for ag and 131 for leisure.
Of course, jobs are only one measure of economic impact. There's also income generated by those jobs, sales and revenue of businesses, how much is paid to local governments in taxes or fees, and probably many more important factors.
Maybe some lingering questions from this program are how windmills impact the scenery and wildlife in the Gorge — and will that have an economic impact?
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Heard back from Dallas Fridley! Please see below his comments on how to measure the economic impact of agriculture v. tourism v. wind in Oregon, and the economic impact of wind energy development in Washington. His email was slightly edited for the web. - Emily
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From Dallas Fridley, Regional economist for the Oregon Employement Department:
Not every county is going to show a big job impact from
agriculture. It is also important to look at self employment - which
largely defines the ag sector in Gilliam, Sherman and Wheeler counties.Beyond jobs in the fields agriculture supports others - for instance, in
Hood River County the pear crop is sent to packing houses where it will be sorted and packed for cold storage and later sold - these firms are in wholesale trade. Wasco County processes its cherries (Oregon Cherry Growers) and those jobs represent a large chunk of its total
manufacturing.Payments to land owners by the wind industry are not counted in agriculture, they are lease payments so basically a real
estate transaction.
Tourism isn't an easy sector to measure - for a variety of reasons.
Oregon doesn't have a sales tax - and neighboring Washington communities do. A grocery store can have tourism related sales - but local incomes represent a bigger chunk of its sales. Likewise, eating and drinking places depend upon the tourism season for a big part of their annual sales - but they wouldn't survive without local diners. There is a good resource available for quantifying travel impacts in Oregon and its counties thanks to the annual reports prepared by Dean Runyan and Assoc. Here is a link.
The tax issue is difficult to answer. I recall that the historic
Columbia Gorge Hotel recently sold last year for about $4-million. Hood River County has about 16 lodging facilities (not counting vacation homes) - and 553 farms with 26,952 acres (avg = 49 acres). I'll guess agriculture brings in more local tax revenue.
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More from Dallas Fridley:
The wind industry is still new - and right now we are seeing primarily
the construction impacts. From a job and payroll standpoint the
construction impact is huge but also transitory. I'll point you to the
Employment Department's green job study here which shows all
green jobs accounted for 3 percent of Oregon's private, state government and local government employment in 2008.
Here is a link to the American Wind Energy Association's inventory of
wind energy projects by state.You can pick existing projects or those under construction - it looks like the Washington has about the same number as Oregon. -
I, too, just listened to the show and was surprised by the comment about tourism being a small part of the Gorge economy. I suggest you walk the streets of Hood River and poll the businesses. You will find that the business for the month of July is equal to the entire months of January, February, March and April. August is equal to or greater than July. September remains high because many tourists wait until after those with children are back in school. The rest of the year totaled, can't equal those three months. These are real numbers, not pie in the sky speculation.
Those sales are made to people who are here to attend weddings, family and friend reunions, visit their children who have relocated to this beautiful environment. They drive up from Portland, drive east from Yakima, Selah, Ellensburg, LaGrande, north from Bend. People drive to the Gorge from Seattle and Olympia. Sometimes they come for the day, sometimes the weekend or a week. They all come to hike, fish, bird, picnic, see the waterfalls, see the mountains, photograph, paint or buy art. They come to buy fruit, bring their kids to a farm and see how food is grown or to see real animals. They come to visit a multitude of wineries and vineyards. Have a honeymoon. Stay at the friendly, beautiful hotels, motels, bed and breakfasts and come here just to go back in time a little. They come for business or club meetings at Skamania Lodge or the Best Western. They come to a place where people remember your name and remember the last time you came through. Don't be so foolish as to down play or over look the real economy of the Gorge and Hood River in particular. People from all over the Gorge own businesses in the community of Hood River. The economy feeds the entire Columbia River Gorge.
Most communities in the Gorge haven't figured out yet that tourism depends on being open on Saturday and Sunday and after 5 p.m. in the summer. When they figure that out, they'll be surprised at the results.
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I agree. Emily I'll gladly pay for you to stay a night in a top hotel in Hood River, roam the streets, have a nice meal, look out your window at the epic ridgeline across the way in WA and Gorge corridor and then imagine a sea of red flashing aircraft lights piercing the sky. In fact you can see that sea of of lights out to the east from over 40 miles away.
Email me. I'm serious.
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Responding to concenedres - thank you for your generous offer! I have visited Hood River many times over the years, as a child and young adult here and since I've returned. I've tried my hand at windsurfing, I've enjoyed the restaurants, I've taken the train up Mt. Hood, and I've participated in the Gorge Games. As I mentioned above, I'm going to ask Dallas Fridley, the regional economist from the Oregon Employment Division, to respond to the comments about the role of tourism in the Gorge economy.
Your description of the lights reminds me of a time I was driving, late, on a small, unfamiliar road in Germany. I came around a corner and was surrounded by red lights. I had no idea what they were, and I was kind of freaked out and very confused. A construction site in the sky? Aliens? Finally I heard the noise of the blades turning (it was kind of a lop, lop, as I remember; it was not very windy) and figured out what it was.
A lot of people seem to feel those lights are more unsightly than the turbines themselves. Do you?
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I worked at a windsurfing shop in Hood River and much of the shop's income came from tourists, especially Canadians. Visitors from all over the world came to the shop. In the winter months much of the business was international.
Many wind enthusiasts moved to Oregon and Washington to be close to the Gorge sports life style and one of the best wind sport areas in the world. Many of the people I hung out with were from Europe, Central and South America.
While tourism is an important aspect of Gorge life, over time I felt that well-heeled locals and transplants could thrive regardless of tourism. The poor, on the other hand, scraped together a hand-to-mouth existence.
I knew several people who lived in vans down by the river and their lives were shambles. The song Welcome to the Hotel California summarized their plight: you can visit the Gorge, but for some, it was damn hard to escape. I witnessed people who lusted to be Boys of Summer but they ended up destitute with no Plan B. Some pursued dreams to the detrimient of their reality.
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@Emily Harris
Re: The lights being the most visually unsightly.
Yes, I do think the lights are visually the greatest issue. However, this is only one aspect of impact. As you know the landscape and climate changes extremely rapidly from rain forest to desert along the river.So not all wind energy sites are the same in the least.
There are definitely places that are probably better suited to Wind development than others. Because there seems to be no actual plan for proper siting and development, large land-owners see this as a gold rush and the government agencies are also eager to rubber stamp new projects.
Most notably the proposed Whistling Ridge project which would be the FIRST wind project to be developed on timber land (ie. Forest). Not only is it forest land, but it's also smack across from Hood River and visible from many many scenic area viewpoints. It's sited above scenic area land. (First tower less than 100' from scenic area boundary) The only reason this land was excluded from the scenic area was to protect timber land and timber jobs. It's owned by SDS lumber.
NOTE: that SDS reported 8 new permanent jobs will be created by the project that will impact one of the up and coming bright spots of growth in OR, WA (Hood River Area). Where jobs are changing from resource based to knowledge based. Aerospace, Remote Knowledge Workers (Software and others), Recreation, Outdoor Sports Industry, Tourism, etc...
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I've been living in the Gorge for three years and have been visiting for over 10 before that and I challenge anyone to start surveying Kiters and windsurfers to ask them if they would continue coming here if we put up wind turbines to start generating our power. There is no doubt they would say, "are you kidding? of course I'm still coming to ride!"
To say this industry would kill the Tourism industry is classic fear mongering. I would go as far as to say many tourists would even prefer to come to a location that powered itself and promoted clean energy, especially when you consider that these projects will go that much further to providing the needed energy to shut down the Boardman plant, which by the way is causing real negative impacts to our natural world, not perceived. The Ski Industry has already figured this out and resorts like Aspen and Mt Hood Meadows market their effort at low impact operations as another reason to come and experience their area.
This industry makes imminent sense for our region and its frustrating to see short-sighted interests attempting to prevent these developments from becoming reality. I can only hope that someday soon all residents and visitors of the Gorge can enjoy the benefits of electricity without the environmental damage from energy production tied to oil and the terrible calamaties we are currently witnessing.
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You will note that when describing the tourist economy I did not mention windsurfers, skiers or any other the other "me" crowd. They come, take, and for the most part contribute little. The big misconception about tourism is that the "play" crowd is our bread and butter. The vast majority of tourists to the Gorge come to enjoy the scenic beauty and all that it entails.
As for the "terrible calamaties we are currently witnessing" I don't think anyone is fool enough to think wind power on every vista in the country would stop us from drilling every drop of oil or building one gas-fired plant, or one coal plant or one nuclear plant. We need them all for when the wind doesn't blow. How can you talk about windpower's immenance to our region when you've been here three years? Green washing doesn't make it "low impact" nor does it make up for the negative effect of clearcutting all of the trees to turn the mountain into your playground.
You may be attributing the short-sightedness to the wrong crowd.
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Hi stoppropagandism,
I'm not sure it's imminent that wind power will be a major part of the Gorge economy. The show is part of our series on Oregon's rural economy. It asks what part of the economy wind is at the moment and brings up some of the challenges wind development faces.
I know there are many people organized to oppose massive wind farms, and I know there have been projects pulled. I'm also getting the sense some people, even involved in that work, may feel frustrated and perhaps powerless by what seems like an overwhelming trend to build windmills. What do you think?
About the three years, Think Out Loud has been on the air 2 1/2 years. I grew up in Portland, left for college, and returned as a young adult. I moved away in the mid-90s for work and came back in late 2007. The depth of conversation on this show is always better when people with personal experience and deep knowledge over time add what they know.
Thank you for doing that,
Emily
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A group associated with the Cape Wind project (Mass.) went to Denmark to question business owners about how much decline they'd been seeing since the turbines went in. The mom & pop businesses replied that they'd actually seen a bit of increase from some people coming to see the turbines. I'm not saying that would happen here, but rather no tourist impact at all. There's hardly a place in the Gorge where you can see these things- you have to go up above 5,000' on Hood or to farthest east extent of the NSA (Biggs). We'd have to tell our tourists to leave if they wanted to see them.
And I would submit that the "play" crowd has to eat and have a bed as much as the "scenic" tourist. Perhaps they spend MORE on accomodation, since many stay for a week as opposed to the day-tripping "scenic" crowd. A tourist is a tourist and they help our economy.
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stoppropagandism. It's clear you are misinformed regarding your assertion that bringing windpower online does not impact the way in which our country meets its energy needs. Many examples exist that show that wind resources reduces the need for other forms of power even given its characteristic of being intermittent power. Denmark is indeed a great example who's power supply is over 20% renewable and much cleaner than the US's. They couldn't achieve this with today's technology without their wind turbines. I'm guessing most of your "fools" can understand this.
Regarding, your comment on the other "me" crowd. I'm curious what statistics you base your claim that "The vast majority of tourists to the Gorge come to enjoy the scenic beauty and all that it entails." By that assertion we could ban windsurfing, kiting, snowsports, white water rafting, etc. from the Gorge and it would have very little impact on the gorge economy since the "vast majority" aren't coming out here for that any way. Do you really believe that? Have you ever heard of DaKine, Ezzy, Windwing, Slingshot, Chinook Sailing, and North Sails? Yeah, they all have substantial presences in the Gorge if not headquarters, and they all support the "me" crowd.
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The Grande Ronde Valley now faces a possible large wind development along the very edge of one town and visible to all in the valley.
The money flow that I foresee will go primarily to the few landowners along the siting area and to the county bank account. Thus county officials have supported this project behind the backs of local citizenry. Most residents will actually be losing both money and livability if this project moves forward.
The very same corporate/local government collusion fueled the UNsustainable logging of this area over the last generations. Now we are left with straggly second growth forests, mill closures and economic collapse.
The Green Washing of large corporate wind farms is generated by the government money offered to huge transnational corporations who will be making the big money. Locals will lose in the short and long term. This is not a matter of 'not in my backyard'. Huge windfarms are NOT green. They have huge footprints that will not be paid off during their lifetimes.
Green Energy development should favor local projects NOT business as usual centralized, energy giants with hands in our pockets that destroy environments at will. Think BP and the Gulf Coast.
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One of the great benefits about living where we do is the open space and the importance we as ranchers put on the quality of life our culture provides not only for our families, but for society as well. This industrial complex (Antelope Ridge Wind Project in Northeastern Union County, Oregon), not wind farms so amicably named, will forever change our landscape and lifestyle. When these industrial sites are allowed, they devalue not only the land, but our community and culture as well. Regarding private property rights, this goes beyond the individuals right to do as they please and land use planning is not "meddlesome" but a protection for the entire community. Although this county somehow has allowed the zoning change, specifically for this wind industry, it definitely opposes the original intent of maintaining the land, and our values, both economically and culturally.
Wind projects are not self-sustainable. If it were not for the monetary incentives coming from our federal, state and possibly county taxes again (Strategic Investment Program), this industry would never exist. As seventh generation Ranchers, we are proven stewards of our resources, and we CAN speak to passing on healthy and vital property. If the Antelope project is allowed, it will damage the land with erosion by the boulevards constructed, water quality will be impaired with sediment loading, the invasive weeds that such tremendous soil disturbance will allow, loss of open space and the damage to the Big Game habitat, as the previous Elkhorn site has demonstrated.
This industrial complex, if allowed, will change our community forever, and the heritage that has been passed down through preceding generations will be lost. The Antelope Wind project is not about preserving the family ranch, local jobs, or economic benefits. It IS about a company, based in Lisbon, Portugal, taking millions of our dollars and depleting our quality of life forever.
Curtis W. Martin
V P Ranch
51840 Hwy. 237
North Powder, Oregon 97867
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I am glad to read that not everyone has been lured into believing these wind farms are our salvation. As one who moved to Eastern Oregon just because of the quietude openness and wildlife that DOES abound here. People in the valley think there is nothing here but sagebrush and rattlesnakes. There are those and much more. I will be directly impacted more than most when the 300 wind turbines are built and not beneficially. My husband and I will be directly downwind of that project and will have all the noise and visual effects from them!
I have attended the meetings of more than one company and project that we would and will be affected by and have heard all of the propaganda of how wonderful and "green" they are and how many jobs they will create. I have been lied to my face by some of the representatives and I have seen the health of neighbors decline due to have a windfarm placed operating almost on top of them. Depending on where and what size generators these companies plan to build, they follow either county or state rules and most of the counties and the state, for that matter, don't have much in guidelines to go by.
As another writer has already mentioned, the companies I have had to deal with are LLC's, which means limited liability, so in the contract they state the will dismantle any wind turbine when required. Well, if it costs as much to tear down as to build, what do you think? At a rate of 25% efficiency, maybe maximum of 30%, I wouldn't want to be a line manager at a manufacturing plant with that kind of efficiency. And no, we still have to have an energy producer that is reliable such as dams, coal, natural gas, etc. They have pushed as fast and hard as they can for the federal and state dollars.
What we really need to think about is conservation of all of our resources.
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Interstate 84 plows through the Gorge and yet some are suggesting that the addition of wind turbines takes away from the authenticity of the area. I contend that the imposition of a four lane freeway violates the "authenticity" of the area much more so than the sublime presence of wind turbines.
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Thanks for an outstanding program that really strikes my interest. I am apalled at what the turbines are doing to the gorge. Tourism aside, there is nothing like the gorge, and it should be preserved. Ever heard the saying: "What we do (with our resources) today is what we borrow from our grandchildren"? One man mentioned they are hypnotizing. They are. And they don't work together, so they are a terrible distraction for driving. I expect to see increased wrecks. They should not be located where there are main highways. The program tomorrow is on the ocean. When I see the turbines I wonder why wind or water power at the ocean is not as viable as what is being doen already.
I am a recycling conservationist who would like to see us become far less oil dependent, but the placement of these turbines, what they do to the bats (farming consequences) and birds and drivers all give me concern.
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Until we stop having babies or unplug our water heaters, we are going to need more electricity. Most of us want at least a portion of it to be renewable. Wind is currently the most easily and economically installed. Many condem the subsidies but if you were to consider how much the hydro electric system on the Columbia cost, and who paid for it, and how much it has contributed to the well being of the PNW, you might consider how these wind turbines will look in 10 or 15 years, when they are paid for and just pumping out electriciy with no fuel cost and no carbon footprint.
If everyone decided they didn't want to look at turbines, would they prefer a nuclear plant, or coal, or natural gas, or a new hydro facility. Do they not want to look at or have these options for their neighbors as well? What if there isn't a place to put them that has no people to offend?
It will all come down to drawing lines on a map and depriving some land owners and wind developers of their right to build thus keeping some of the projects away from the most politically powerfull groups of preservationist.
I believe the turbines on the east end of the gorge give all who pass by on I84, the distinct impression the we in the PNW support clean energy. Dams and wind turbines.
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Dallas Fridley's description of life in Hood River was well stated. It can be a pain 9 months out of the year to go about your daily business, run errands, find parking and make left turns. Not to begrudge anyone a good time (I windsurf and moutain bike myself), but living in someone else's vacation destination can be a hassle. We enjoy the vitality and benefits your interest in our area brings, but can't help but smile and feel a bit relieved as the crowded streets empty at the end of the season and your tourist town starts to feel a little more like our home town.
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Comments are now closed.
My concern is the number of people who complete the wind energy training program will dwarf the available number of jobs.
I loved living in the Gorge but my service job didn't pay enough to offset expensive housing and living costs.
The Gorge requires sustainable living wage jobs so wind energy might help. I view wind energy as a temporary step stone technology until future energy technology makes wind energy obsolete.
Wind farms, dams, coal and nuclear technologies will be obsolete and replaced within 100 years.