Environment & Energy

Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin

(108,023 posts) Thu Apr 4, 2019, 09:31 PM Apr 2019

We Fact-Checked President Trump's Dubious Claims on the Perils of Wind Power

WASHINGTON — It’s no secret that President Trump really, really dislikes wind power. He’s been vocal on the subject for years, ever since a battle with Scottish officials over a plan to build what he called a “really ugly wind farm” within sight of his golf resort in Aberdeen.

More recently, in rallies and speeches, Mr. Trump has stepped up his attacks on wind turbines, suggesting that their noise can cause cancer (there’s absolutely no evidence of this) and predicting power failures when the wind stops blowing (also not true).

Here’s a closer look at a few of his recent comments.

You might get cancer. (You won’t.)

During a sometimes rambling digression about wind turbines at the National Republican Congressional Committee's annual spring dinner in Washington on Tuesday, Mr. Trump said: “They say the noise causes cancer.”

The suggestion that turbine noises cause cancer is completely unfounded. “The American Cancer Society is unaware of any credible evidence linking the noise from windmills to cancer,” a spokeswoman for the group said in an email.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/03/climate/fact-check-trump-windmills.html?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=WYM-04042019&utm_content=WYM-04042019+CID_09a5cd35a7de5695c73c157631aef1cc&utm_source=campaignmonitor%20outsidemagazine&utm_term=you-know-whos%20zany%20claims%20about%20wind%20power

Of course I don't think anyone here bought the cancer bullshit.

5 replies

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Highlight:

We Fact-Checked President Trump's Dubious Claims on the Perils of Wind Power (Original Post) Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin Apr 2019 OP

Windmills make him angry, which releases stress hormones, which lead to cancer. unblock Apr 2019 #1

I wonder who the right-wing shitbag is that planted this idea John Fante Apr 2019 #2

Noise doesn't cause cancer, but making coke from coal for the production of steel does. NNadir Apr 2019 #3

It's the growth that's important - renewables generated 17.6% of the electricity in the US in 2018 Finishline42 Apr 2019 #5

There's a book out that traces the bogus health claims against windmills Finishline42 Apr 2019 #4

unblock

(52,252 posts)

1. Windmills make him angry, which releases stress hormones, which lead to cancer.

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Thu Apr 4, 2019, 09:34 PM

Apr 2019

So there

John Fante

(3,479 posts)

2. I wonder who the right-wing shitbag is that planted this idea

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Thu Apr 4, 2019, 10:05 PM

Apr 2019

into Trump's empty head. Hannity? Rush? Alex Jones?

NNadir

(33,525 posts)

3. Noise doesn't cause cancer, but making coke from coal for the production of steel does.

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Thu Apr 4, 2019, 10:25 PM

Apr 2019

If Trump were remotely intelligent, he would love the wind industry, not because it's bad for the fossil fuel industry, but because it's good for the coal industry, if not here, then in China.

According to an article in Nature Geoscience, the following is true:

However, this transition will also cause much additional global demand for raw materials: for an equivalent installed capacity, solar and wind facilities require up to 15 times more concrete, 90 times more aluminium, and 50 times more iron, copper and glass than fossil fuels or nuclear energy (Supplementary Fig. 1). Yet, current production of wind and solar energy meets only about 1% of global demand, and hydroelectricity meets about 7% (ref. 2).

If the contribution from wind turbines and solar energy to global energy production is to rise from the current 400 TWh (ref. 2) to 12,000 TWh in 2035 and 25,000 TWh in 2050, as projected by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF)7, about 3,200 million tonnes of steel, 310 million tonnes of aluminium and 40 million tonnes of copper will be required to build the latest generations of wind and solar facilities (Fig. 2).

Nature Geoscience volume 6, pages 894–896 (2013)

Trump is clueless on the topic of energy and external costs, but he's certainly not the only person who qualifies on this score.

There are people who think the wind industry matters. It doesn't. It's trivial. Combined with the other widely embraced urban mythos fantasy, solar energy, it doesn't produce 2% of the world's energy. It's done nothing, absolutely nothing to address climate change, this after nearly half a century of wild cheering for it.

Have a nice evening.

Finishline42

(1,091 posts)

5. It's the growth that's important - renewables generated 17.6% of the electricity in the US in 2018

Reply to NNadir (Reply #3)

Fri Apr 5, 2019, 06:05 AM

Apr 2019

The more we build the cheaper it gets.

The amount of electricity from renewables has doubled since 2008.

The amount coming from Hydro has been basically flat so the growth has been in wind and solar.

From EIA

Renewable generation provided a new record of 742 million megawatthours (MWh) of electricity in 2018, nearly double the 382 million MWh produced in 2008. Renewables provided 17.6% of electricity generation in the United States in 2018.

Nearly 90% of the increase in U.S. renewable electricity between 2008 and 2018 came from wind and solar generation. Wind generation rose from 55 million MWh in 2008 to 275 million MWh in 2018 (6.5% of total electricity generation), exceeded only by conventional hydroelectric at 292 million MWh (6.9% of total generation).

U.S. solar generation has increased from 2 million MWh in 2008 to 96 million MWh in 2018. Solar generation accounted for 2.3% of electricity generation in 2018. Solar generation is generally categorized as small-scale (customer-sited or rooftop) solar installations or utility-scale installations. In 2018, 69% of solar generation, or 67 million MWh, was utility-scale solar.

https://www.eia.gov/todayinenergy/detail.php?id=38752

Finishline42

(1,091 posts)

4. There's a book out that traces the bogus health claims against windmills

Reply to Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin (Original post)

Fri Apr 5, 2019, 05:52 AM

Apr 2019

Here's a link to the down load of:

Wind Turbine Syndrome - A communicated disease by Simon Chapman and Fiona Crichton

Link to tweet

In the little bit I have read they:

Compares the sound of a wind farm to living in the flight path of an airport or living in an urban area

The similar objections to cell towers 20-30 years ago.

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