Lackawanna Windmills Go National
The Associated Press lays the groundwork:
Wind turbines tower over old smokestacks
An "urban" wind farm has sprouted along a stretch of Lake Erie too polluted for much else.
Eight towering turbines slowly spin near old smokestacks and other industrial remnants on a waterfront site where Bethlehem Steel once stood tall with 25,000 employees.
"It's quite a contrast," said Norman Polanski, mayor of this city south of Buffalo, "the old rusting away while the new rises above it."
The rise of the $40 million project has been a lesson, too, for residents of this Rust Belt city who have lamented the lack of activity on the waterfront since the steel plant began its decline 30 years ago. Today, the steel business employs only about 268 people, at a finishing mill operated by Mittal Steel. Mittal acquired the operation in a merger after Bethlehem Steel sold its assets in bankruptcy to International Steel Group in 2003.
Residents now see that new development is possible, Polanski said.
"Change is in the air," he said. "You can see it and you can feel it and the confidence level for the people is up there. It has changed the attitude of people here."
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- 13 Comments
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zimmermann
Just got wind (pardon pun) that RCR's Rick Lenard is escorting NBC tomorrow on a cruise to view the windmills.
BRO has been out twice viewing and today we shot a interview we'll air tomorrow here. They're really neat looking. Yes, you'll hear the swoosh-swoosh of their sounds, but today we sailed and heard the trains in the southtowns streaming by--choooo-choooo even louder, and voila, green progress goes on.
They're absolutely beautiful, especially from the Skyway. Somebody should open a mexican food stand underneath them, called Man of La Muncha; what say?
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gaustad
Excellent and creative re-use idea the will give Buffalo National publication and help change our image. alos very lucrative business idea.
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Auburner
This story was covered by the NY TImes about 3 or 4 weeks ago... Above the fold on the Metro section... I commend them and hope Ricky Smith and the Ethonal project has the same luck
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icecreamsub
but does NBC cover at all how the flight path of those migratory birds has been altered by a few hundred feet?
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jooliecoolie
there won't be any birds at all if we don't start using alternate energy sources.
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BuffaloDrift
Jooliecoolie: I think icecreamsub's comments required a to be included...At least that's how I read it. However, I agree with your comment.
Overall, the wind mills are very cool, and a step in the right direction. Now, let's couple this with more electric car initiatives and paint our town even greener.
BTW, where are our autoexecutives from the number of local auto parts plants? Why don't they start a new venture, seek funding from our local banking industry and start a new electric car company? Seems like they could use the soon to be idle American Axle site. Get some of the (cheap) hydropower (and wind power eventually) for the plant. Pull in our local expertise from the people who used to work at these places and start producing the BEV (Buffalo Electric Vehicle). Since the current big 3 or 2 or ? can't seem to shift gears, it's time for something new.
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SLEEPL8
BuffaloDrift - Once oil gluttons run out of product and spend less money lobbying in Washington you will see more tax initiatives etc. for cleaner automobile production. I wish it was as easy as putting some investors together to fund the engineering and production of a greener automobile but there is alot of underlying bullshit layed down buy big oil companies that slows any progress toward the manufacturing of cleaner engines. The technology is out there and just needs to be put to use.
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stinker
See how fast things can get done. If they where over the cityline in Buffalo they would still be fighting about them.
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jdanielsid
"...An "urban" wind farm has sprouted along a stretch of Lake Erie too polluted for much else..." That about sums up my feelings on this. In general, I think the country would be better off going through some rolling blackouts to teach everyone that the Earth's resources are not infinite, and promote conservation as a solution. As for Buffalo's polluted unused waterfront, I suppose putting up some wind turbines is at least better for our image, even though there is little benefit. 88% of our enerergy used upstate comes from nuclear energy and wind is only 1% now, and estimated to grow to 7% in the next twenty years. We must look at what is being sacrificed for this paltry benefit. There are some beautiful, historical landscapes and communities that are being destroyed right now in our state because some Industrial Wind Farms sprang up so quickly that no one had time to protest, let alone study the negative effects that Industrial Wind can have. There are less destructive options available, such as solar energy. Industrial Wind is just one more "big business" trend that masks itself behind the need for cleaner energy resources. There is much more to be learned before jumping on the "Green" band wagon.
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exnihilo
Quite true, SLEEPL8.
Ironically, there were actually a few “green cars” produced in Buffalo during the mid-‘70s. Calspan produced a few demonstrator models for the RSV program that upheld and exceeded all of the standards set by the DOT, which included crash worthiness at 50 mph (providing safety for the driver and passengers, including “exotic” technologies that are now commonplace - like airbags - and for pedestrians - composite panels that were spongy or gave way to dampen the force of impact), ultra low emissions, and fuel efficiency in the 40-50 mpg range while delivering equitable performance for the day.
Only one of the Calspan’s vehicles survived in “usable” condition into the ‘90s. Eventually, due to politicking and mishandling of resources, the NHTSA, which had taken possession of all of the RSV assets (60 vehicles in total), used this car for crash tests in 1991. This vehicle, built in the ’76 – ’78 timeframe, delivered side impact survivability ratings that were not rivaled until the last three or four years, despite purposefully inactivation of the side airbags.
With the DOT and NHTSA playing into the hands of the established auto industry and fuel interests, there is very little realistic chance of an upstart company delivering a viable product to the market. There is just too little political clout and economic might contained within the vestigial remains of the Buffalo auto industry to make this a real option while still maintaining independence.
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al-alo
Buffalo should just build a municipally owned wind farm on the lake, and use the profits to subsidize power for the entire city. wind power here is inevietable, lets get ahead of the curve and make some $$$!
umm - wasnt "man of la mancha" set in spain? im pretty sure spanish and mexican are not entirely interchangable.
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Auburner
Al-alo I agree, with all that wind coming off of Lake Erie, Buffalo has a chance to make itself into the renewable energy capitol of the country. We already have Niagara for hydro... This could be big...
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tinker
Will NBC cover the irony that Western New York residents pay some of the highest rates for electricity in the country despite our proximity to all of these renewable energy sources? Maybe they could throw in a statement about our water rates despite sitting on the greatest freshwater reserve in the world.
Build more windmills and power projects to subsidize downstate development and to line the pockets of political appointees. I wish we had the ability to review the books of the New York Power Authority and the New York Water Authority; however much like the New York Thruway Authority, they operate without oversight or review.
This is something that we all pay dearly for every month!
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AuburnAve
What about all the "hot air" we get from City Hall? Couldn't a wind turbine generate like a gazillion kilowatts if we put one outside the window of Tim Wannamaker?
stinker - I was thinking the exact same thing. The fastest completed development I have seen in WNY. Almost as fast as the demo of Atwater.
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