Windmills coming to public land near you

[Deleted member 18333]

I think it is fair to say that large O&G producers have seen the light that folks in this country have decided , for the most part, they do not want black electrons anymore. They want green electrons. BP, Exxon and such have made a strategic choice to appeal to this way of thinking. They know full well that for the time being we are almost completely reliant on FF's and they will make money on that. But as time goes on they will need to branch out into more customer friendly ways to generate energy. The coal companies resisted and one only needs to Google bankrupt coal companies to see how that is working out.

I am also confident that Rob Bishop and his friends only support this Bill because they only see a benefit in public land if its generating revenue for a private entity. They don't care if its got an oil well, dragline, wind turbine or solar panel on it to do it. They see millions of acres of public land that does not have mineable coal, gold, copper or silver under it or O&G under it. Well if you cant make money off of what's underneath you might as well put something on it that will make money. They don't care one cent about the funding for F&W because they are informed enough to know it amounts to pennies.

 

[brockel]

Anyone around Casper know if there’s any truth to this?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

I think it is fair to say that large O&G producers have seen the light that folks in this country have decided , for the most part, they do not want black electrons anymore. They want green electrons. BP, Exxon and such have made a strategic choice to appeal to this way of thinking. They know full well that for the time being we are almost completely reliant on FF's and they will make money on that. But as time goes on they will need to branch out into more customer friendly ways to generate energy. The coal companies resisted and one only needs to Google bankrupt coal companies to see how that is working out.

Exactly. I wouldn’t be surprised if the big coal companies follow suit. Consol pivoted when it saw the writing on the wall with fracking and CNX its NG spin off is massive.

At the end of the day it’s all just widgets, energy corps will follow the money. Also meaning the company that brought your deep water horizon is going to be building your solar grids so anti OG folks better check their clean energy smirks at the door and start treating all kinds of energy development with the same healthy dose of skepticism.

I’m worried that BHA is not being skeptical enough.

 

[JM77]

Anyone around Casper know if there’s any truth to this?
View attachment 111320

Yes, that is the Casper landfill.

 

[hossblur]

Exactly. I wouldn’t be surprised if the big coal companies follow suit. Consol pivoted when it saw the writing on the wall with fracking and CNX its NG spin off is massive.

At the end of the day it’s all just widgets, energy corps will follow the money. Also meaning the company that brought your deep water horizon is going to be building your solar grids so anti OG folks better check their clean energy smirks at the door and start treating all kinds of energy development with the same healthy dose of skepticism.

I’m worried that BHA is not being skeptical enough.

I explained to my chapter leader that a lot of us more conservative folks bought in and have stuck our necks out for BHA. I have 2 coal miners in my deer camp. We got thrashed with the whole Patagonia deal, yet we've been supportive.

But with this, looking more like a statement on carbon footprint not pad footprint, I have no defense. In other forums I am being destroyed, and rightfully so. I have yet to talk to a member of BHA who is for it.

 

[brockel]

Yes, that is the Casper landfill.

You’d think they’d make those things out of a recyclable material

 

[MTGomer]

This doesn’t make any sense to me. https://www.backcountryhunters.org/take_action#/112

Anybody know why the link is invalid?

 

[noharleyyet]

..works for me gomer.

 

[MTGomer]

..works for me gomer.

I mean I guess it works, but it takes me here. Where does it take you?

 

[noharleyyet]

..here;
https://www.flickr.com/photos/152360342@N02/

 

[icebreaker12]

..here;

Right the point is the windmill option is gone.

 

[JM77]

I explained to my chapter leader that a lot of us more conservative folks bought in and have stuck our necks out for BHA. I have 2 coal miners in my deer camp. We got thrashed with the whole Patagonia deal, yet we've been supportive.

But with this, looking more like a statement on carbon footprint not pad footprint, I have no defense. In other forums I am being destroyed, and rightfully so. I have yet to talk to a member of BHA who is for it.

I haven't spoke out on this hossblur, but the time has come. When the Patagonia deal was made, I was co-chair of the Wyoming Chapter. I received a group email in which BHA chapters were included, but from a non-BHA source, rallying support to oppose grizzly bear hunting. I replied to all that the Wyoming Chapter was supporting the state management plan which included hunting the bears. The excrement hit the fan and before you knew it we were on the phone with National being told we could support "grizzly delisting". This came right from Land's mouth. I clearly, but respectfully objected to this, but the damage was done. Eventually I was asked to step down for ridiculous , made-up reasons that made no sense.

I have no regrets, Buzz and I put BHA on the map in Wyoming, spearheading our Chapter of the Year award in Missoula, in 2017. But the organization I see now, is not what I joined 4 years ago.

 

[widnert]

Anyone around Casper know if there’s any truth to this?

Wonder why they couldn't recycle those things? Seems like a lot of material being wasted there.

 

[noharleyyet]

Right the point is the windmill option is gone.

Gotcha ace, but that wasn't what gomer was asking.

 

[BuzzH]

In my opinion this issue and this bill need a critical look, and more than a casual thought.

Lets just dive into some history of the promises made by our politicians to "help" wildlife and wildlife habitat.

The first of two blaring examples that I can think of is the situation with dams on the Columbia River Basin. "Let us build these dams and we'll give you all this money for parks below the dams, we'll build you boat ramps on the reservoirs, we'll employ all these people, provide all this power". "Oh, and don't worry about the anadromous fish, we'll build you all these hatcheries".

How did that all work out? Anyone catch a June Hog above Grand Coulee dam lately? Yeah, me neither the run has been extinct since the last ones literally died trying to jump the concrete in 1945. How's that fly fishing for native B-run steelhead above Dworsak? Yep, all gone too, some of the largest steelhead in the world reduced to fishing a mile long stretch of tailwater for hatchery drones that rarely, if ever, take a fly from the surface.

Anyone care to talk about how well all this money has made things when less than 1 million anadromous fish enter the mouth of the Columbia, when prior to dams there were 20 million...all those promises and money don't mean jack shit to me. What should be a multi-billion dollar a year fishery, world class with 20 million fish a year is a skeleton of what it was.

Here's another. Lets do all this off-shore oil and gas development and if you let us do that, we'll fund this thing called the LWCF for 900 million a year. How's that working out? I mean, every sporting group under the sun is constantly asking for emails, phone calls, to made to just get the thing renewed...not funded, just renewed. How many years has it been fully funded? Why are we still having to duke it out with Congress to get even partial funding.

Oh, but lets trust Rob Bishop with this new bill on wind and solar. Surely he'll do the right thing. Surely they wont put stipulations on the "promise" of funding for wildlife. What about the fact that in Wyoming I've already given up a shitload of habitat via oil/gas/coal development. Now, I'm supposed to get a warm fuzzy to reduce my wildlife habitat even more, via the massive footprint for 25%of a rent on a ROW (using mulecreeks data) on a wind or solar farm? Yeah, nothing screams backcountry more than a bunch of wind turbines and solar panels in the background of hunting or fishing photo. I wont have my wildlife and wildlife habitat sold down the river via yet another promise of dangling the money carrot...I've been around long enough to know what promises made by congress mean. It means less habitat for my wildlife and a big fight getting them to provide any level of funding for same. I got a better idea, develop your renewables on private and leave what little is left of my public lands alone.

 

[antelopedundee]

You’d think they’d make those things out of a recyclable material

What a shameful waste. You'd think that they could be used to build the border wall.

 

[brockel]

Wonder why they couldn't recycle those things? Seems like a lot of material being wasted there.

My understanding is they are made of fiberglass and fiberglass is very difficult to recycle. Burying it seems to just eliminate the eye sore of them as fiberglass really doesn’t break down fast.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Once again, every development has an impact. Burying turbine blades is just another byproduct of the energy issue.

Chewing up more land for more energy is what we've told our politicians we want by voting for whom we do, especially in the west. Don't like it? Vote differently. Comments on projects are ignored left & right. Only the money talks to this administration.

Those blades getting buried are no different than the thousands of pipe yards, equipment yards, coal ash ponds, facking ponds, abandoned wells, unreclaimed mines, etc, that get left behind when it becomes cheaper to walk away from something than do it right. The infrastructure for energy is massive and since we consume 25% of the world's energy, while now becoming an exporter of LNG & petroleum, we're going to have to decide what other places we want to sacrifice in order to maintain our exorbitant lifestyles.

 

[Ben Lamb]

Also, if I were an industry guy, I'd say see? Antelope & wind are perfectly compatible, because there's two speedgoats next to those blades.

 

[Oak]

...while now becoming an exporter of LNG & petroleum....

I mostly stay out of these conversations because there are folks here a lot smarter than me on the issues. This has always seemed insane to me, though. I don't understand the justification.