Chris Gregoire, Washington Governor, Approves Columbia River Gorge Wind Farm

YAKIMA, Wash. (AP) — Washington Gov. Chris Gregoire on Monday approved plans for a wind farm on the north side of the Columbia River Gorge over the objections of conservation groups and neighboring landowners, who fear the project will create unwanted noise, harm endangered species habitat and mar a popular scenic region.

Opponents said they may appeal the decision in court. One of the developers, meanwhile, said the approved project — smaller than was originally proposed — isn't economically viable at this time and is on hold.

Since 2008, SDS Lumber Co. of Bingen and Broughton Lumber Co. of Underwood have proposed to build 50 turbines on 1,200 acres of commercial timberland overlooking the Columbia River, near White Salmon in Skamania County. The developers said the $150 million Whistling Ridge Energy Project would boost renewable energy production and aid the economy in a depressed county comprised almost entirely of federal land.

The project faced stiff opposition given its proximity to the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, created in 1986.

Washington's Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council recommended in October that the project be scaled back from 50 to 35 turbines. Gregoire approved the smaller project Monday, but said her decision wasn't reached lightly.

"A modified project with 35 wind turbines would help meet our need for clean energy and bring needed jobs and revenue to Skamania County, while preserving the aesthetic and recreational benefits of the Gorge," she said in a statement. "This decision is a balanced approach, and one that serves all citizens of the state."

Jason Spadaro, president of SDS Lumber, said he appreciates the governor's approval, but that the reduced size of the project means it is not economically viable at this time. A smaller project will need higher power prices to be viable, he said, and the project will be on hold but not permanently shelved.

"The need for renewable energy continues to be important, and the need for economic development in rural counties like Skamania that have so little opportunity is critical. We appreciate (the governor's) recognition of that," he said. "But this project will be on hold, waiting for greater demand for renewable energy in the state of Washington."

The group Friends of the Columbia Gorge said it may challenge the approval in court, though executive director Kevin Gorman said it was good to hear the project is on hold.

Icons of the Northwest, such as Mount Rainier and the Gorge, should be off-limits to large energy developments, he said.

"This project is not critical to our energy needs and not worth sacrificing the unique scenic beauty and wildlife of the Columbia River Gorge," he said. "We can combat global warming without having to sacrifice our most special places and our core values."

Comments

[atexasdem]

01:58 AM on 03/11/2012

I find it interesting that Oregon which likes to consider itself one of most environmentally conscious states seems opposed to renewable energy. Here in Texas meanwhile we are building massive wind farms, recently completed the transmission lines to our cities and are committed to specific targets and goals for renewable energy. Seems Oregonians talk the talk but just can't seem to walk the walk.

[PlayTOE]

10:07 AM on 03/09/2012

Oil interests posing as 'conservationists' ... protecting the pristine places is fundamentally a reason we need wind power to replace fossil fuels.
Anyone complaining that wind turbines 'look ugly' needs to be relocated downwind of a coal fired power plant.

[Kommonman]

10:31 PM on 03/08/2012

The columbia gorge is one of the windiest places on the planet...you can have as much as a ten mph per gallon difference depending on which direction you are driving in. The area is nearly perfect for such a venture. if people are worried about bats or birds running into them put deer whistles on the tips of the blades to warn them off...much the way they do on cars in the north country. As for my fellow environmental types and the view nazi's which is worse poisoned air water and soil from burning fossil fuels or wind turbines that might take out a passing bird or bat...if that is your concern you might as well give up driving cuz odds are your transportation is killing something or other out there. Cant have rivers dammed for electiricity or fossil fuels or wind turbines which only leave solar but that tech has it's downsides to...especially in manufacturing...I imagine the view naaazi's will complain about the glare off the rooftop solar units and has nanyone considered the reflected light back into the air and it's effects. get real folks some compromises have to be made or scrap it all and go back to the horse woodstove and candles...the bright side is neither side will be here on the forum complaining becuz they wont have the tech or electricity to post

[philinmedford]

01:43 AM on 03/08/2012

I thought the article might contain some recent facts about wind farms in the Pacific Northwest. Essentially we are going to have to pay the wind farm owners NOT to produce electricity. Oh and that's AFTER we pay to subsidize them with the Blue Sky initiative up here.

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2012/03/07/wind-power-companies-paid-to-not-produce/?test=latestnews

[Kommonman]

10:13 PM on 03/08/2012

anything posted by fox news is suspect from the start

[philinmedford]

02:18 AM on 03/09/2012

Don't kill the messenger. Sometimes the facts are just the facts.

[philinmedford]

02:20 AM on 03/09/2012

Don't be so biased. From the article "Green energy advocates also oppose BPA's oversupply solution."

[vetxcl]

01:34 AM on 03/08/2012

Other states seem to like wind energy. Here's just on example:http://cleantechnica.com/2012/03/07/big-wind-renewable-energy-boost-as-illinois-gov-quinn-announces-rock-island-clean-line-project-labor-agreement/

[High Prairie Lady]

11:24 PM on 03/07/2012

The Columbia river area is home to thousands of wind turbines owned by numerous developers. NIMBYism is not the problem. The problem of this particular wind project is the location. Development in the Gorge National Scenic Area is highly regulated and administered by both WA and OR. Gregoire is over reaching.

[judgejay]

01:03 PM on 03/07/2012

Typical "NOT IN MY BACKYARD WHINNERS" Can't have a pipeline, can't burn coal now can't have windturbines. Whats next are you going to kick in some guys door for burning wood in a woodstove?

[baxtron]

09:50 AM on 03/07/2012

the controversy is it is being built.

[baxtron]

09:49 AM on 03/07/2012

the objections of conservation groups and neighboring landowners, who fear the project will create unwanted noise, harm endangered species habitat and mar a popular scenic region.

LMFAO!!!

The fake concern from RWAF never gets old.

[Linus521]

02:53 PM on 03/07/2012

Actually, when man kills ecosystems [the site for these planet killers] and the protestations, he is killing his very own life supporting systems and every and all reasons mankind breathes and exists. Man's ignorance as to how Earth functions to create and sustain all life is killing all the reasons Earth creates and supports all life.

"A thing is right when it preserves the integrity, stability and beauty of the bio-tic community. It is wrong otherwise." The "life" community. Man is the only animal so stupid as to kill his only nest. Even the dumbest of birds doesn't rape his only nest, right?

[intolleft]

07:56 AM on 03/07/2012

"To the nearest whole number, the percentage of the world’s energy that comes from wind turbines today is: zero. Despite the regressive subsidy (pushing pensioners into fuel poverty while improving the wine cellars of grand estates), despite tearing rural communities apart, killing jobs, despoiling views, erecting pylons, felling forests, killing bats and eagles, causing industrial accidents, clogging motorways, polluting lakes in Inner Mongolia with the toxic and radioactive tailings from refining neodymium, a ton of which is in the average turbine — despite all this, the total energy generated each day by wind has yet to reach half a per cent worldwide.

--Matt Ridley.

[SIMPLICIMUSS]

09:30 AM on 03/07/2012

Forget all that.......Teddy Kennedy did not want it blocking his view, and that is all that matters !

[Linus521]

02:47 PM on 03/07/2012

The gravest dangers of these planet butchers are the construction of them over our natural, wild ecosystems. They not only kill birds and bats and the foods they require, but they are killing entire ecosystems, the habitats/homes of all plant and animal biodiversity and their cover, food, shelter and nurseries, essentially killing that much more of the living, physical body and face of the Earth.

Ecosystems supply mankind with all his life supporting systems, like oxygen, fresh water, the atmosphere and the biosphere/ecosphere or life itself. Ecologists maintain, when man kills ecosystems for any reason, he is "suicidal". Do we kill the Earth to mitigate climate change?

Deforestation heats up and dries out the climate, precisely why cities and agriculture have hotter climates. When man kills ecosystems, he is essentially killing the surface of the Earth. When they kill ecosystems for windmills, which consume vast tracts of ecosystems for low energy yield, they are advancing climate change and a drier world. Killing off biodiversity is also quite deadly for man!

[artleads]

11:20 PM on 03/06/2012

"...conservation groups and neighboring landowners, who fear the project will create unwanted noise, harm endangered species habitat and mar a popular scenic region."

Revolving shadows of the turbines, disturbance of every natural thing in sight, and much more, could be added to the list. Why not just put solar panels on every roof instead?

[grappler1987]

12:17 AM on 03/07/2012

Washington has horrible solar resources. Their latitude is high with lots of clouds.

http://www.eia.gov/emeu/reps/rpmap/rp_pacific.html

[artleads]

12:47 AM on 03/07/2012

I see. But I still find it hard to believe that a wind farm is the ONLY answer to the related energy needs. What about placing the wind farm offshore, where it won't be easily seen, or heard, and might kill fewer birds?

[Robert Fanney]

09:52 PM on 03/06/2012

I find the wind mills to be majestic. An addition to the beauty of an area. I'm glad they're building them.

[grappler1987]

12:19 AM on 03/07/2012

They won't be built. The compromise reduced the windmills from 50 to 35 turbines. The developer says that 35 is too few to be economically viable. Development is now on hold.

[Robert Fanney]

11:30 AM on 03/07/2012

Eventually, they will be. The nonrenewables are dirty, dangerous, depleting.

[Linus521]

02:35 PM on 03/07/2012

If they resort to constructing these planet butchers on our natural, wild ecosystems, this is as deadly as it ever gets, actually more Earth killing than a massive oil spill. Solar and wind are only green if constructed on and in already developed planet, like on rooftops, backyards, parking lots, shopping centers, along freeways, but killing ecosystems for any energy, kills that much of the Earth. The reasons they are protesting the windmills are because they plan to kill the Earth for dead windmills. Ecosystems are every and all reasons mankind breathes and exists. Now we are discussing the generation of oxygen, fresh water, the natural sequestration of the heat trapping gases, the atmosphere and the very life zone of the Earth, her biosphere/ecosphere or life itself.

Though man can reforest an ecosystem, he can never restore the system once it is gone. In order for wind to be effective, we would have to cover the entire surface of the Earth over with them. Though our terrestrial ecosystems represent only 30 percent of the Earth's land mass, our desert, grassland, chaparral and oak woodland, riverine, riparian and forested ecosystems support the vast majority of all life on the Earth.

Once the soil is disturbed for the construction of these biodiversity killers, the heat trapping gases will be re-released into the atmosphere. More of these heat trapping gases will escape when they chop away the climate cooling, oxygen and water exhaling trees and plants.

[Nuyorican21]

07:57 PM on 03/06/2012

NIMBYism at its best.

[stewartskye]

03:06 PM on 03/09/2012

Ignorance at its worst. This poster seems uneducated as to why people who are concerned with fragile ecosystems and the human lives rendered unsustainable by turbine noise would oppose their poor placement. Typical city dweller , I suspect, who is more than willing to sacrifice other places and people for their energy needs. I learned long ago, that those who use the word nimby as a sort of slur usually know absolutely nothing about the topic they are opining about.

[Nuyorican21]

07:12 PM on 03/09/2012

Prejudgment at its best.