MovieChat Forums > The Way (2010) Discussion > The Windfarm

The Windfarm

posted 13 years ago by niklas-arvidsson
9 replies | jump to latest

I can not, for the love of God, understand how people can think that wind power is an environmentally friendly "cause". This movie showed that it isn't and in a very effective way.

I'm sure you all noticed the wind-farms on the mountains as they were walking. This absolutely beautiful landscape, that has evolved during millions of years of water and wind corrosion, totally ruined by the minds and hands of a few disgusting, power-horny and populistic politicians. And don't get me wrong - man have improved many sites around the world and beautiful architecture can be as pleasing to look at.

What is the environment? Is it just global warming? Or is the environment we live in today. And let's say that these ugly things actually help (I doubt it though) "saving the planet" (most ridiculous sentence in every language): Is it worth it? They are noisy, ugly, destroys wildlife and expensive.

Well, I'm sure you get my point but what I wanted to know is:

Did you think of it too? How the landscape was done ugly by these things? Do you agree?

Or maybe, you think there nice to watch?

Niklas,
Sweden

[–] crx 13 years ago

I totally agree !
They kill thousands of birds on top of everything you wrote....
Windmills are a fraud !

[–] chorando 13 years ago

There are distinct advantages and disadvantages of wind power. Where I live on the south east Coast of England we have large wind turbines out at sea. They are visible from the Coast and yet really don't bother anyone. The disadvantages of having them inland is that they can be heard and also they are large structures. Walking through Spain, though they made an impact on the landscape they were not really ugly, just visible and looming in the mist! These days wind turbines are made with larger,slower moving blades, meaning birds are more likely to see them and not perish. Each year, an estimated 57 million birds die in collisions with vehicles, 1.25 million in collisions with tall structures (buildings, towers), and 97.5 million in collisions with plate glass! Power Lines are responsible for 130 million bird deaths a year and then of course there are Cat's. According to many sources they are the second biggest bird killer. The numbers for Wind turbines are much much lower than this at around 28,500 birds each year. This number takes into account much older wind farms like the Altamont Pass Wind Farms near San Francisco which has much smaller blades and is the cause of many bird deaths from wind turbines. So all in all in terms of bir death the impact is minimal and getting better over time.

[–] emncaity 12 years ago

What? A moderate, intelligent response based in fact?

Clearly, you don't belong on the Internet. ;-)

Well done.

[–] vidmaster 13 years ago

This is a subject I've devoted considerable time and research to, not because I'm anybody's payroll to do so, but because it's an issue very, very important to me, and you're pretty much spot on.

Fossil fuels are dirty, and are not going to last forever. Renewables and non-renewable but clean energy is a good idea and something we do need to develop, and soon. But not when they're more harmful both to society and the environment than the fossil fuels they hope to replace. There's different "good" and different "bad." Both wind and biofuels fall very solidly in the latter category, not to mention they'll never be suitable as primary sources of power for a world that uses more electricity than it did circa 1950-1960. It's baffling that the most damaging "green" technology with the worst returns are what people have been scammed into throwing their money at.

Keep saying what you're saying. You're correct and maybe eventually more will listen. We all know the politicians are corrupt, but most of the green lobby has become just as bad and is infested with people who push their harmful, dead end technologies just so they can keep getting grant money and keep the government spigot flowing. Average Joe is being sold a lie and he needs to be told.

And by the way, loved this movie. I've had a loss similar to Martin Sheen's character about a year ago that's been hard getting closure for... seeing the movie really brought it out and I guess the wound is still a lot fresher than I thought it was. Makes me want to do the Camino as well. Perhaps it'd help.

[–] dannyvazmon1 13 years ago

Would you rather see a coal power plant or a nuclear power plant? What do you propose? Live off of candles like the middle ages?

[–] emncaity 12 years ago

Sorry for your loss, vidmaster. One human to another.

[–] bruce-129 13 years ago

I noticed them, several times throughout the movie.
I was not really sure what to think of them.
They were not so bad in my opinion, at least compared to there
valleys here in California here that are filled them them
I agree though, they are unnatural looking, and how many of them are
going to get set up over time as the need for electricity grows.
The only solution I can see is better efficiency, conservation, solar,
and more overall thought to energy use.
I would not really say they were nice to watch at all.

[–] diabloscott 13 years ago

I love the windmills.
Pet cats kill way more birds than windmills do.
I wonder if people complained about windmills on La Mancha in the time of Quijote.

[–] MrBigglesworth999 12 years ago

It's not so much direct collisions of birds and bats with wind generators that kill them. It's more a case that the sound waves damage their internal organs.