Windmill vs. Wind Turbine

My interest in wind turbines and their impact on cultural landscapes began while I was working on a survey project in Greenbrier County, West Virginia. I am the proud owner of a trucker hat that reads "No Wind Turbines" that was given to me by a an angry West Virginian man. At the National Trust Conference in Pittsburgh, I attended a session on wind energy. A representative from Scenic America discussed how wind energy needs to be questioned and understood, so that communities can make educated decisions. For Professor Morton's International Preservation class, I wrote about wind turbines. So, as Ashley said, it appears that I am on a wind turbine crusade.

My main point has always been that there is a rather large difference between a windmill and a wind turbine. The difference can be seen in the picture above. A grouping of wind turbines isn't a "wind farm" but an industrial site. And, a single windmill doesn't fill the night sky with large red blinking lights.

However, I am perplexed about what to do with southeastern Colorado. Baca County (where I am doing most of my survey work) is an economically deprived area with a declining population and increasing amount of abandoned buildings. But, along with most of the plains area, it has plethora of land and wind. However, for a county with plenty of poetic "wide open spaces", is it worth it to place an industrial wind site in Baca?

Lessons Learned After a Month in Colorado

1. Tarantulas migrate south in the end of October in southeastern Colorado. They travel across the road one at a time so that you have to be careful not to hit them.
2. Over 100,000 people can fit into Civic Center Park in the middle of Denver to see, now President-Elect, Obama speak.
3. It is not uncommon to see a salad bar on a covered wagon in a restaurant. (The bathroom's also say "Cowgirls" and "Cowboys".)
4. There are lots of subtle differences in Quonset huts. They can even be used as movie theatres.
5. Ranchers are willing to make roads with their pickup trucks. They also look at you funny when you put a seatbelt on.
6. Although the Coors Brewery has its home in Colorado, nobody really like Coors beer.
7. Directions are given in N, S, E, and W instead of left and right. People orientate themselves by the mountains in the west and rely on the grid patterned streets.
8. There are places in the world where you can spin around and around and not see anything.
9. Double laid stone is simply beautiful.
10. It is always an option to order your food "smothered" in green chile.
11. Western preservationists have a broader approach to what needs to be saved, including modern linear landscapes.