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?