If You Want ‘Renewable Energy,’ Get Ready to Dig - Wall Street Journal
“Building one wind turbine requires 900 tons of steel, 2,500 tons of concrete and 45 tons of plastic.”
A very insightful piece from The Wall Street Journal! Although renewable energy offers several benefits, we can't dismiss the environmental footprint and the impact development poses to areas of cultural and natural resource significance like Val Verde County. While we support renewable energy, we urge thoughtful placement of these developments so as not to encroach on our wild places. Check out a piece of the article below!
Wall Street Journal OPINION |COMMENTARY
By Mark P. Mills
Democrats dream of powering society entirely with wind and solar farms combined with massive batteries. Realizing this dream would require the biggest expansion in mining the world has seen and would produce huge quantities of waste.
“Renewable energy” is a misnomer. Wind and solar machines and batteries are built from nonrenewable materials. And they wear out. Old equipment must be decommissioned, generating millions of tons of waste.
The International Renewable Energy Agency calculates that solar goals for 2050 consistent with the Paris Accords will result in old-panel disposal constituting more than double the tonnage of all today’s global plastic waste.