My questions are:
1. How would the wind farm benefit the future of Cleveland and Cleveland's reputation?
2. In your opinion, is constructing the wind farm worth the money?
3. Besides making turbines tolerant of the icy weather, can you think of any other possible issues that arise with the construction of the offshore wind farm?
4. What do you think are other steps Cleveland can make to become a "greener" city?
I believe that this wind farm can benefit Cleveland's reputation by showing that our city can once again be a innovator in new technologies and initiatives. This new project can not only add green jobs to the area, but also be a start in helping to rejuvenate the reputation of Cleveland.
ReplyDeleteEven though the price of this wind farm is very high I believe that this project is worth the cost. The jobs and environmental impact the turbines would have on the area I believe are worth it.
Boating in the Great Lakes could suffer from the wind farm however. These shipping lanes being used heavily for the transport of goods and or people could decline due to the sheer number of the wind turbines blocking the way, but i believe that if a balance is kept these two industries can work together.
Cleveland as a whole city to make itself more environmentally friendly could create more green roofs around the city. Also community gardens, or urban gardens can add a lot to the city. Using the abandoned lots, and or other empty areas in the city to our advantage could also benefit the area. Turning these spaces into gardens or green areas can only benefit our community.
First off, I agree with everything Jeremy has said. Building the wind farm is totally worth the money in my opinion, however I can understand why people are hesitant. $100 million is a LOT of money and that money is coming from investments and loans, as the article stated. The community may be questioning where this money is coming from and how quickly it will be recovered, however these are all questions that can be clarified. The prices for wind farms are probably not going down anytime soon, so it is best to get a jump on the farm. The farms will help bring the economy and life back into Cleveland and will help clear the bad reputation Cleveland has required. To be one of the first cities in the nation to have an offshore wind farm will help boost Clevelander's spirits, moral, and outlook on their city.
ReplyDeleteAs Jeremy said, these wind farms could have some effect on the boating and shipping patterns in an out of Cleveland. These can easily be tracked and so it should not be that big of a problem.
Lastly, along with green roofs and urban gardens, Cleveland should focus on cleaning up Cleveland in general, converting to more renewable sources, not just wind energy, and we should try to remove pollution from Erie and the Cuyahoga River.
As Jeremy and Kate both touched on, I think that this wind farm could benefit Cleveland for a few reasons. I think that Cleveland gets a lot of slack for once being an industrial center and now having lost a lot of its industrial influence and urban population. If the wind farm were to be created, people would see Cleveland as industrially and environmentally innovative and the perceptions of a so called lifeless city would change. I think that the wind farm would help create jobs as well. But leading in to Annie's next question, I am afraid that creating a wind farm right now could be a big risk. With the price of creating a wind farm right now, $100,000,000, which they say could take tens of years to even out, I feel that it will be a hard sell in our present economic state. I think that in the long run, the benefits will outweigh the costs, but I think right now it is a question of if you can get enough people comfortable with taking that risk or a question of making sure that this is something viable that can last for those years until the money evens itself out.
ReplyDeleteI think that one main issue that they spoke of in the article is the problems that people have with the look of a wind farm. It may sound silly, but many people would have issues with looking out onto the water and seeing a wind farm. Also, could it be dangerous for boats or underwater species living around the turbines?
I think that Cleveland can promote education within its schools about the environment and human effect on the environment as well as promote, or even give tax incentives, for environmentally friendly behavior such as recycling, carpooling, etc. If the government is proactive in encouraging positive behavior, they can make an impact.
The wind farm would highly benefit Cleveland’s economy because wind farms are a highly consistent and efficient source of energy for local people. Since the wind farms are going to be put off the coast of Lake Erie, there is nothing obstructing the wind and therefore it is “clean wind” as said in the article. This clean wind will make Cleveland a greener city. Because wind farms pay for themselves quickly and rely upon wind, and do no damage to the environment, I believe that they are completely worth the money. Despite the steep cost of $100 million, the wind farms will quickly cover that cost, and once that is reached, the energy from then on out is completely free. One problem the cost has, however, is the questioning from local Clevelanders. They will most likely want to know where and how the money is acquired, but if the community is educated on the positive effects wind farms have on economies, they can/will be easily persuaded. The only interference the wind farms would have is with the locals in boating and fishing industries, which is not an issue and can easily be fixed. Patterns and routes can be altered with ease, making it a very minute problem. To conclude, I agree with Kate on extra steps Cleveland can take to become greener. Green roofs and urban gardens do make the city cleaner. Along with those, watching rivers and bodies of waters that lead into Lake Erie can prove helpful. Maintaining clean bodies of water allows for a higher population of aquatic species supporting the environment as well as stimulating the economy due to higher amounts of edible fish being caught.
ReplyDeleteIm a strong believer that the reputation of Cleveland would greatly increase. I believe this because when people think of cleveland they think of a dirty old town that is a "used to be" town that is now one of the poorest and dirtiest cities in the united states. People would look to cleveland as a leader in wind energy if this project goes through. I believe it is worth the money. If we want to get to a day where we have clean air and people arent getting cancer because of poor air, and the earth has more resources, we need to spend the money. Who cares about 100 million dollars. It will power a bunch of homes and the companies that are getting involved have the kind of money to do it. Going back to a couple weeks ago where someones article talked about what was more important the environment or economy, this is the time to say environment. If we have the money to do it and make the world a better place, then do it forsure! The only other thing i can think of is birds flying into it. But if they slow the blades down, then the bird would haev to be very unintelligent to fly near a big white blade. I believe that it is definately worth the investment to do. We need to start making the environment better and restore it to the way it used to be. This is a good start, dont worry about the money, because the turbine will get close to paying itslef off. We need to spend the money now in order to achieve a better place to live. I believe solar panels could help, but it is never sunny, so i think wind energy is the best way to go. My vote is definately for having this project go through. There need to be changes made, and this would be a great step in the right direction for the environment and the great city of cleveland.
ReplyDeleteI think making a wind farm in the Cleveland area benefit the city of Cleveland as well as the future of Cleveland. Putting in a wind farm could bring jobs to Cleveland that this city needs very much. Also, if wind farms become the useful and efficient source of energy many people expect it to become, other cities can look at Cleveland and know how big of a part it was to the upbringing of wind energy. I do think that creating the wind farm is worth the money because first, it helps your local economy and the people around it, but also will pay itself off in a period of time, and after that its all profit. I think security could be a big problem with an off shore wind farm. It would be an easy target and a lot of damage could be done if something happened to it. However, if we could make sure we protect these farms, I don’t see many more problems. I think Cleveland can use its sense of community to bring everyone together for one cause and collectively make Cleveland a better city and a better place to be.
ReplyDeleteThe best, and worst, thing about these wind turbines is the sheer cost and effort needed to implement what could prove to be one of the most influential projects in the history of the renewable energy search. A major pro of the project is the amount of money it will bring to a city so deprived of the industries that other American cities of comparable size have been seeing since Cleveland's decline. In an economy where the "trickle-down" effect holds so much weight, one might think that spending such huge amounts of money on a labor-intensive task would not be a problem. However, on the con side, if this money comes from Cleveland investors, a lot of people who would otherwise be spending money on more short term projects would be unable to finance a lot of the day-to-day projects that Cleveland has been relying on to remain afloat for the last few decades, at least until they begin to see returns on the Wind Farm Project, which could be a long way away.
ReplyDeleteIn the posted article, Dan Moore says that the WFP would interfere with local industry. Why? How? The only way that having this new power source would affect our current industry is if said industry was prevented from using traditional methods of power generation and only allowed to take from the WFP. Their shortsightedness is preventing the city, even the country, from taking a huge step forward in environmentalism.