windmills-300x213-7233607State regulations to allow natural gas hydrofracking in New York’sdepressed Southern Tier region are being held up by Governor Cuomo, who says he wants more study of the health effects of fracking. However, writes Robert Bryce of the Manhattan Institute in today’sNew York Post, “if he’s truly interested in public health, the governor must also put a freeze on wind-energy projects in New York until theirhealth impact can be gauged.”

From Bryce:

To date, the state has assumed that oil and gas drilling is “guilty (dirty) until proven innocent” but wind-energy development is “clean.” Indeed, if New York is to meet its renewable-energy target — to obtain 30 percent of all electricity from renewables by 2015 — several thousand new wind turbines will be needed.

But about two dozen New York towns have already passed rules banning or restricting wind-energy development, and more will come if turbine construction takes off.

It’s not simply that wind projects can be ugly. Health officials from Canada to Australia and the UK to New Zealand are seriously examining the effect that wind-turbine noise has on humans.

Meanwhile, another report today suggests that New York’s wind bubble may have burst.

You may also like

It Is Time to Rethink the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative

Before budget negotiations, Gov. Hochul warned that unless New York changes its climate plans, New Yorkers could face a $2.26-per-gallon increase in gasoline prices. The reason is the so-called “cap-and-invest” scheme, under which energy companies wou Read More

Lack of Common Sense on Energy in the Budget

Lack of Common Sense on Energy in the Budget Anyone hoping the governor would make even modest, common-sense changes to New York’s disastrous energy policies will be disappointed. The energy portion of the budget is out, and the nons Read More

Albany Should Listen to Jamie Dimon

In his annual message to shareholders, JP Morgan Chase's chief executive, Jamie Dimon, offered a timely and pointed warning for New York policymakers. It's worth , with emphasis add Read More

A Warning for New York’s Energy Policy

On June 24th New York’s electricity grid nearly blew a fuse. That day was extremely hot, and air conditioning was working overtime. The New York Independent S Read More

Albany’s Looming Energy Shock

For all Governor Hochul’s talk about “affordability”, it seems electricity prices have not received that memo. Recent from the U.S. Energy Information Administration show New York househo Read More

Forcing Homes to Switch to Electric Heat is not a Good Policy

  New York has some of the most ambitious climate goals in the country: electric school buses by 2035, zero emissions electricity by 2040, etc. Why New Yorkers, who already consume less energy per capita than any state (other than Rhode Island), s Read More

Hochul Pushes New Energy Tax Past Next Election

Governor Hochul has further delayed what amounts to a tax on energy until after the next general election.  Almost six years after the state adopted an aggressive emissions-cutting Read More

Another battery flop zaps NY taxpayers

Plans to lure a Canadian battery company to the Hudson Valley with a slew of government incentives, including job-creation tax credits, loans, and federal subsidies, appear to be a dud. It’s a reminder that when it comes to picking winners in the energy-storage space, taxpayers are often losers. Read More