Wind turbines ‘sprouting’ up at Virginia public schools: a new, renewable, era is nearing

The liberal conspiracy to build wind turbines across the commonwealth has spread to none other than some of Virginia’s public schools. Oh, the horror!

The Daily News Record[1] recently reported that one wind turbine was set up at Central High School in Woodstock and at Thomas Harrison Middle School in Harrisonburg.

According to Shenandoah County Public Schools finance director, Jeremy Raley, the turbine installed at Central High is meant to educate students about wind energy, not necessarily provide power for the entire school.[2]

The irony of some opposition to renewable forms of energy like wind power is based on both historical ignorance and a contradiction in many of their own beliefs.

In terms of historical ignorance, many individuals who oppose wind turbines do so on free market grounds[3]. That is, these individuals argue that the government should not be assisting nascent industries, like the wind turbine industry, get its feet on the ground.

But it’s no secret that petroleum[4], coal, and natural gas have all been subsidized by our government to ensure their success. Some of these dirty forms of energy are still subsidized by our government (and our taxpayer dollars).

So why should wind and solar power not be given the same advantages, especially since these forms of energy are not facilitators of extreme weather events like Hurricane Sandy?

Bound up closely to the “free market” argument is the energy independence one for many proponents of the former. Many of the same individuals who oppose government subsidies for renewable forms of energy, like wind and solar power, are proponents of energy independence.

However, what better way for America to become energy independent indefinitely than by building up our country’s renewable energy sector[5]? Fossil fuels are nonrenewable forms of energy for a reason.

It needs to be stated honestly that wind power in particular will be more costly for Virginians at the outset. Thus, government subsidies will be necessary to keep the price of wind energy in line with, or at least completive to, cheaper forms of energy like natural gas.

But for a country to continue to thrive, it must continuously look into the future to see what roads need to be paved in the present for success. One of those ‘roads’ is renewable energy.

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[1] http://bit.ly/XOJogt

[2] http://www.nbc12.com/story/20175974/wind-turbines-popping-up-at-some-va-schools

[3] http://online.wsj.com/community/groups/question-day-229/topics/should-happen-us-government-subsidies

[4] http://priceofoil.org/fossil-fuel-subsidies/

[5] http://www.americanenergyindependence.com/renewables.aspx