From: houle@nmt.edu (Paul Houle)
Subject: Re: Wind Farms  (was: Re: radation)
Organization: New Mexico Tech
Date: Mon, 31 Aug 1992 15:37:21 GMT

In article <1992Aug31.032037.11996@gn.ecn.purdue.edu> zika@gn.ecn.purdue.edu (Michael Zika) writes:

>  Any thoughts out there on what the Nebraska residents think of this idea?
>
>  In a recent discussion with somebody who has studied publice relations,
>she mentioned an interesting observation.  The moves to shut down nuke plants,
>incinerators, waste disposal sites (both toxic _and_ non-toxic), etc.
>have something in common.  Most of the residents were not necessarily against
>nuclear power, incineration or any of the above.  Rather, the movement
>was _against_ _technology_.  Apparently, many citizens felt threatened by
>the technology...

	I would contest this.  Remember that people also don't like to have
methadone clinics,  prisons,  or even churches (I lived in a neighborhood
where the neighbors banded together to prevent the construction of a church!)
built in their neighborhoods.  Although a methadone clinic poses very little
threat to a neighborhood,  it is perceived as a threat.  And that threat has
little to do with technology... the people aren't afraid that the methadone
is going to leak into the water supply,  they are afraid that it is going to
be a place where drug dealers hang around.

	Similarly,  people in one neighborhood fought a supermarket because
they didn't want to deal with the increase of traffic.  Mind you,  all of
these people drive around in cars,  so they aren't afraid of the technology.
They just know that they don't like traffic.

	Take a look across the dunes at the state beach in Hampton,  NH and
the domes of the Seabrook nuclear power plant dominate the view.  Go to
an inner city neighborhood and measure the level of pollution caused by
industry.  All of these things that people don't want in their neighborhood
are things that are perceived to lower the quality of life...  This fear
might be unfounded in some cases,  but it isn't just a blind fear of new
technology.

>  Kinda makes you wonder if the Nebraska ranchers will start NIMBY movement
>against wind farms...

	I don't think they had any problems in Altamont pass or Tehachapi.
If they are built on private land,  ranchers will get paid to have the
windmills there...  Knowing the sheer perversity of public land ranchers,
they might try to fight them off BLM land (Those damn rotor blades will
fall off and kill our cows).  Ignorance also exists in the American outback.
I remember all the ranchers who tried to fight the reintroduction of the
Bald Eagle.  On a scientific basis,  the Bald Eagle is not a threat to
people and livestock,  and in fact it can be benificial as it would control
rodents.  (Not to mind that it is the national bird,  so it also seems a
little unpatriotic to me.)  So,  maybe people can be afraid of a harmless
bird as much as they are of "technology".

	Some kinds of technology generate the perception of being dangerous
and/or lowering the quality of life.  (Although I think you could sell
nuclear in Mexico by saying "Hey,  this power plant can blow up any minute...
You have to have ~cujones~ for nuclear power")  This perception may or
may not be accurate.  Hazardous waste incineration,  as it is practiced
today,  can be a hazard to health.  This hazard could be controlled if the
regulatory system did what it was supposed to do,  but it doesn't.  The risk
of living near a nuclear plant is low,  but they are an eyesore,  and they
do cause damage (due to infrastructure) to places thousands of miles away.

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