This site is clearly biased toward putting gigantic machines all over the countryside and pretending that their footprint is only the point where the towers touch the ground. That same claim was used to promote ANWR drilling (see “2,000 acres myth”). The visual impact of wind turbines is huge in terms of vertical and horizontal spread, plus access roads and deforestation for tower clearances. With 250,000 already installed (45,000 in America) they are physically the biggest rural construction projects, visible to more people than fracking and mining due to their invasion of lands (and ocean) that never would have been developed otherwise.

The “windustry” continually rationalizes away the loss of priceless scenery. These machines are just too large and widely dispersed to be environmentally benign, unless one is blind, deaf or paid to look away. The mentality of workers who install wind turbines is barely different than any other extractive industry. The platitudes of “careful siting” (a typically meaningless buzz-phrase) or “clean” (via lack of fumes during operation) are ridiculous when you consider the growing visual blight. Remove the blades from wind turbines and they look just like large smokestacks, which would be immediately called eyesores. You can’t expect the psychological salve of “no emissions” to fool people’s eyes and ears.