Resources for Learning
Here, you can read about energy development and the impact it has on the environment around it. We’ve curated articles that we believe are helpful, along with information about miscellaneous topics, like how to be responsible when in the great outdoors. You can also view articles that the ACC has appeared in.
ACC in the news
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Wyoming Likely to See Billions of Dollars in Wind Projects Built in Next Few Years
By: Pat Maio. Cowboy State Daily, February 26th, 2024
Ground zero for new wind turbines may be Albany County, where four major wind farm projects are in various stages of construction.
These include the Rail Tie Wind Project sponsored by ConnectGen; the Lucky Star 1 and 2 wind projects sponsored by Alberta, Canada-based BluEarth Renewables Inc. and San Francisco-based Clearway Energy Group LLC; the Two Rivers project, sponsored by BluEarth and Clearway; and the Rock Creek wind project sponsored by Chicago-based Invenergy Services LLC, which in recent years has attracted a $4 billion investment from Blackstone Inc., the world’s largest alternative asset investor. [ . . . ]
[Anne] Brande said the Rail Tie project may take longer to build because of ConnectGen’s failure to provide a “financial adequacy” statement indicating that it has the balance sheet to build the farm.
“We don’t want a shell company slapping up an asset without the financial adequacy,” she said.
Brande said that getting wind farms approved in Wyoming is a very “fractured process” as many of the wind farm developers don’t provide sufficient transparency on who is paying for it and whether there is enough of a backing to complete the work.
[ . . . ]
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Rock Creek Wind Project navigates obstacles; forges ahead as planned
By: Rachelle Trujillo. Laramie Boomerang, February 17 2024
The Albany County Conservancy and its members have been vocal opponents of the project since early into the permitting process, citing concerns about wildlife, habitats, and historic, cultural, and land preservation both for Rock Creek and the overall cumulative impacts of similar projects that are rapidly developing in the region.
“Golden eagles don’t do well with wind development, and they do not do well with transmission lines, and they are a protected species,” she said.
“When you look at Rock Creek Wind, there are about 60 (concrete) pads already poured that sit on Wheatland Reservoir III. So, that is our only national waterway in this high desert ecosystem, which gets to why it’s so habitat rich.”
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Albany County Conservancy issues complaint against the Bureau of Land Management
By: Suraj Singareddy, Wyoming Public Radio, August 4th, 2023
On July 28, the Albany County Conservancy issued a complaint against the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The complaint alleges that the BLM failed to appropriately involve the public before approving part of the Rock Creek Wind Gen-Tie Transmission Line.
In March of this year, The BLM approved the construction of 4.7 miles of the transmission line, which is planned to be 38.1 miles long in total. If it’s completed, the 230 Kilovolt transmission line will transfer power from the Rock Creek Wind Energy Center in Albany County to the Aeolus Substation in Carbon County.
The complaint states that since the BLM didn’t hold a public comment period before giving its approval, it is in violation of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). NEPA was passed in 1970, and it was intended to ensure that federal agencies considered the environmental effects of their actions. One way it does that is by requiring federal agencies, in some cases, to consult the public, which might hold more knowledge of the local environment.
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Lawsuit Claims BLM Excluded Public With Secret Approval Of Wind Project
By: Kevin Killough, Cowboy State Daily, August 1st, 2023
Anne Brande, executive director of the conservancy, told Cowboy State Daily that multiple wind projects, as well as their associated transmission lines, are winding through the approval process and people often aren’t aware it’s happening.
“It’s frustrating to say the least,” Brande said.
The authorization of the right of way for the transmission line was supported by an environmental assessment (EA), according to the lawsuit, which found that the project would have no significant environmental impacts. The lawsuit says the EA is “fatally flawed” and insufficient.
“This is concerning, because the Rock Creek Wind Facility is just one of many large-scale commercial wind farms the federal government has foisted on Albany and Carbon County residents without even attempting to examine the magnitude of harm that such an unprecedented concentration of turbines will have on Wyoming in either the short or long term,” the lawsuit says.
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Wyoming Electric Line Environment Assessment Flawed, Group Says
By: Shayna Greene, Bloomberg Law, July 31st, 2023
A Wyoming nonprofit and a local biologist are challenging the Bureau of Land Management’s approval of an electric transmission line aiming to connect a wind farm to the grid.
The agency violated the National Environmental Policy Act and Administrative Procedure Act when authorizing the right of way for the Rock Creek transmission line, the petitioners said July 28 in the US District Court for the District of Wyoming.
The required environmental assessment that BLM conducted, which found the project will have no significant environmental impacts, is flawed and the agency failed to solicit public comments per the rulemaking process, they [. . .]
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Lawsuit: BLM ignored residents in approving Wyo. power line
By: Scott Streater, Politico E&E, July 31st, 2023
A Wyoming conservation group and a retired federal government biologist have filed a federal lawsuit challenging the Bureau of Land Management's approval of a transmission line designed to advance wind power in the state.
At issue is the Rock Creek Wind gen-tie transmission line on BLM land in southeast Wyoming, which is designed to connect the proposed commercial-scale Rock Creek Wind project to the Gateway South and Gateway West multistate transmission lines that can carry wind-generated electricity across the West.
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Wyoming Anti-Wind Activist Works To Slow Rush To Build Turbine Farms
By: Kevin Killough, Cowboy State Daily, April 19, 2023
“Anne Brande is a fourth-generation Wyomingite who founded the Albany County Conservancy, which is working to counter the impacts wind energy projects have on the state’s rural culture and history.
Anne Brande, executive director of the Albany County Conservancy, wants to prevent Wyoming from repeating the same mistakes with wind she says the state has made with oil and gas.” [. . .]
Wildlife, Habitat, and Migration
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Environmental Groups Exposed that Take Money from Wind Companies
From: Save Right Whales
NANTUCKET, MA – A group of long-time environmental activists dedicated to protecting the critically-endangered North Atlantic Right Whale will unveil a new report next Tuesday that exposes dozens of conservation groups that take money from corporate Wind Power companies. Payments are in the millions.
Open Letter to Whale Conservation Groups with Conflicts of Interest
[ Among these groups are several who have outreach/locations in Wyoming. ]
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Wyoming father and son explore turbine recycling
By: Glenn Woods, WyoFile, November 29, 2023
“Wyoming is home to one of the largest habitats of the golden eagle. They used to be endangered. But over the years, through a lot of work, their numbers have stabilized.
Yet they are considered to be on the edge of slipping back into the endangered species category if they lose too many more.
One of the biggest dangers to birds of all kinds, and bats, is wind turbines.
Yet Wyoming is building them in record numbers, putting the lives of these birds and many other raptors in danger once again. “
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Criminal cases for killing eagles decline as wind turbine dangers grow
By: Matthew Brown and Camille Fassett, The Associated Press, Seattle Times, May 17, 2023
ROLLING HILLS, Wyo. — Criminal cases brought by U.S. wildlife officials for killing or injuring protected eagles dropped sharply in recent years, even as officials ramped up issuing permits that will allow wind energy companies to kill thousands of eagles without legal consequence.
The falloff in enforcement of eagle protection laws accelerated in the Trump administration and has continued under President Joe Biden, according to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data obtained by The Associated Press.
It comes amid growing concern that a proliferation of wind turbines to feed the demand for renewable energy is jeopardizing golden eagle populations. [. . .]
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Economic Contributions of Big Game Hunting in Wyoming
A study conducted by Southwick Associates
“Big game hunting in Wyoming is [. . .] big business that results in the expenditure of $224 million annually. [. . .] The revenues generated transcend hunt-centric business and benefit all state residents through funds spent on lodging, food, gas, other travel-related expenses, retail goods and services, land access and state and local taxes. Decisions that affect the allocation of future permits and licenses must carefully consider how big game hunting’s far-reaching economic benefits are created to ensure optimal economic benefit for all Wyoming residents.
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Pronghorn Winter Resource Selection before and after Wind Energy Development in South-Central Wyoming
By Kurt T. Smith, Kaitlyn L. Taylor, Shannon E. Albeke, Jeffrey L. Beck, from Rangeland Ecology and Management 73(2) : 227-233
“However, we found evidence that pronghorn avoided wind turbines in winters after development within their winter home ranges. [. . .] Our finding that pronghorn avoided wind turbines within their winter home ranges has important implications for future wind development projects, particularly in areas known to fulfill important seasonal requirements of pronghorn populations.”
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Mapping Migration: Important Places for Wyoming's Migratory Birds
Published by The Nature Conservancy
“Wind development poses a potential threat to Wyoming’s migratory birds [. . .] including many species of conservation concern. We combined important migration areas for each of the four groups [of migratory birds] into one map and found that 73% of these areas were exposed to potential wind development. However, 27% of the lands with high potential for wind development have lower importance for migrating birds. By focusing development here, impacts to migrating birds could be avoided or reduced.
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Site Wind Right
A mapping project by The Nature Conservancy
“Achieving the wind energy development necessary to meet our climate goals will require quadrupling current wind capacity in the United States by 2050. Much of this new wind development is likely to occur in the Great Plains, home to some of the nation’s most promising wind resources. The Great Plains also provide our best remaining grassland habitat in North America, and the unique wildlife that is home on this range, such as bison, pronghorn antelope, deer, and prairie chickens.”
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Wyoming Game and Fish Department Guidelines for Wind and Solar Energy Development
Drafted Proposal from February 2021
“Wyoming’s vast, untrammeled landscapes and abundant fish and wildlife are iconic of the American West and contribute to a quality of life and economic value that cannot be overstated. Solar and wind energy [. . .] provide environmental benefits to society, but local utility-scale developments can negatively impact fish and wildlife, the habitats on which they depend, and limit uses such as hunting, wildlife viewing, and other outdoor activities. Impacts to fish and wildlife can include mortality, as well as habitat loss, fragmentation, and degradation. These impacts should be considered and addressed at the individual project scale, but also within the greater context of cumulative effects at the landscape scale, in order to sustain species distributions, fish and wildlife populations, and ecosystem function.”
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Sheep Mountain Mule Deer Initiative Management Recommendations
Wyoming Game and Fish Department
“Current mule deer numbers in the [Sheep Mountain herd unit], as well throughout most of Wyoming, are lower than desired by the public and wildlife managers.”
“Transition and summer habitat availability and quality are considered the limiting factors in mule deer population growth in the Sheep Mountain herd. [. . .] Habitat management and improvement, therefore, is a major component of the SMHU management recommendations.“
“Extensive energy development can have negative impacts to mule deer populations through the loss and fragmentation of habitat.”
Energy
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Electricity bills could climb 22% for Rocky Mountain Power customers
Dustin Bleizeffer Via Wyoming News Exchange Jul 17, 2023 Updated Jul 17, 2023
“Though PacifiCorp plans to gradually eliminate coal and add more sources of renewable and low-carbon energy to its power generation portfolio, [. . .]
‘The company is basically saying they can no longer accurately predict these markets for things like coal and natural gas,’ Joyce said.
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Unfurling The Waste Problem Caused By Wind Energy
Christina Stella, All Things Considered, NPR (09/10/2019)
“There aren't many options to recycle or trash turbine blades, and what options do exist are expensive, partly because the U.S. wind industry is so young. It's a waste problem that runs counter to what the industry is held up to be: a perfect solution for environmentalists looking to combat climate change, an attractive investment for companies such as Budweiser and Hormel Foods, and a job creator across the Midwest and Great Plains.”
“Decommissioned blades are also notoriously difficult and expensive to transport. They can be anywhere from 100 to 300 feet long and need to be cut up onsite before getting trucked away on specialized equipment — which costs money — to the landfill.”
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In China, the true cost of Britain's clean, green wind power experiment: Pollution on a disastrous scale
Simon Parry and Ed Douglas, Daily Mail (01/26/2011)
“This toxic lake poisons Chinese farmers, their children and their land. It is what's left behind after making the magnets for Britain's latest wind turbines.
[Inner Mongolia] has more than 90 per cent of the world’s legal reserves of rare earth metals, and specifically neodymium, the element needed to make the magnets in [. . .] wind turbines. [. . .] It has an appalling environmental impact that raises serious questions over the credibility of so-called green technology.
Jamie Choi, an expert on toxics for Greenpeace China, says villagers living near the lake face horrendous health risks from the carcinogenic and radioactive waste. ‘There’s not one step of the rare earth mining process that is not disastrous for the environment.‘
The fact that the wind-turbine industry relies on neodymium, which even in legal factories has a catastrophic environmental impact, is an irony Ms. Choi acknowledges.”
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Duke Energy application points finger at solar for increased pollution
Dan E. Way, North State Journal (08/14/2019)
RALEIGH — A seven-month investigation and numerous public information requests have revealed the move to increase solar power might be leading to an increase in the very emissions alternative energy sources aim to reduce. Duke spokeswoman Kim Crawford confirmed that increased solar power on the state’s electric grid is increasing emissions of nitrogen oxide (NOx), a dangerous air pollutant. [. . .]
“It’s great for the Wall Street financiers, and those in it to make a fast buck while the sun shines, but it’s leaving us with an increasingly unstable grid and externalities such as more pollution,” [distinguished senior fellow at the Institute for Energy Research Dan] Kish said. [. . .]
“Renewable energy sounds good, but it performs terribly.” Kish said. “It’s like a cancer on an efficient grid, with its ups-and-downs forcing other sources to pick up the slack in the most inefficient ways, which, in some cases, are more polluting.”
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Neighbors in eastern Iowa fight to bring down turbines — and win
Donnelle Eller, The Des Moines Register (11/21/2018)
“FAIRBANK, Ia. — Developers who invested $11 million to install three wind turbines in eastern Iowa are tearing them down, after losing a legal battle waged by nearby residents.
[. . .] The noise can even be heard inside his home, [resident Cheyney] Hershey said: ‘There was nowhere to get away from them.’
[Resident Joyce Kerns] said the wind developers have been ‘bullies.’ [. . .] ‘Unless you live under a turbine, you don't understand what it's like.’ [. . .] Since the turbines have stopped turning, ‘I can hear the birds chirping again,’ Kerns said.
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If Solar Panels Are So Clean, Why Do They Produce So Much Toxic Waste?
Michael Shellenberger, Forbes (05/23/2018)
“With few environmental journalists willing to report on much of anything other than the good news about renewables, it’s been left to environmental scientists and solar industry leaders to raise the alarm.”
“Solar panels often contain lead, cadmium, and other toxic chemicals that cannot be removed without breaking apart the entire panel. ‘Approximately 90% of most PV modules are made up of glass,’ notes San Jose State environmental studies professor Dustin Mulvaney. ‘However, this glass often cannot be recycled as float glass due to impurities. Common problematic impurities in glass include plastics, lead, cadmium and antimony.’”
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Corrigendum: Observation-based solar and wind power capacity factors and power densities
Lee M. Miller and David W. Keith, Environmental Research Letters 14, no. 7 (2019)
“Specifically: (a) wind plants with the largest areas have the lowest power densities; (b) wind capacity factors are increasing, and that increase is associated with a decrease in installed capacity densities, so power densities are stable or declining; and, (c) the observed average power densities are consistent with prior estimates that use physically-based models of turbine-atmosphere interaction and are inconsistent with many wind resource estimates that implicitly ignore these interactions.”
“All else equal, lower power densities mean larger land and environmental footprints. [. . .] In summary, we find that while improved wind turbine design and siting have increased capacity factors (and greatly reduced costs) they have not altered power densities.”
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Sioux Falls landfill tightens rules after Iowa dumps dozens of wind turbine blades
Joe Sneve, Argus Leader (USA Today) (08/27/2019)
“This year, 101 turbine blades have been trucked to the city dump. But with each one spanning 120 feet long, that's caused officials with the landfill and the Sioux Falls Public Works Department to study the long-term effect that type of refuse could have on the dump. [. . .] A portion of each blade is hollow on the inside, requiring landfill crews to compact them by crushing them beneath the weight of 120,000-pound trucks. Still, it's a process that hasn't proven cost effective, even though the out-of-region price for bringing waste to the landfill is nearly double what locals pay. ‘We can't take any more unless they process them before bringing them to us,’ Cotter said. ‘We're using too many resources unloading them, driving over them a couple times and working them into the ground.’”
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The 100 Renewable Energy Myth
Institute for Energy Research (02/08/2019)
“Intermittent wind and solar cannot stand on their own. They must have some form of back-up power, from reliable coal, natural gas, nuclear units, storage capability from hydroelectric facilities, and/or batteries. Batteries of the size and scope needed for 100-percent renewables are unproven and not cost effective.
Even if a 100 percent renewable future were feasible, the land requirements and costs of transitioning would be enormous and would require subsidies to ease the electricity price increases that would result. Germany’s experience of phasing out its nuclear plants in favor of wind and solar projects should be taken as a warning against the ludicrousness of this undertaking.
Electricity is not something with which to trifle. We take it for granted in the world’s richest and most advanced economy that things will work when we want them to work, but a 100 percent renewable plan would put that in jeopardy.
The various pronouncements that glibly peddle reliance on wind and solar energy should be met with demands for verifiable, in-depth analysis of how to do it. No such analysis has yet been delivered.”
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Climatic Impacts of Wind Power
Lee M. Miller and David W. Keith, Joule 2, no. 12 (December 19, 2018)
• Wind power reduces emissions while causing climatic impacts such as warmer temperatures
• Warming effect strongest at night when temperatures increase with height
• Nighttime warming effect observed at 28 operational US wind farms
• Wind's warming can exceed avoided warming from reduced emissions for a century
“In agreement with observations and prior model-based analyses, US wind power will likely cause non-negligible climate impacts. While these impacts differ from the climate impacts of GHGs in many important respects, they should not be neglected. Wind's climate impacts are large compared with solar PVs.”
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Big Wind's Bogus Subsidies Giving tax credits to the wind energy industry is a waste of time and money
Nancy Pfotenhauer, U.S. News & World Report (05/12/2014)
“On average, wind energy facilities operate at just 30 percent of their capacity and must be backed up by more reliable forms of energy such as natural gas. Instead of producing energy solutions that can survive and thrive in the marketplace, we’re left with botched green energy projects that have brought us no closer to our energy goals. [. . .]
By arguing that that tax credits are needed to create jobs, proponents overlook what the rest of the economy gives up in exchange. When lawmakers give special tax breaks to their friends and favorite industries, they shift the burden onto everybody left in the tax base. While subsidies may allow wind turbine makers to pump up their payrolls, the rest of the economy suffers as a result.”
Life Outdoors
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Trap Safety for Pet Owners
Wyoming Untrapped
Full of resources including a video, untrapping kits, instructions, and a trap incident list, map, and report form. Dogs have been caught and injured in traps near Vedauwoo and Medicine Bow. Be prepared.
“Be aware that traps are out there every day of the year in Wyoming! If you see a trap or your dog is caught in one of these devices, know what to do! You can reduce conflict by being aware of the recommendations in this video – it may save your dog’s life.”
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Wyoming Stop Poaching Hotline
Wyoming Game and Fish
“Each year, hundreds of animals are taken illegally in Wyoming, and without tips from concerned members of the public, many of these crimes would go undetected. Game wardens follow up on all information received through the Stop Poaching program and in many cases these tips lead to successful prosecutions of violators. Tips can be submitted by phone, text or online and reporters can choose to remain anonymous. Individuals submitting information leading to a conviction can be eligible for a reward through the Wyoming Wildlife Protector's Association.
1-877-WGFD-TIP (1-877-943-3847) or 1-307-777-4330 for out-of-state calls.
Text keyword WGFD and message to 847-411
Android-based cell phone users may download a free app to submit text message reports.
iPhone users must text reports to 847-411.
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Albany County Search and Rescue
“The mission of Albany County Sheriff’s Search and Rescue is to provide Albany County and surrounding areas dedicated and trained volunteer resources in the event of lost, overdue, or missing persons, or emergency situation, ensure members receive and maintain high quality training to create proficient search teams and individuals, and to provide community oriented services.”
In case of an Emergency Dial 911
Laramie Dispatch: (307) 721-2526
Albany County Sheriffs Office: (307) 755-3520
Disclaimer
Please note that neither the Albany County Conservancy as an organization nor its individual members necessarily agree with, advocate, or endorse the opinions, beliefs, or positions expressed in any of the materials linked on this page. Similarly, none of the entities, organizations, or individuals whose materials are referenced or linked here should be construed as implicitly or explicitly endorsing or supporting the Conservancy, its members, activities, ideals, positions, or statements, either implicit or explicit.