By Dave Tyler •
May 21, 2009
A wind farm that was planned for the upstate New York town of Beekmantown and shot down by town officials after a collapse of a turbine at a nearby park, may be back on again.
A new developer has submitted plans to the town, the
Plattsburgh Press-Republican reports. The town council
voted down a plan submitted by Windhorse Power LLC in March. Among the reasons cited were contentious lawsuits filed by residents, inaction by Windhorse Power and fears of an incident similar to a
turbine collapse in neighboring Altona.
By Derek Markham •
April 15, 2009
An analysis of the Mediterranean bluefin tuna population by the WWF shows that the breeding population of the species will be disappear by 2012 if the fisheries continue with business as usual, and urges the immediate closure of the fishery to stop the impending collapse.
“Mediterranean bluefin tuna is on the slippery slope to collapse, and here is the data to prove it. Whichever way you look at it, the Mediterranean bluefin tuna collapse trend is dramatic, it is alarming, and it is happening now.” - Dr Sergi Tudela, Head of Fisheries at WWF Mediterranean
By Dave Tyler •
March 12, 2009
New York State’s Public Service Commission investigators are trying to figure out why a wind turbine collapsed last week in upstate Clinton County.
The Albany Times Union reports that Noble Environmental Power, which owns the 65-turbine Altona Wind Park, and turbine maker General Electric Co. found “wiring anomalies” prevented two turbines from shutting down as they are supposed to during a power outage. One tower collapsed in a fiery heap, starting a small fire on the ground. The other was damaged but remained standing. Debris was scattered as far as a quarter-mile away, the paper reported. WPTZ has video with images of the collapsed turbine.
There were no reported injuries. The incident is believed to be the first collapse of a turbine in New York. The PSC would like G.E. and Noble to share information from their investigation with the agency.
In a time when stock prices, gas prices and more change dramatically within days, hours and minutes, it’s hard to imagine that anyone five years ago could have had a cogent take on today’s troubles. Until you watch Jared Diamond’s talk on why societies fail, given in February 2003 in Monterey, California.
Diamond, in case you’re not familiar with him, is a professor of geography and physiology at UCLA and author of the eye-opening book, Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed.
So how right-on was Diamond’s outlook a full five years ago? Check out this quote:
The Brooklyn-based Buckminster Fuller Institute (BFI) has just announced its call for entries to the 2009 Buckminster Fuller Challenge. So if you’ve got a solution to the U.S. and global financial meltdowns, accelerating climate change, collapsing ecosystems and/or world poverty, the institute wants to hear it.
“We’re looking for comprehensive anticipatory design solutions that address multiple problems without creating new ones down the road — integrated strategies dealing with key social, economic, environmental, and cultural issues,” says Elizabeth Thompson, BFI’s executive director.
