Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
distribution systems, grading and surfacing roads, cleaning and leveling
staging areas, and stockpiling soil and spoils (if not removed) would (1)
damage or remove vegetation, (2) expose bare soil, and (3) suspend dust.
Soil scars and exposed slope faces would result from excavation, leveling,
and equipment movement. Invasive species could colonize disturbed and
stockpiled soils and compacted areas.
SIDEBAR 2.1 Visual Conservation: BANANA vs. NIMBY, or Both
Renewable Energy Paradox
Ask an environmentalist if renewable energy is a good idea. It's a no-brainer, they'll say.
Hell, yes. If you tell them that you will build a wind farm or a series of electrical power tow-
ers in their backyard, though, they will scream, “No way, Jose!”
Just as they are with fire or waterfall gazing, some drivers are also mesmerized whenever
they drive Interstate 40 through Oklahoma and Texas or Interstate 15 through Tehachapi
Pass, California, on clear days and witness a host of hundreds of whirling, swooshing, slash-
ing wind turbines. Many of these folks do not need a road-to-Damascus change of view to
accept these massive turbines. Moreover, they are not necessarily advocates for renewable
energy; instead, they are simply captivated by the human-made machines as they stand tall
against a backdrop of plains and deserts and hills and mountains and blue or cloud-filled
nothingness.
This somewhat romantic view of wind farms is held by a few people here and there, but
it is safe to say, without qualification, that many other people have a different view of whirl-
ing, swooshing wind turbines scattered helter-skelter across the U.S. landscape. Even though
very few of these people dispute the environmental benefits of wind energy (or solar and
other renewable energy producers), many feel that the construction of wind farms (any-
where) ruins or spoils the otherwise pristine landscape.
The possible or potential construction of wind farms (or solar or other renewable energy
sources) often elicits the “not in my back yard” (NIMBY) phenomenon—even more so,
in some cases, for the associated electric power transmission towers and lines. Generally,
NIMBY opponents acknowledge the need for the wind turbines and transmission lines,
while arguing that they just don't want them nearby to them. Most people understand the
need for them, but hardly anyone wants to live within sight of them, usually because they
look “ugly” or for personal safety concerns.
The opposition generated by the NIMBY phenomenon is one thing, but quite another
is the opposition generated by the “build absolutely nothing anywhere near anything”
(BANANA) phenomenon, which protests, unlike NIMBY, the overall necessity of any
development. The opponents are often environmentalists, in which case the argument is
generally we don't need new wind turbine farms and associated transmission lines and
power stations. Simply, BANANA activists argue against any more of
whatever
is being
planned. With regard to construction of new wind turbines and associated equipment, the
BANANA argument is that instead we need to use power more wisely, not generate more.
Whether in reference to the NIMBY or the BANANA phenomenon, what we are talking
about is complaints about visual pollution. Visual pollution is an aesthetic issue regarding
the impacts of pollution impairing one's ability to enjoy a view or vista. Visual pollution
disturbs coveted views by creating what are perceived as negative changes in the natural
environment; that is, visual pollution intrudes on, ruins, spoils, and mars the natural land-
scape and can best be described as an eyesore. The most common negative changes or forms
of visual pollution are buildings, automobiles, trash dumps, space debris, telephone and
electric towers and wires, and electrical substations (see Figures SB2.1.1 and SB2.1.2).
