So What's the Big Deal about Turbines on Jack Mountain?






Jack Mountain as seen from the top of Shenandoah Mountain looking west.

The big deal is this:

Pendleton County is the most scenic county in the state. The ridges and valleys of the Potomac Highlands reach their finest expression within the borders of our county. Many of the ridges exceed 3000' elevation. The major ones exceed 4000' and combine to present a majestic landscape. Jack Mt. tops 4000' in many places and is central to that landscape located as it is, approximately halfway between Shenandoah Mt. on the eastern border of the county and Spruce Mt., site of Spruce Knob, on the western border of the county.

Constructing wind turbines on Jack Mt. will open the door to wind turbine projects on all the other ridges in the county, seriously putting at risk the unique scenic splendor of the area. It will also put at risk the tourism, outdoor recreation, and vacation home construction businesses that derive their major value from the priceless and increasingly rare non-industrialized natural beauty that exists here. For these reasons Pendleton County deserves to be permanently protected from the blight of industrial wind turbines.

Even more galling than seeing the damage that multiple wind turbines will do is the realization that it is unnecessary and wasteful. Wind turbines are so dismally inefficient that it would take 14,775 of them on 1,850 miles of ridge tops to equal the power output of the 350-acre North Anna Nuclear Power Station in central Virginia. France gets 80% of its electricity from nuclear power while in the United States, 8% of electricity is from nuclear power. Water vapor is the only emission from a nuclear power plant.

Wind turbines are being promoted — thanks to tax breaks, government subsidies and legislatively mandated market share — because they offer a way to make easy money on the backs of ordinary taxpayers. You can help us fight this threat to our county by sending a financial contribution to: FOBPC • PO Box 218 • Franklin, WV 26807. Any amount you can contribute will be greatly appreciated.