Costco Connection - October 2009

YES

from members:

Margaret Sagaysay Waialua, HI

We want Hawaii, let alone the United States, to be independent [of] other countries for fuel.

Vern Wilson

Port Angeles, WA

There is new technology, not only creating electricity but also creating hydrogen gas, [and] creating a non-polluting energy source

[for] combustion engines.

PHO TO DISC/CHRIS A RUSNAK

Virginia Long

Greenwich, CT

Think back hundreds of years when they used windmills to pump water. It is quiet and the energy can be stored for use later.

Should we rely more
NO

from members:

on wind energy?

GeneratinG electricity from wind is gaining acceptance in many parts of the world; 80 countries are generating electricity from wind power on a commercial basis. last year, wind power accounted for 42 percent of new electrical capacity additions in the United States, second only to natural gas.

Supporters of wind energy say that it’s reliable, it has environmental benefits and is economically sound because there are no escalating fuel costs, as with oil and other fossil fuels. They are working to make wind energy account for 20 percent of our electricity demand by the year 2030.

critics argue that wind turbines are costly to install and maintain, noisy, unsightly, harmful to some animals and possibly dangerous to human health. On top of this, wind power is unreliable and needs to be backed up with other forms of energy, they say. What do you think?

David Lancaster Bakersfield, CA

The amount of overall
pollution reduction is
minimal. The produc-
tion of electricity only
occurs when the wind
blows. Animal life is
negatively impacted.