Why Green Power?

1. The Environmental Benefits include minimal, if any, byproducts of CO2 and other pollutants such as carbon monoxide, sulfur dioxide, and lead in comparison to those produced in the creation of energy through fossil fuels.
2. Stimulating Our Hobbled Economy. In 1997, importing fossil fuels sent $65 billion dollars outside of our country. Renewable energy resources are developed at home. Furthering their development will keep billions of dollars here, creating more jobs for Americans.
3. Our Children's Future depends on the technological advancements of these energy sources. Two things we know for certain are that oil won't last forever and the sun will.
4. Our National Security is strengthened as our dependency for foreign oil is decreased. By moving toward renewable energies, we naturally shift toward freedom from unstable ground.

*reprinted from Campaign Earth

News

Northern Marin ranch looks to windmill power, Audubon Society fears risk to birds from 210-feet system

by Jim Welte, Marin Independent Journal, August 13, 2005

McEvoy Olive Ranch, one of Marin's most popular agricultural ranches, is proposing to build a 210-foot-tall windmill energy system that will generate enough electricity to power the entire 550-acre property, located in the rolling hills between Nicasio and Petaluma.

The project, which will have a permit hearing before a county zoning administrator Aug. 25, is the second and largest of its kind proposed in Marin. The ranch is owned by Nan Tucker McEvoy, 85 and former chairman of the San Francisco Chronicle Publishing Company.

It consists of a windmill with a 77-foot radius that would generate 660-kilowatts of electricity, mounted onto 131-foot tower. The electricity would feed into a Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) connection at the base of the tower and be sent onto the ranch's power system and the surrounding power lines.

Tom Williard, whose Inverness-based Sustainergy Systems is overseeing the project, said the system would take 295 tons of carbon dioxide emissions out of the air each year by not taking electricity generated from PG&E's gas- and coal-fired power plants.

 "That's 590,000 pounds of CO2," he said. "And when it's generating more electricity than the ranch is using at a certain time, that power will go into the grid and would actually be supplying electricity to other PG&E customers in the area," he said.

Wind has become one of the fastest growing sources of renewable energy, expanding about 20 percent annually over the past five years, according to the American Wind Energy Association. In 2004, U.S. wind farms had the capacity to generate 6,740 megawatts of electricity.

But windmills present problems for the region's raptor population, according to Barbara Salzman, president of the Marin Audubon Society.

"There is considerable record of adverse impacts to hawks that they get chopped up in the blades," Salzman said, pointing to studies done in the 50-square-mile Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area in the East Bay.

An estimated 1,700 to 4,700 birds are killed each year in that area, according to a study released last year by the California Energy Commission. Of those fatalities, between 880 and 1,300 are federally protected raptors such as burrowing owls, red-tailed hawks and golden eagles.

Salzman said it is imperative that McEvoy's proposal receive adequate public review.

 "This is north of a major migratory route for raptors," she said.

 Laure Reichek, who lives on the property closest to the ranch on Red Hill Road, said the ranch has been a good neighbor since it opened. She said she's been assured that the windmill won't have any noise or visual impacts on her property.

 "I am totally in favor of renewable energy and of windmills," she said. "As long as I'm not impacted by the sound or visually, I think it's a wonderful idea."

 McEvoy, granddaughter of the founder of the Chronicle in 1865, bought the ranch in 1991, four years before relatives ousted her as chairman of the board of the family-owned San Francisco Chronicle Publishing Co.

One of San Francisco's most influential women, McEvoy's daunting resume includes a stint as one of the original members of the Peace Corps in 1961 and the founding of the nation's first abortion clinic. She ranked No. 384 on the Forbes 400 list of wealthiest Americans in 2003, with a net worth of $640 million.

McEvoy decided to turn the ranch into an olive oil producer despite discouraging opinions that olive trees wouldn't grow on the land. 

The ranch now has 18,000 Italian olive trees and is one of Marin's most successful agricultural ranches.

McEvoy sells most of its products online and at gourmet stores such as Dean & DeLuca, Draeger's and Whole Foods, but also has its own retail store in the San Francisco Ferry Building along the Embarcadero.

 The proposed project would also include two new buildings, one to house an assistant orchard manager and additional 1,400 square feet of offices and storage. The development on the ranch currently consists of an American country-style farmhouse, a hot house, organic produce gardens and an exotic, 42-foot-tall Chinese pavilion.

Williard said, if approved, the system could be up in one year. Although the installation would only take four weeks, he said, the delay would come from having to wait to get one from the manufacturers.

 "The windmill manufacturers work with these big wind farms all over the world," he said. "We're just ordering one, so it's tougher to get one. We want to get it up there as soon as possible."

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For more information, you may also call 415.497.6242 or send email to: david@sustainergysystems.com