CITY FOCUS:Winds of change in energy

The sky’s the limit for the possibility of local wind power, according to an environmental advocacy group that held a press conference June 13 in Laguna Beach.

Environment California set up 150 pinwheels on Main Beach to demonstrate how many wind turbines it would take to provide all of the electricity for Laguna Beach, Newport Beach and Costa Mesa.

“We need to act now to create the new energy of the future,” said Chris Gianino, the organization’s local citizen outreach director.

The organization held similar events that day in cities such as Newport Beach, Santa Cruz and San Diego.

Environment California is calling upon Congress to support legislation for a national Renewable Electricity Standard, which would require that 20% of a utility’s electricity be generated from renewable resources by 2020, Gianino said.

He added that this switch would reduce global warming pollution to the equivalent of 89 million cars’ emissions.

“The message is clear,” he said.

The topic is on both the House and Senate dockets in coming months.

California was the first state to develop such a goal, and 21 other states have followed its lead, Gianino said.

The U.S. Department of Energy found that less than 1% of the electrical energy generated in the country was powered by wind, but the capacity for such power has quadrupled since 2001 “” mainly due to tax breaks and other incentives.

Southern California Edison announced late last year that it plans to double its wind power capacity; the finished project would create enough power for nearly 3 million homes, the company said.

Wind power is a hot topic in politics at the moment, following rising gas prices and the May release of a congressionally mandated report by the National Research Council, a branch of the National Academy of Sciences.

It also found that government regulations and guidelines were seriously lacking, given the popularity of such projects.

The report recommended that the federal government develop guidelines for gathering wind energy that would maximize its benefits and mitigate any possible environmental impacts, such as harming birds and destroying views.

California is the only state to date to issue guidelines to lessen such impacts. It consistently rates near the top of the nation in wind energy production, due to large wind farms in areas like the Altamont, San Gorgonio and Tehachapi passes.

A California Energy Commission study found that more than 1,000 birds are killed at the Altamont wind farm annually; it has since agreed to turn off half its turbines at certain parts of the year and remove many of them.

The debate over such environmental impacts has divided those interested in the issue.

The Government Accountability Office, which serves as the investigative agency for Congress, found that California’s wind power facilities didn’t pose a significant threat to wildlife in a 2005 report.

The council also found no link between bird deaths and turbine blades, but suggests that more research be performed.