Frustration and anger turn to action.
****
One of the great lines spun by the wind industry, its parasites and spruikers is how country people simply just can’t wait to snuggle up next to a cuddly bunch of Vestas V112s (see our post here).
Apparently, life for rural communities just isn’t complete without a fleet of blade-chucking, pyrotechnic, sonic-torture devices.
The wind industry’s story goes that country folks’ currently miserable, downtrodden lives can only improve with the addition of a few hundred whirling, bat-chomping, bird slicing wonders.
The problem is, as with most wind industry bunkum, the facts soon separate from the myth.
Despite the spin-masters’ well-oiled claims about everybody simply “loving wind turbines to bits”, the truth is that there are plenty of wind farm victims who are keen to see them end up in bits; lots of little bits.
Just how keen is shown by these two stories: the first from Montana; and the next from Waubra in Victoria.
Wind turbine shot, NaturEner offering reward of $2,500
The Valierian
3 June 2015
****
NaturEner, which owns and operates the Glacier Wind wind farms in Glacier and Toole counties, is offering a $2,500 reward for information on the gunshot vandalism of one of its turbines.
One of the turbines located in the Glacier County portion of the Glacier Wind 2 farm was shot sometime in mid-April. The bullet punched through the outer shell of the turbine and damaged a major cable leading to the generator, causing more than $100,000 in damage.
“Whoever is responsible for this senseless act of vandalism endangered our employees, whom actually work inside the part of the turbine that was shot, and our neighbors, as well as damaging a valuable piece of renewable energy infrastructure,” said Gabriel Vaca, vice president of NaturEner. “Anyone with information about this incident should contact NaturEner and the Glacier County Sheriff.”
The turbine stopped generating power on the afternoon of April 17, and the bullet damage was discovered on April 23 by repair technicians, who reported the incident to law enforcement officials.
The intense heat caused by the power surging through the cable melted the bullet, and sheriff’s deputies have found no witnesses who saw or heard the gunshot.
The Valierian
Meanwhile, the trigger-men are just as active Downunder ….
Shots fired at Waubra wind farm
The Courier
Kara Irving
18 April 2015
Photo cooked up by the Australian Wind Alliance …
****
Maintenance workers have been put at risk by people shooting at Waubra wind turbines.
Acciona Australia has asked police to investigate incidents of people taking aim at its Waubra Wind Farm turbines over the last two months.
A company spokesman said shooting at the turbines posed significant safety risks for its workers.
“Acciona takes employee and contractor health and safety, as well as safety in the local community, very seriously,” a spokesman said.
“Any person that has knowledge or information that could assist in the police investigation should contact Crime Stoppers or Ballarat Police.”
The company could not confirm how many of its 128 wind turbines had been shot.
No workers, contractors or members of the public had been injured as a result of the incident.
Australian Wind Alliance national coordinator Andrew Bray said it was the first shooting incident he had heard of at wind farms.
“I have heard of incidents where people had vandalised property around the wind farms, but this is a first for me,” he said.
There had been no significant damage to the 80-metre-tall turbines as a result of the shooting.
All Waubra Wind Farm turbines have one narrow elevator and stairs for workers.
Acciona Australia opened the wind farm near the Sunraysia Highway in 2009.
The wind farm is located 35 kilometres north-west of Ballarat.
A Victoria Police spokesman said comment would not be available until Monday.
Anyone with information regarding the incident should contact Crime Stoppers.
The Courier
Andrew Bray – not the sharpest tool in the shed – appears to have a hard time connecting the fact that it takes something pretty serious to get ordinary, law-abiding citizens angry enough to start pumping lead into someone else’s property.
Bray – a highly paid wind industry spruiker – true to his gormless type – fails to see the irony in his very own dismay. For years now, in every utterance and every press release, Bray bubbles over, telling us how everyone, everywhere just can’t get enough of “free”, lovable wind energy.
And yet, at Waubra and in Montana, that “love” manifests with well directed shots from high powered rifles?!?
While Bray suggests it’s the first time he’s heard of shots being fired at wind turbines, STT has heard a few reports of Australian farmers letting loose on turbines with shots fired in frustration and anger. One shootist apparently decided to stop firing at the blades, because the holes made caused them to emit a ‘whistling’ sound, only adding to the acoustic torture.
The fact of the matter is that rural communities cannot abide these things. When asked fairly and squarely, more than 90% of threatened and affected communities are bitterly opposed:
Wind Industry Keeps Losing ‘Hearts and Minds’: Community Opposition Rolls & Builds
While only a few have taken up arms in response (so far), there’s been plenty of self-directed action from threatened and/or harmed communities around the world, which STT is happy to describe as acts of community “self-defence”:
Community Defenders Down MET Mast in Donegal, Ireland
More MET Mast Mayhem: Community Defenders Drop Mast in Fight to Save Homes near Bangor, Maine
MET Mast Mayhem: Scots Use Guerrilla Tactics to Stop These Things
Wave of Destruction: Ontario Wind Farm Neighbours in Open Revolt
These acts of desperation and frustration are perfectly understandable. For a taste of what’s driving this anger turned to action, cop an earful of what these folks are being forced to tolerate:
****
****
Collectively these actions can be characterised as a response to entrenched institutional corruption; such as the Clean Energy Regulator happily doling out $billions in RECs to wind farms that have never shown compliance with the noise conditions of their planning consents:
Australia’s Clean Energy Regulator Doles Out $Billions in Subsidies to Non-Compliant Wind Farms
Citizens are bound to react against any industry quick to destroy their lawful rights to live in and enjoy their own homes. And they’re bound to react violently when that industry is devoid of any moral compass, let alone human empathy. An industry that openly displays a callous disregard for basic human rights – such as the ability to sleep comfortably in one’s own bed – using its shills to call them “wind farm wing-nuts” and otherwise dismissing or ridiculing their wholly unnecessary suffering – as Andrew Bray and his ilk do, on a daily basis:
Thai Turbine-Terrorist, RATCH Scores Monumental “Own Goal” during Senate’s Wind Farm Inquiry
Sleep matters – and incessant turbine generated low-frequency noise and infrasound at night-time destroys the ability to enjoy it:
If anybody in government believes that the politics of “renewables” is all about blindly favouring them, then the events outlined in this post and the posts linked above should provide pause for thought.
The warm and fluffy tag “renewables” is used to garner political support for the wind industry – but there’s a distinction between giant industrial wind turbines grinding away in the next paddock at 2 in the morning and solar panels on the house next-door. STT’s yet to hear of a case of anyone unloading their grandpa’s .303 on their neighbour’s solar panels.
Tony Abbott’s Coalition have just struck a deal with Labor involving a $46 billion electricity tax aimed at salvaging what’s left of Australia’s wind industry (see our post here).
For thousands of people in rural communities spread out across the country that “deal” – which has been passed in the House of Reps – is seen as a betrayal, not only of their interests, but of the interests of the Nation as a whole (see our posts here and here).
What Tony Abbott & Co need to pick up on (real fast) is the fact that it’s ONLY the lunatics of the hard-‘green’-left that are ready to die in a ditch to ‘save’ the wind industry – pumped up by astroturfing outfits like GetUp! – people that will never, ever vote for the Coalition.
Meanwhile – thanks to wind industry front men, Ian “Macca” Macfarlane and his youthful ward, Greg Hunt – the Coalition is pandering to a crowd they can never hope to win; and forsaking those who have – till now – loyally thrown their votes at the Liberals and Nationals.
With rural community anger about to boil over, STT predicts that turbine target practice, and the destruction of turbines and MET masts has only just begun. Are you listening, Tony?
Tony, ignore their anger at your political peril.
About stopthesethings
STOP THESE THINGS 
Reblogged this on Climate- Science.
Ive been told that if you shoot a 303 up from below the narcelle its very easy to puncture the oil tank, thus making the turbine completely unoperational and having to be replaced, would anyone be able to confirm if this is correct?
After watching all of the attempts in rural Ontario, Canada by victims of the wind industry who have witnessed wilful blindness and negligence from paid and elected ‘leaders’, and who have used proper protocol to defend their human rights at great expense and been blocked and denied appeal, I would not be surprised to see similar actions taken as a last resort.
To put an end to people suffering from adverse health impacts from ‘acceptable’ audible noise and infrasound radiation, as well as the loss of property value would be a major relief to all victims of the wind industry who have taken the insults, invalidation and abuse for far too long.
Some people love their homes and have a deep sense of place and they have every right to feel safe and secure in their homes. They have no intention of being forced to abandon their home. Besides the major disruption, paying for a home is a serious investment. Who wants to be the victim of extortion?
We put this, on our facebook page, against your Curt Devlin post yesterday, STT, and have reiterated this morning:
How many people across the world will have to undergo this torture before the whole health effect question is properly evaluated? And what will the history books make of governments who could allow this to continue with no duty of care and no precautionary principle in evidence? If it were something to do with a nuclear – or fossil – facility about which folk reported ill effects, that facility would in all probability be shut down; the subject would be emblazoned across the media world; the Greens would be slapping legislatures of the globe and screaming in parliaments and immediate investigations would take place. What’s the difference?
The credibility of the coalition as the ‘party’ determined to ‘right the economic ship’ of this country is now destroyed. ‘Corporate welfare’ is once again firmly entrenched by this cowardly deal with the Labor party on the RET.
I totally accept that Angus Taylor is aghast by what his party ‘superiors’ have done and his valiant attempt to steer the money away from ‘wind farms’.
Hunt and MacFarlane, by singing the praises of the chief of the CER have demonstrated, once again, their total disregard for ‘reality’ based outcomes. And remain political fodder for the highly paid public sector ‘elite’, at the expense of ‘wealth creation’ citizens – who are left paying the bills and suffering the torture – while they gorge themselves on the fatted calves served on the streets of Canberra, Adelaide and inner city Melbourne and Sydney.
One day the bullets might get sprayed elsewhere than at inanimate objects, such is the festering resentment of ‘real’ people, suffering at the hands of this absurd, unsustainable industry.
The hypocrisy of Acciona being worried for the ‘health and wellbeing and safety of their employees (Oh! And ‘the community’) is breath taking and contemptuous in the extreme.
How many citizens of rural Australia have to suffer incessant sonic torture before this ‘denial’ of what’s going on is stopped?
So, what’s happened to Steve Cooper’s Pac Hydro report? Gone with the wind? Turned into toilet paper?
These wind farm operators are very lucky they’re just destroying the lives of law abiding citizens — if anyone gets charged for shooting a few wind mills than the ‘authorities’ allowing this nonsense to continue may get a bigger ‘bang’ for their buck than expected — what is left for these people?
Well Angus Taylor has suggested ‘compensation’ – that would be a good start.
Acciona taking health and safety of their workers seriously, what a JOKE. If Acciona and the rest of their GRUBBY mates were serious about health and safety they would stop and dismantle all the fans, as the fans are causing the people around the structures health and safety issues.
I am surprised that the grubby fans haven’t become targets before this, it is called self defence from torture.
SELF DEFENCE is the answer. To be compensated and bought out is an option.
Inspirational commentary as ever….
Nothing earns more than wind farm subsidies. Nothing will stop earning like windmills that Wear Out and fail, never to be repaired because nobody subsidizes that.