Wind's Power Part Deux: Lake Michigan

Okay, this article was one that was published in Wednesday's final edition of the Tribune, on page 33 of section 1. It's a "charticle" by Michael Hawthorne, a tribune environmental beat reporter. I could not find it online so I will offer a summary and then some of my own opinions.

Summary: Wind farms in Lake Michigan? Doubtful.

Hawthorne begins by mentioning a Michigan State University report that shows how "the Great Lakes could help turn dreams of renewable energy into reality." Then he goes on to explain what obstacles stand in the way of watery wind power in Chicago. He focuses on three.

1. The number of bird deaths would increase because "the southern tip of Lake Michigan in particular is a major route on the migratory bird flyway."
2. It's less expensive to focus on land-based wind farms in the Midwest.
3. Yet again, the criticism that would be incurred if windmills were erected along the Chicago lakefront.

This article is much more pertinent for Illinois residents, and it could not be found on Chicagotribune.com. Though it may be difficult to reproduce some of the graphics online, showing where the most wind can be harvested in the Great Lakes is very important to residents of the midwest. 

For Chicago, the unsightly views of wind turbines could probably be better argued than New Jersey, and a large spike in bird deaths would not be an "okay" byproduct, so yes there are some big obstacles to overcome in southern Lake Michigan. But the graphic shows that this area wouldn't cultivate large amounts of wind energy anyway. 

Wind power from Lake Michigan doesn't look to be powering the Windy City in the near future, but this article does what Professor Follis often preaches--it takes a national issue and makes it local.