CFACT Talks Wind at Iowa State

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CFACT continues to spread its free-market based approach to environmentalism to schools across the Midwest. On Tuesday CFACT was on the Iowa State University campus talking about wind power.  We talked to numerous students to see how much they knew about wind power, and the results 2015-09-15 16.28.51were very interesting.

It was surprising how little many of the students knew about wind power. While many of them were familiar with wind turbines (they are a common sight in Iowa), most of the students knew very little about them. One student was surprised to discover the intermittent nature of wind power. Another student thought excess power generated by wind turbines was stored for future use, and was stunned to discover it is wasted if it cannot be used.

Another student was shocked to discover how land intensive wind farming can be. She was amazed to discover it would take nearly 43,000 square miles (roughly the size of Virginia) of wind farms to power the United States. She facetiously said, “I am from Virginia, and I don’t want to see my state covered in wind turbines.” 2015-09-15 19.16.31Other students had no idea about the impact wind turbines have on bird populations or their reliance on massive government subsidies.

After enlightening ISU students about the lesser known facts of wind power, CFACT had the opportunity to meet with the Iowa State University College Republicans. Many of the College Republicans were excited to hear about CFACT’s unique blend of conservative ideas, free market principles, and environmentalism.  They were glad to know there are ways to protect the environment without resorting to the overreach that is big government.