Covered in complete darkness, Wall Street Journal environmental news editor Jeffrey Ball stands beneath a turbine at the world's largest wind farm, located in central Texas. "It's pitch black," he said during a speech Monday morning. "You can't see anything. But you can hear the whoosh, whoosh, whoosh [of the turbine]. The neighbors describe it as the sound of a refrigerator."
The viability of wind farms in the United States was part of an hour-long discussion Monday in the Williams Lounge at the John R. Emens Auditorium, as part of a series sponsored by the E.B. and Bertha C. Ball Center.
The speech topic, "Squeezed and Confused: America at an Energy Crossroads," sparked some debate among the 30-person audience about factors in global warming and America's energy policies.
The United States was built on coal and natural gas, as Ball called them cheap energy. As Americans become more aware of carbon dioxide emissions and their effects on the environment, businesses have sought other ways to create energy, such as wind and solar energy, Ball said.
The environmental issues have become a political topic, as both major party presidential candidates - Democrat Barack Obama and Republican John McCain - have identified plans for reducing the use of fossil fuels in the country.
"So the race is on for an energy solution," Ball said.
Wind energy accounts for 1 percent of the country's energy. The government has said that by 2030, it wants that to move to 20 percent. However, Ball said, that scenario depends on whether people are willing to invest in infrastructure, such as lines that can hold a higher capacity of energy.
"Harnessing wind power costs 40 percent more than coal," Ball said.
In Texas, he added, the Horse Hollow Wind Energy Center, the largest wind farm in the world, is told to halt the turbines when the lines cannot handle the amount of energy it creates. The transmission lines could cost billions to replace, Ball said.
The farms also use more acreage than a coal factory, causing more problems for energy investors who face neighbors of the farms.
"No one wants to live next to these," he said. "[While in northern France], I met a woman who could not stop talking about the sound of the turbines. It was driving her nuts."
Audience members discussed what would push Americans to move away from fossil fuels to renewable energy sources. John Vann, associate professor of marketing, likened the situation to a 400-pound person who is told he must go on a diet or he will die.
"And he says to the doctor, 'No, I like milk shakes too much,'" Vann said.
Ball said the country's leaders know America was going to be hit by rising energy prices.
"The debate is how we're going to handle the hit," he said.
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