George H. W. Bush, pappy to our own fearless leader, has embraced wind power. He is the proud owner of a new 33-foot-tall windmill installed at his home in Maine. The wind turbine is a Skystream 3.7 model from southwest wind power. I have seen these things close up and they have a very unique blade design, although a 33 foot tower seems a bit short, but because it is sighted on the coast of Maine it should get plenty of wind.
“After looking at the specifications, the pros and the cons, they decided that they’d give it a try,” he said.
The wind turbine, a Skystream 3.7 model, is capable of generating electricity once wind speed reaches 8 mph, said Bob Greig, president of All Season Home Improvement Co. in Augusta, which installed the windmill.
The structure can produce an estimated 400 kilowatts a month at a wind speed of 12 mph. An average household uses about 600 kilowatts a month, Greig said. (via)
So there you go, pappy Bush went and got himself a wind turbine. The strange thing is that W also has some pretty eco-friendly features on his home. It begs the question then, why has the Bush presidency has been characterized by such a lack of progress on environmental issues? If the family seems to embrace sustainable design why wouldn’t they do so as a national policy? The answer of course is because Dick Cheney and big Carbon said “over my cold dead oil covered hands” and Bush due to his lamentable puppet like nature could do not but obey.
(hat tip to Kate for the heads up)
Loved your comments – I am actually from the factory that produces the Skystream. You are correct, he will get plenty of energy out of this machine. The wind speed average in the area (according to wind maps) is around 13-14 MPH average. As for the policy issues. You are correct when it comes to the current President. Virtually all the policies are from the VP and it is very sad that his interests are in the pockets of his buddies rather than the country.
However, the former president is quite different as it was his administration that launched the origional PTC or Production Tax Credits that began the boom accross America for clean wind power. He also invested heavily in rural electrification in developing countries through USAID. I cannot speak for the Presidents decision other than what is said in the press regarding his exact reasons why he purchased the turbine but I am confident he will he happy with it.
Hi Andy: Can I ask you a question, why does the skystream come on such a short tower? It has been my experience that you need to install a turbine 30-50 feet above anything that is around, a 33 foot pole is way too short if you have large trees, or other buildings around. I have always been bothered by that.