I am not sure who told you that, Paul (that wind generators stop producing power and get dismantled). Sure, some old wind generators have been replaced by newer generation wind turbines, and there are some notable cases of local opposition leading to dismantling wind power (Block Island comes to mind). But, face it, energy production in general is ugly, and wind power (along with solar) is about the least ugly that it gets. We'd all like to believe that the electricity for our lights, heat, and air conditioners comes out of the ground like magic, but in reality it means that someone else, someplace else is suffering something really destructive to their surroundings. What that usually means is that the ugly effects are transferred to someplace with less political power and wealth than the big energy consumers.

And if you think wind turbines are aesthetically offensive, and that oil rigs are ugly . . . you wouldn't believe what coal production does to the landscape. Coal is the biggest source of US electricity, and I can't believe that anyone out there can claim that a wind turbine is uglier than mountaintop removals.

See the attached link for info on coal mining impacts.

This is without even considering what global warming will do to destroy our favorite cruising environments.

Sorry for the rant, but as a species we are in collective denial about what our energy consumption habits are doing to the planet, and I am an environmental teacher and advocate by profession.

At least we can all feel good about getting around on our wind powered sailboats!

--Karl S/V Mabel Rose