The Big Dirty Secret Behind Wind Power

(Bloomberg) --

One of the major news stories of the week was the acquittal of U.S. President Donald Trump. As part of his effort to get Ukraine to probe a political rival, Trump withheld almost $400 million in aid appropriated by Congress for Ukraine’s defense. Now Democrats say Trump is doing something similar on clean energy, withholding $823 million Congress allocated for a program aimed at countering the global climate crisis.

Despite Trump’s unwavering opposition to climate-friendly policies, the switch to renewable energy continues. Texas and Iowa, already leaders in the field, installed more wind turbines than ever last year. The country as a whole installed 9.1 gigawatts of wind power in 2019, the most since the expiration of federal tax credits triggered a building boom almost a decade ago.

That wind power is generated via massive fiberglass blades, each of which can be longer than a Boeing 747 wing. Built to withstand hurricane-force winds, the blades can’t easily be crushed—or recycled or repurposed for that matter. It’s a curious conundrum: Tens of thousands of blades must be replaced each year and most have nowhere to go but landfills like the one below. But the industry is working on a green solution to wind power’s dirty downside. 

Legendary investor Jeremy Grantham last year announced he was devoting almost his entire fortune, more than $1 billion, to fighting climate change. In a new interview, he warned that the impacts are “accelerating.”

For some species, things are already quite bad. A new study published Thursday in the journal Science found spikes of extreme heat are a critical factor in the widespread die-off of wild bumble bees. 

As for Grantham’s anecdotal observations, computer climate models agree with his observation. These sophisticated programs—which have successfully projected global warming for half a century—are now running are now running red hot, and scientists don’t know why.

The question is, it seems, how bad will climate change get, and how soon?

Josh Petri writes the Week in Green newsletter recapping the best reads and key news in climate change and green solutions.

Here’s what else you need to know in Green

Hollywood Knows It Has a Big Carbon Problem on Set: Studios have few options to reduce emissions.

Putin Aide Tells Companies to Prepare for Harsh EU Carbon Tax: A top climate adviser warned big businesses that tough regulations are coming.

Where to Invest $1 Million Right Now: Five experts offer investment ideas that help fight climate change.

Bloomberg Data Dash: A Live Climate Scoreboard: These are the numbers behind climate change.

The Green 30 for 2020: Pioneers, leaders, and ideas trying to solve the climate crisis.

To contact the editor responsible for this story: David Rovella at drovella@bloomberg.net, Adam Blenford

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.