Cody, Wyoming Listener Wants to Know: Windmills v Plastic Straws

Windmills Are 4,000 Times More Dangerous to the Environment than Plastic Straws

We ran out of time before I could take his phone call, but a guy in Cody, Wyoming wanted to know where we got the info on the above stat from.

We were talking about a story on our Montana Talks website about a potential ban on plastic grocery bags and more in Bozeman, Montana. Could Butte be next on the target list? That was the question posed by Devon Brosnan.

Devon shared a report from Nonstop Local that 6,000 signatures have already been gathered in the effort. "Montana Plastic Free, the group behind the initiative, is seeking to ban single-use plastics in the city, which includes banning single-plastic grocery bags, polystyrene food and containers, and polystyrene packing materials. The group needs 7,000 signatures by August 1st to get the measure on the upcoming November ballot.?

When I mentioned the story on the radio, several listeners asked why the same environmentalists who wanted to ban paper bags (from trees- a renewable resource) are now wanting to ban plastic.

I also joked about how coffee shops did away with plastic straws, and now the plastic lids seem to have even more plastic than before.

But what about that stat that I shared above? 

As the Committee to Unleash Prosperity pointed out in their "Unleash Prosperity Hotline," a recent analysis by The Manhattan Institute found some interesting information.

Manhattan Institute: "When the 20 wind turbines that constitute just one small 100-MW wind farm wear out, decommissioning and trashing them will lead to fourfold more nonrecyclable plastic trash than all the world's (recyclable) plastic straws combined. There are 1,000 times more wind turbines than that in the world today."

Will those same environmentalists in Bozeman now sign a petition to ban windmills?