Wind power is free and clean! All we have to do is put up some turbines to capture it.
So say our “green” advocates. But how clean are those turbines?
To build one requires a lot of inputs that aren’t free as the wind — for example, copper wiring.
As John Hinderaker points out in this PowerLine post, each wind turbine needs some 8,000 pounds of copper. Copper has to be mined using massive amounts of energy. The same groups that love wind power also hate copper mining.
Instead of picking energy winners and losers through subsidies and regulations, the government should leave the production of energy up to market competition.