Tilting at Windmills

I have felt like Sancho Panza lately while driving through the nearby town of Stafford. Although I am not required to carry any lances for Don Quixote, the signs "No wind turbines" along Route 5 make me think of the good Don and his futile attacks on windmills. The newspapers also carry fearful protests of how windmills (or turbines) will destroy civilization as we know it. Rather than focusing on how terrible they are, it seems to me it would be better to consider their contribution to lessening our dependence on Middle Eastern oil, where they should be located if not in Stafford and what other approaches might make sense. But I guess fear is a natural response to anything new.