{"product_id":"9781621900290","title":"Chasing the Wind: Inside the Alternative Energy Battle","description":"\u003cp\u003eOver the past few decades, the vexing problems of climate change and finite resources\u003cbr\u003e have ignited contentious global debates about alternative energy technologies. In this lucid,\u003cbr\u003e balanced book, Rody Johnson investigates the development and deployment of one\u003cbr\u003e such technology—wind power—and, in particular, the ways in which a heated battle over\u003cbr\u003e that energy source played out in an Appalachian community.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eJohnson’s wide-ranging account examines the history of wind power; its capacity and\u003cbr\u003e output in comparison to such sources as fossil fuels, other renewables, and nuclear energy;\u003cbr\u003e the infrastructural challenges of transmitting electricity from wind farms to end users;\u003cbr\u003e global efforts to curb carbon emissions, including the Kyoto treaty; the role of public\u003cbr\u003e policy, government subsidies, and tax breaks; and the differences and similarities between\u003cbr\u003e wind power regimes in the United States and Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eInterwoven throughout this discussion is the compelling narrative of how, beginning\u003cbr\u003e in 2005, the proposed construction of a wind farm along mountain ridges in Greenbrier\u003cbr\u003e County, West Virginia, pitted locals against each other—a story that puts a human face on\u003cbr\u003e the arguments about wind power’s promise of clean, renewable energy and its potentially\u003cbr\u003e negative effects, including bird and bat kills, a disfigured natural landscape, and noise\u003cbr\u003e pollution. Drawing on countless hours he spent attending public meetings and interviewing\u003cbr\u003e those on both sides of the issue, Johnson not only pictures the Greenbrier County\u003cbr\u003e struggle in illuminating detail but also makes valuable comparisons between it and similarly\u003cbr\u003e pitched battles in another West Virginia county, where a wind farm had already been\u003cbr\u003e built, and in Florida, where plans to erect beachside wind turbines next to a nuclear plant\u003cbr\u003e faltered.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eConcluding with a thoughtful, realistic assessment of a 2012 study suggesting that\u003cbr\u003e the country has the capability of receiving 80 percent of its electrical generation from\u003cbr\u003e renewables by 2050, \u003ci\u003eChasing the Wind\u003c\/i\u003e makes a vital contribution to the ongoing dialogue\u003cbr\u003e regarding America’s energy challenges and what is likely required to meet them.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"University of Tennessee Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47055201108208,"sku":"9781621900290","price":29.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781621900290_p0.jpg?v=1763861168","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781621900290","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}