The Struggle Over Towering Wind Farms Is At The Center Of A Honolulu City Council Debate 0 People don’t want to live in the shadow of industrial wind turbines. But the state wants to switch to renewable energy soon. So where do you put them?
A backlash has arisen against industrial wind turbines, with Kahuku residents leading the charge, raising an alarm about the problems the 40-story towers constructed there have created for them and for their children — pulsating noises, flickering shadows, and what they say are sleep disruptions, depression and new neurological ailments.
In 2015, the Legislature mandated the state would eliminate fossil fuels by 2045 and turn to renewable energy sources like solar and wind. At first Hawaii residents eagerly embraced wind turbines, eager to do their bit to fight global warming and climate change. But once they were constructed, many people who live near the wind turbines on the North Shore began to have second thoughts.
The reports about the negative ways the wind turbines have already affected people, particularly in Kahuku, are in turn influencing the politicians who represent them, and new rules are being drafted that will change where they are able to locate.
