Many people view wind-farms as visual pollution to the natural landscape. Aesthetics are a matter of opinion. The people who make this argument are the ones who are experiencing a change; where they once enjoyed natural open vistas, windmills are now being constructed and thus “ruining their view.” The same thing happened when power lines were raised. People want the benefits, but prefer the “out of sight, out of mind” approach. Eventually, people come to accept the change and move on. Meanwhile, there are many people who enjoy the view that wind farms provide, and find them to be very beautiful and accent an already inspiring scenic view, or appreciate the symbolism of the clean energy which they produce. Additionally, some people who live near wind turbines complain of noise annoyance. Wind turbines do create some sound vibrations which can be annoying to people who live very nearby. However, as revealed by a study published by the Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, an individual’s perception of sound was related to whether or not they had a visual of the turbines. It was further shown that personal opinions toward wind turbines are also relevant to perceived noise. Thus attitude, which is richly fed by misconceptions, is the basis of most complaints (Pederson 3467). The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulates windmill noise levels. Highest noise perception is directly under the turbine, and at highest capacity generates only about 50 dBA (3464). That is comparable to the sound of being 200 feet from a car driving by at 25 miles per hour (Ewing 140). The closest a windmill can be constructed to a home is 1,000 ft, which is normally far exceeded. Besides, modern wind-power technologies are experiencing continual modifications to improve its problems including noise pollution, and efficiency. Even the placement of turbines has been adapted to try to find more aesthetically appealing patterns and designs.
