Another Reason Not to Build Wind Generators: The Mafia Loves Them

Wind generators not only kill birds and jam air traffic control radar, but they also make millions for the Mafia. In Europe, the EU-mandated subsidies are so generous that the Mafia is attracted to them, like bees to a flower. According to the Sunday Telegraph, recent research by Kroll, the corporate security firm, has found several examples of so-called "clean energy" projects being used to line the pockets of criminals. Some involve wind mills that stand derelict or are never built and others that are used by criminal enterprises to launder their profits. The EU has given out some 5 billion euros a year on subsidies for renewable energy. In Italy the premiums for wind-generated electricity can be as high as 180 euros per kwh, the highest rate in the world. There have already been a number of criminal cases in Sicily, involving bribery of officials and efforts to embezzle up to 30 million euros in EU funds. Even the president of Italy's national wind energy association was swept up in one of these investigations, though he denies any wrongdoing.

The real crime is exposed at the end of the Telegraph article, however. The EU subsidies are so high that many farmers in Italy have preferred to rent out their land for wind generators rather than continue to try to produce tomatoes, grapes, and other agricultural products at a time when prices have plummeted. "Why get up early every morning to work the land and run the risk of not being able to sell your crops for a good price, when you can sit at home and take 10,000 euros a year in rent," says one Sicilian businessman who complains that wind farms have ruined the landscape.