Obama Campaign Video Touts Dubious Green Energy 'Success' Story

[Geee]

American Thinker:

The Obama-Biden campaign recently released the video "Our Jobs Come from the Wind," whose title comes from the words of Steve Smiley, CEO of Heron Wind Manufacturing of Traverse City, Michigan. The video holds up Heron Wind as a validation of Obama's approach to job creation. Unfortunately, Heron is hardly a rousing success story.

The story told by Smiley is that "when the economic crisis hit" bank loans dried up, and President Obama stepped in with "investments in renewable energy" that created new jobs, reduced our dependence on foreign oil, and "improved society." According to Smiley, "the policies that President Obama has put forward has [sic] been a great benefit to a small business like mine. Heron Wind recently received a loan that was supported by President Obama."

This loan for just under a million dollars came from the Michigan Strategic Fund, with funding coming from Obama's Recovery Act. According to Mr. Smiley, the money enabled him to hire 8 to 10 employees to "produce two to three turbines."

In the video we meet one of these employees, James Black, Lead Turbine Technician, who, "had been interviewing with [smiley] for over six months." Quite a long interview.

It turns out that Heron Wind Manufacturing does not actually manufacture wind turbines. Their website describes what they do in vague terms: "Landing in Summer 2012, Heron Wind is bringing the latest in blade technology to the market." On Heron's "Affiliates" webpage, we read:

Global Blade Technologies (GBT) is cooperating with Heron Wind's design team to create the STAR blades...GBT originates in the Netherlands and has brought their quality blade production capabilities to their new USA-based manufacturing facilities.

The GBT manufacturing facility is not however Heron Manufacturing; it is located in Evansville, Illinois.

Heron Wind has three ongoing projects. The Ogemaw Rose Community Wind Project, near Rose City, Michigan, is the company's flagship, and is described as "a 30 to 50 megawatt wind project with a total capital cost of approximately $60 to $100 million."

The low estimate therefore would require installation of 40 of the STAR 750-Kw turbines -- a huge order for a small company. Things were looking good when, as reported in the Ogemaw County Herald, the "Ogemaw County Planning Commission voted unanimously Nov. 16 [2011] to allow Smiley Energy Services LLC to begin constructing windmills in the county." This spring however, the Planning Commission, in response to complaints by residents about noise pollution from wind turbines, imposed a six-month moratorium on the project. One of the Commissioners raised the concern that "most of our information has been coming from the developer [smiley]."