What is the "Carbon Footprint" of a Wind Turbine?

Ted, it all depends on the speed limit on the expressway. If you are driving on an expressway who's speedlimit is 70 or even 65 then you would be traveling at 60 - 55 which, as I am sure you know this, is the optimal speed for fuel economy. At that point the wind turbine actually saved the world, and you money. I drive by a place that has 3 giant turbines, and they were installed 10 + years ago, and they have never needed to be moved since, so if this is normal than I am sure their footprint is not much at all.

I don't know if studies have been done that determine the exact carbon footprint of manufaturig and transporting wind turbines on the scale that is planned. The thing is coal plants must be almost completely replaced about every 50 years and they must have coal mined and brought to the boliers (in giant trucks that I go at least 10 to 15 miles per hour slower continuously), where once the wind turbine is in place, no new fuel must be shipped in. The comparison seems moot. No one seems to bring up this argument when it comes to development of high rises, shopping malls, condos, etc...which all utilize resources and increase total carbon footprint with obviously no benefit down the line. My university did several studies on their carbon footprint through implementing the largest geothermal heating and cooling plant in the country (currently under construction) that is replacing a coal plant and the carbon footprint and monetary savings are astronomical. Longtime Republican Senator Richard Lugar, is actually one of the main reasons the project is happening. I am helping to organize his collegiate energy security summit, where all types of alternative energies will be discussed, including wind.

This is one of the reasons that rushing into technologies that haven't yet been made cost-effective is going to cause more problems than it solves. There WILL be more efficient and more environmentally-friendly sources of energy as we move forward, but accepting large-scale implementation of technologies that are not yet going to help the environment or the consumer is simply an act to look more environmentally-conscious. Fossil fuels will run out, and energy suppliers are not stupid enough to allow that to happen before they find better replacements. We need to look at the green technologies just as carefully as we weigh the impacts of the old technologies. Let's do this the smart way, the way that's best for the environment and the future and well, yes, the consumer.

You don't haul giant wind turbines over the road when transporting them by rail is more cost effective and has less of an impact on the environment...and the flow of traffic. One train engine can do the work of dozens of big rigs.

This brings up a good point which i haven't really thought of before, although I suppose that the amount of pollution in the short run, as you have mentioned, does - eventually - outweigh the pollution caused in the long run.