One argument that has always amazed me from wind opponents is the one that says, in an attempt to make the "ugliness" argument more serious, that wind turbines will reduce the value of property nearby.
And yet, we keep on seeing companies putting pretty pictures of wind turbines on the cover of their annual reports or in their ads. Basically, they are trying to find any way to show that they are modern, clean and good citizens, and a wind turbine seems to be the best way to do that. In other words (and it does not matter that the underlying motivation for most companies is greenwashing), a wind turbine carries a powerful, immediately identifiable message, embedding a lot of very positive values.
Part of my series on Wind Power
Full disclosure: I advise wind developers on their financing needs.
And the ultimate demonstration of this is this ad, now in the streets of Paris, for the forthcoming release of that quintessential icon, the iPad. They are not putting a picture of an iPad - they are putting a picture of an iPad with a picture of windmills on it (and even better for me: the headline on the screen actually says: "offshore wind growing in Europe"). In other words, wind turbines even increase the value of an iPad!
Thank you Apple for demonstrating that anti-wind arguments are just NIMBY in disguise!