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NYT Columnist Mislead on Wind-Powered Casino Issue

The blogosphere has been grumbling over a recent New York Times column written by a Times reported who visited the East Asian online slots capital of Macao. Writer Thomas Friedman took a trip to a Macao wind farm, where the natural resource of wind energy is being harnessed for conversion into power. During the recent Beijing Olympics, China’s new reliance on this “green” form of power was emphasized. The “China craze” kicked off by the Olympics was apparently the impetus for Friedman’s visit.

From the Macao wind farm, Friedman reported that he could see the “rising skyline” of casino highrises. Gambling companies operate lavish structures in Macao, which house not only land-based casino gaming, but also the nation’s massive online casino and online slot machines operations, unparalleled in size or concentration anywhere else in the world. Just one of these casinos – the Venetian Hotel – is home to almost nine hundred gaming tables and more than thirty-four hundred slot machines. Friedman reported that wind power was supplying “some” of the power for “some” of the slots in Macao… but bloggers are questioning the information he presented, and asking for specifics.

Friedman stated that twenty-one wind turbines could potentially produce the power for a few slot machines “for a few hours.” How many hours are we talking about here, ask the bloggers? And how much power, on average, is used by a slot machine? What sorts of machines (digital or hand-powered) are being referred to? These “green” bloggers are keen to fill the holes in Friedman’s story.

Back to September 2008 Archive.