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    Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005.

    Source:  Coalition for Rural Property Rights

    Pros and Cons of Industrial Wind – presentation outline 

    Source:  Coalition for Rural Property Rights | Economics, Impacts, Iowa, Law, Presentations, Safety

    Pros

    1. Money – Warren Buffet’s MidAmerican Energy will receive $10 billion in tax credits for building wind turbines (Des Moines Register May 30, 2018}
    2. Avoiding less than 1% of worldwide CO₂ (AWEA, Wind Energy Reduces Greenhouse Gas Emissions; Statista, Global CO₂ emissions)
    3. Jobs. Wars and natural disasters make jobs, too.

    Cons

    1. Expensive – Wind turbines are not viable without Production Tax Credit and tax abatement.

      “Safe Harbor” is the mechanism that allows companies to claim the full PTC no matter when the project is started by having invested 5% of the total project cost in equipment or development. MidAmerican is invoking “safe harbor” for Wind XII.

    2. Wind turbines do not avoid a meaningful amount of CO₂ – far less than 1% of worldwide CO₂ emissions according to the American Wind Energy Association. The following link shows that people’s activities emit 35-40 billion metric tons of CO₂ every year. https://www.statista.com/statistics/276629/global-co2-emissions/
    3. Destroys world-class, non-renewable farm ground.
    4. Blades made of non-recyclable toxic materials (70 metric tons according to the specs of a Vestas V110-2.0). 57,000 US turbines will create 8,550,000,000 lbs of waste from blades alone.
    5. Impedes efficient aerial applications.
    6. Tile Damage
    7. Road Damage
    8. Shadow Strobing
    9. Ruins Views
    10. Noise – rural nighttime decibel level is 25, a Vestas V120-2.0 is rated at 110.5 decibels by the manufacturer.

      MN Administrative law judge recommends the Public Utilities Commission deny Invenergy’s Freeborn County Wind project unless they can prove their sound study.

      The World Health Organization (WHO) has concluded observable effects of nighttime, outdoor noise levels of 40 dBA or higher will lead to diminished health. This also occurs when levels inside homes (especially bedrooms) rise above 30 dBA or contain non-steady and/or low-frequency noise.

      The American Wind Energy Association and Canadian Wind Energy Association–sponsored literature review entitled “Wind Turbine Sound and Health Effects” acknowledges [that] wind turbine noise, including low frequency noise, may cause annoyance, stress and sleep disturbance and as a result, people may experience adverse physiological and psychological symptoms.

    11. Electromagnetic and Frequency Interference
    12. Vibration
    13. Air Turbulence
    14. Wake

      An excerpt from an Invenergy Neighbor Agreement, giving the developer an “exclusive easement on, over, under and across all of the Owner’s Property to permit Generating Units or other wind energy conversion systems on adjacent property or elsewhere to cast shadows or flicker onto the Owner’s Property; impact view or visual effects from the Owner’s Property; and cause or emit noise, vibration, air turbulence, wake, and electromagnetic and frequency interference”

    15. Health Impacts (from noise, vibration, air turbulence and wake)
    16. Decline in Property Values – See the studies of Mike McCann, expert appraiser but with number of people fighting to not live next to a wind turbine the decline of property values is almost a given. In counties that are educated on industrial wind only 5-10% of the people in a proposed project area will actually participate.

      In Iowa’s Clay/Dickinson Counties only 54 residences out of 244 in the proposed project area signed contracts. In Palo Alto County only 24 residences out of 268 in the proposed area signed contracts. In Sac and Ida Counties only about 5% of the people who signed will live next to a wind turbine. In Kossuth County the wind companies are trying to raise the height limit for turbines because they can get so few people to sign.

    17. Safety Concerns – Fire, ice throw, blade throw, trespass zoning

      GE’s ice throw equation is 1.5 X (hub height + rotor diameter)

      Turbine manufacturers Vestas and Nordex require a 1650 feet radius to be secured from a turbine in distress. The height of the turbines they are referring to do not exceed 350 feet in total height.

    18. Inadequate decommissioning plans

      MidAmerican – $13,000 per turbine
      Jonathan Knauth PE – $170,000 per turbine (2011)
      ISU’s Tom Wind PE – $200,000 per turbine (2012)

    19. Bird and bat kills

      USGS Economic Importance of Bats in Agriculture

      Wind companies given the right to kill 4200 Bald Eagles per company.

    20. Hurts community relationships

      Clinton County Missouri vs NextEra: https://www.wind-watch.org/video-clintoncounty.php

      Iowa Code 331.301 General powers and limitations: A county may, except as expressly limited by the Constitution, and if not inconsistent with the laws of the general assembly, exercise any power and perform any function it deems appropriate to protect and preserve the rights, privileges, and property of the county or of its residents, and to preserve and improve the peace, safety, health, welfare, comfort, and convenience of its residents.

    Requirements of the Iowa Utilities Board – Iowa Supreme Court Appellate Case Docket 18-0487

    1. Proving need.
    2. Holding proper informational meetings.
    3. Creating an official docket where the public can voice their objections.
    4. If there are many objections to hold a proper hearing.
    5. Environmental studies required.

    Some of the top wind opposition informational sites –
    National Wind Watch
    Stop These Things
    Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition
    Alliance for Wise Energy Decisions
    North American Platform Against Windpower
    Mothers Against Wind Turbines
    Waubra Foundation
    European Platform Against Windfarms

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