December 30, 2006
Illinois, Letters

'Good old days' before wind farms

“Grandpa, tell us about the good old days.”

“Well, not so very long ago, farmers grew crops, tended livestock, looked out for their neighbors and worshipped together. Children played outside without getting sick from turbine blade flicker.

“On a clear night, you could see millions of stars. Cattle lowed in Uncle Ray’s dairy barns. Pumpkin pies baked in Grandma Linda’s kitchen. Uncle Kenny was as ornery as ever before he went stone deaf from working under the turbines.

“Deer hunters gathered in sheds sharing hunting stories. Neighbors visited and were honest and forthright with one another. Come summertime, children showed their prized livestock at county fairs. Hiking through Comlara Park, folks enjoyed wildlife.

“Then the factories came.

“Farmers harvested electricity instead of crops while wind companies harvested tax credits. Uncle Ray’s cattle got sick from ground vibrations and electromagnetic fields. Litters of piglets at Grampie Randy’s grew smaller and earned fewer ribbons.

“People stopped building houses and, hard as they tried, Realtors couldn’t sell houses already here. Property values dropped lower than the wells gone dry during construction.

“Grandpa Bob and Papa Reg harvested less deer. Children stopped playing outside at PawPaw Tom’s without hearing protectors. Instead of enjoying the setting sun, people scurried inside their homes and drew their shades to escape the blade flicker and unrelenting strobe lights.

“And, my dear children, we are all still paying for the damage the wind factories did to our community.”

Merry Christmas and peace on Earth!

Kim Schertz

Rural Hudson

pantagraph.com


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2006/12/30/good-old-days-before-wind-farms/