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Wind turbines will be with us for the rest of our lives
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In a conversation with one of the ladies in the area, the subject turned to wind turbines that will be installed on their farm.
The fact came around that she had a neighbor who took the time to tear her up for accepting the turbines. She suggested that she and I could talk about this some more later, knowing that I was not in favor of the project but neither do I fly into a rage over it.
Further discussion would probably accomplish nothing. Once the contractor starts digging for these towers there is little chance of stopping the process.
Doubtless, the towers will be there for the rest of our lives.
When the wind turbine people appeared on the scene, it was said that the area would change and it would often be neighbor against neighbor. Now we got it!
Current life takes me to much of the USA. I have been in true wind farms, mostly in California. They have always been located on rough land, desert or grazing land – never near home sites. Now, the turbine peddlers are pushing their wares in the Midwest. A rolling farm landscape means nothing to those making money.
Repeating a point made previously, our local governmental boards are unanimous in placing turbines in their area, but never in the city or county parks (where they could collect the lease money plus subsidies). Their way of thinking goes something like this: Why spoil parkland when these things can be stuck out in the farms?
A group of mills is proposed next to our home. The number varies from one plan to another. But the fact is, they will be in the face of half a dozen homes and in eyesore view of half a dozen more. A request has been made to move the group across our road to the other end of the landowner’s farm. Will the request go through? Stay tuned.
On Sept. 3 The Reporter published a well-written letter by a A. G. Keberlein on coal conversion to other energy sources. The technology is there waiting. By coincidence, I will be on a project on a Wyoming Powder River coal railroad this month – world’s heaviest tonnage there.
It’s an impractical daydream to try to replace coal as our primary energy source. Clean up the coal-fired power plants? Of course. It will be done.
Our governor has mandated that a portion of electric power should come from wind and solar. I haven’t heard that a dime has been appropriated for neighborly, user-friendly solar panels.
Instead, we will have unwelcome turbines hanging over our heads – and for most of us, for the rest of our lives.
Phil Delfeld is a longtime resident of the Brownsville area, where wind turbines are scheduled to be constructed. He is retired from the Chicago & Northwestern Railway and currently is on call for specialized track projects.
5 October 2007
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