This Blows
Yankton Press & Dakotan, www.yankton.net 11 March 2011
We know the state is short on funds, but THUMBS DOWN to the South Dakota lawmakers who approved a bill that would allow the wind industry to fund a study by the Legislature of financial incentives for wind projects. No one at a House hearing this week could remember another time when a special interest had been allowed to pay for a study that could be to its own benefit. House Minority Leader Bernie Hunhoff, who wanted to support formation of the task force but felt he could not without an amendment to prevent industry funding, stated, “You shouldn’t be able to buy access to state government at any price. This is the best access you can get.” It’s possible funding will be provided by the state and none provided by wind energy interests, but to even contemplate letting such an important study’s results be cast in doubt by the obvious conflict of interest involved is mind-boggling to us. Yankton’s other two legislators, Sen. Jean Hunhoff and Rep. Nick Moser, voted in favor of the bill.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/03/12/this-blows/