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The answer is money 

Credit:  www.oglecountynews.com 29 April 2011 ~~

Brian Duncan, president of the Ogle County Farm Bureau, wrote in the guest column in the April 14 Oregon Republican Reporter.

He asked in the lengthy column; “if set backs of a half mile are truly necessary to public health and safety as many have agreed, why are we allowing them to be sold?”

I believe the answer is money.

Wind energy will never stop our dependency on foreign oil.

However, what it will create is electricity at least three times as expensive as other forms of electricity.

It will, and has already, made some energy developers mighty rich.

The people, getting the money, are not going to listen.

It is not in their best interest to think about or listen to anything that takes away their money.

In my opinion, these turbines are not safe, even at a half mile and they are absolutely not good for the health of the residents of our county.

The fact that every single U.S. taxpayer and utility rate payer is footing the bill that enables the wind industry to exist, gives all of us the right, and the obligation, to speak out against this giants windle.

The United States produces about 74 percent of the primary energy it consumes, a fact seldom mentioned by those pro-wind enthusiasts who continually sound the alarm about the evils of foreign energy.

Given America’s enormous energy production and energy resources; why are venture capitalists in the turbine industry willing to believe that we should trade reliable sources such as nuclear, coal, oil and natural gas (all of which have high-power density) for unreliable low-density wind power?

I have read an article stating that wind power relies on government subsidies.

This means if a 400-foot-tall wind turbine costs $2 million, you and I, the taxpayers, will pay $660,000 for each turbine built.

As of this date, in Livingston County there are 900 turbines being proposed and they likely will be approved by the insensitive and close-minded Livingston County board.

So, at $660,000 per turbine, these turbines, if approved, will cost the taxpayers $594,000,000.

The turbines expect to function less than 20 years and will operate at less than 30 percent efficiency.

Wind farm owners have a strong incentive to sell off (and a reputation to go with it) or abandon their projects once turbine performance deteriorates and/or operating and maintenance costs escalate and tax benefits have been captured (5-6 years for accelerated depreciation; 10 years for production tax credits).

Economics may dictate abandonment of individual windmills or entire wind farms…then we will be stuck with rusting skeletons.

In California there are thousands of abandoned wind turbines that litter the landscape…across the wind farm section there are 14,000 turbines that have simply been abandoned—spinning post-industrial junk.

Many people in our Ogle County are too willing to believe the hype.

They haven’t bothered to investigate the claims or do the calculations that would allow them to see through the hype.

Wind power simply cannot stand on its own and never will.

So, once Ogle County is carpeted with turbines, prepare to be overwhelmed and underpowered and prepare yourself and your families to live in a commercial turbine field—not just one or two structures here and there—but fields of turbines throughout our county.

This is only the beginning; transmission lines will need to crisscross over our county raising the eminent domain issue.

This is followed by residential property values plummeting.

Tell me, who wants to buy a home next to one of these 400-foot-tall giant turbines?

I submit to all who read this: real estate values will substantially plummet if commercial wind power comes to our county.

I will be placing a full-page ad in this newspaper addressing the real estate crisis that our county will endure special interest groups prevail in allowing commercial wind power into our Ogle County.

Respectfully submitted,

Lant Huntley

Oregon

Source:  www.oglecountynews.com 29 April 2011

This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.

The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.

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