State should not pay tribute to wind energy
The Gazette, thegazette.com 30 September 2011
I got my new Iowa driver’s license in the mail this week. I was surprised to see that the background was a picture of a windmill – the kind that produces energy, not pumps water. I wonder why the state chooses to pay tribute to an industry that not only needs taxpayer subsidies to exist, visually pollutes our landscapes and, because of state mandates, requires utilities to use their higher-priced product, raising our bills.
Should it be public policy for our state to condescend to the nebulous environmental notion that the process of using wind energy might possibly contribute to the curtailment of global warming, which results in its citizens paying higher taxes and higher electric bills? Has our state already taken sides in which process of producing energy better benefits Iowa citizens?
If the state deems it is advisable to pay tribute to an industry, perhaps it might consider choosing one that doesn’t need subsidies, pays taxes, provides cheaper electricity and helps our balance of payments by exporting its products to China.
Dick Roggensack
Waukon
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2011/10/01/state-should-not-pay-tribute-to-wind-energy/