April 18, 2013
Indiana, Letters

Conclusions of wind study questionable

The Lebanon Reporter | April 18, 2013 |The Lebanon Reporter | April 18, 2013 |

I am writing to respond to an article penned by Rod Rose on Saturday, April 6, regarding a conclusion reached by an associate professor and a graduate student at Purdue on a proposed wind turbine business potentially locating in Boone County.

When word of these proposed wind turbine developments first became known, a very concerned and active group of Boone County citizens established a group called “Citizens for the Preservation of Rural Boone County, Inc.” and I was retained to provide legal representation for this group.

The authors of the proposed study seem to suggest that perhaps something nefarious took place in the turbine wind farm development not seeking to locate in Boone County. While it is no mystery that the Citizens for the Preservation of Rural Boone County, Inc. was extremely well organized and did a tremendous job of accumulating facts and information to voice their concerns to the various administrative and legislative bodies, no hearings took place as the applicant decided to move on to greener pastures.

The only thing that CPRBC requested and was promised by the Boone County Commissioners would be that they would have an opportunity to fairly present what information they had accumulated in response to the proposed location of Wind Farms in Boone County. They were promised nothing more or less. Perhaps the professor and her graduate student reached their conclusions because they have an agenda that promotes wind energy without reasonable limitations or qualifications. One might fairly assume that perhaps the same professor and her graduate student support massive government subsidies for wind farms, solar energy (remember Solyndra), and the Chevy Volt.

CPRBC was concerned less about the energy flavor of the moment but rather what was going to happen to these massive one hundred thirty turbines once the government subsidies ran out. Turbines are costly to maintain and prohibitively expensive to remove, especially if that cost was being born by the local farmer.

The bottom line in all of this is the Boone County Commissioners promised only a fair and open discourse on the facts of allowing wide turbine development in Boone County. Although CPRBC is happy the applicant decided to bypass Boone County, it would be unfair to somehow blame the Boone County Commissioners for a decision that they were never requested to make.

Michael J. Andreoli
Zionsville


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/04/18/conclusions-of-wind-study-questionable/