August 1, 2013
Indiana, Letters

The good, the bad and the very ugly

Aug. 4, 2013: Letters to the editor | Kokomo Tribune | August 1, 2013 | kokomotribune.com

I live in the Chippendale subdivision in Howard County, in the State of Indiana, in the wonderful country of the United States of America. This alone, gives me the right to speak for and stand up for my rights.

I can take six steps from my property line and I am in Tipton County. I have the very unpleasant possibility of having an industrial wind turbine 1,250 feet from my front door. This gives me the right to have a say in what someone else is trying to force me to live with. I happen to like being able to look out my front door and see nothing but cornfields, trees, animals playing in my yard, and low flying airplanes as they land and takeoff from one of the three runways around me.

The good: Once in awhile they produce “green energy” like they are supposed to do; otherwise, the only “green” is the money going into the leaseholders’ and the wind company’s pockets.

The bad: They are not very cost effective because they cost so much to build. They do not have a positive return on investment, except for the few who are benefiting. They are even costing some businesses a loss of revenue due to people not supporting businesses that support wind farms.

The very ugly: The worst part is that they are splitting families, pitting neighbor against neighbor, and tearing counties and communities apart. They are encouraging and increasing people’s distrust of local governments. They will be the ugliest of reminders of the atrocities committed against our counties’ citizens!

Finally I would like to address the Howard County commissioners, the Tipton County commissioners, other county commissioners that might be reading this, and all residents of these counties.

If you allow industrial wind turbines into our counties, then anywhere they exist, you can’t build any more homes or businesses because you would be violating the agreement with the wind company. Thus you will only be able to use the homes and buildings that already exist. Will those structures be sufficient 20, 25 or 30 years from now?

So, commissioners, unless you have a fantastic crystal ball that will tell you exactly what the future will be and that the economy won’t decline in the next 30 years, how are you going to diversify, and what are you going to do to entice these businesses and families into our areas? What are you going to be able to offer them that is different from today? You will have effectively land-locked our counties and communities for the life of the agreement!