October 30, 2015
Colorado
Colorado
Shooting at windmills
Posted By J. Adrian Stanley on Thu, Oct 29, 2015 | www.csindy.com
Posted By J. Adrian Stanley on Thu, Oct 29, 2015 | www.csindy.com
If you’ve ever read Don Quixote, then you likely remember the passage where the absurd protagonist jousts with windmills, imagining them to be “thirty or forty hulking giants.”
The scene gave birth to the idiom, “tilting at windmills,” which means to attack imagined enemies. But to some of the folks in Calhan, windmills are a real enemy – giants that they complain block their view across the plains, create noise, and may affect their property values or even their health.
Which might explain why a self-style Quixote recently shot down one of the turbines with a “single high powered rifle.”
NextEra Energy, which erected the wind farm recently despite the vocal protests of some landowners, says the windmills have little impact on locals and provide green energy for Denver.
The shooter did $20,000 to $250,000 in damage to Turbine #35, near the intersection of North Yoder Road and Heaston Road, the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office reports.
Anyone with knowledge of the shooting is encouraged to call Sheriff Deputy Scott Brettell, at the Rural Enforcement Unit, at 719-352-5033 or 719-390-5555. NextEra is offering a reward for information that leads to the arrest and prosecution of suspects in the case.
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/10/30/shooting-at-windmills/