Take a lesson from Iowa and don’t allow wind farms
Letter: Take a lesson from Iowa and don’t allow wind farms | By Becky Brunk from Dickinson on Dec 5, 2015 | The Dickinson Press | www.thedickinsonpress.com
Letter: Take a lesson from Iowa and don’t allow wind farms | By Becky Brunk from Dickinson on Dec 5, 2015 | The Dickinson Press | www.thedickinsonpress.com
It is with interest that I have been following the attempts by wind turbine producers to convince landowners and local governments to allow placement of generators in our area.
I was born and raised in Iowa, where for the last 20-plus years there have been giant wind turbine fields distorting the landscape and creating hazards for birds, wildlife and humans alike.
My brother’s farmstead was five miles from the closest town. The only view he had across the entire horizon behind his place was that of turbines, one after the other, as far as the eye could see. Blinking lights at night, humming during the day and night. There was no benefit to him either in land rent or electricity produced. His story was only one of thousands in Northwest Iowa.
These things can be spotted miles and miles away and, without government tax breaks or some other subsidy, cannot be profitable in any manner, considering the land purchase/lease, maintenance and road costs. Maintenance is a concern now in Iowa as the turbines are getting old and there is no plan in place for replacement or proper upkeep.
North Dakota does not need turbine farms and the taxpayers don’t need to keep subsidizing programs that are inefficient and costly.
Becky Brunk,
Dickinson
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2015/12/06/take-a-lesson-from-iowa-and-dont-allow-wind-farms/