February 23, 2016
Letters, Missouri

Not everyone thrilled with wind turbines

St. Joseph News-Press | Feb. 23, 2016 | www.newspressnow.com

A Feb. 11 letter stated that the majority favor wind turbines, wind energy doesn’t harm the environment, towers are aesthetically pleasing, and the company erecting them, NextEra, ranks in the top 10 worldwide for “community responsibility.” Some observations and facts follow.

1) Recent public meetings have a majority speaking against turbines, sometimes 6:1 against.

2) Wind energy generates only when wind blows, and is not storable. To prevent blackouts, other power plants must be kept functioning for continual supply. Thus, wind energy does not remove other forms of energy from the equation.

3) Towers are imposing structures, impressively large and being designed larger. An informal poll was conducted of landowners hosting King City, Missouri, turbines. Would they choose this again? The unanimous answer of respondents was NO. They have firsthand experience that few others in DeKalb County do – yet.

4) The letter implied that NextEra had received accolades for “community responsibility.” Please tell Dave and Stephanie Hulthen, who were located in DeKalb County, Illinois. They returned to where Dave grew up – built a home, established a business, and were raising their four children with extended family nearby – settled for life. Then NextEra erected 13, 500-ft. turbines within a mile of them. After months of attempting to adjust, NextEra bought them out. Terms stipulate they cannot speak about living near turbines; they are just another family that vacated its home to regain some semblance of normalcy.

Such scenarios are recorded nationwide, over and over again. I guess companies consider this a cost of doing business – being “successful.” But it certainly isn’t “being community-friendly.”

Since this information is not difficult to uncover, those who refuse to even recognize its existence baffle me.

Perhaps “Many would rather believe a pleasant lie, than a stern truth.”

Glenda Aughinbaugh

Stewartsville, Missouri


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/02/23/not-everyone-thrilled-with-wind-turbines/