April 17, 2018
Oklahoma

Wind power forum scheduled Thursday

Woodward News | www.woodwardnews.net

Northwestern Oklahoma State University’s Conserving Our Ranger Environment student organization is sponsoring a wind panel forum “Wind Turbines Come Sweeping Down the Plains: a Wind Energy Community Conversation” April 19 at 7 p.m. at all Northwestern locations.

The event is free and open to the public. The forum will be held on the Enid campus in room 225 and broadcast to Alva in the Education Building room 102, Woodward room 147 and Ponca City room 124.

Panelists will field questions from members of the community. The panelists include Casey Camp-Horinek, member of the Ponca Tribe of Oklahoma; John Harper, vice president of external affairs, Public Service Company of Oklahoma; Tim Olm, cattle rancher; Scott Cline, Waynoka superintendent; Sue Selman, farmer from Woodward. Julia Butterfly Hill will also be in attendance as the special guest.

CORE is sponsoring this event in regard to the wind turbine farms that have been put in place throughout northwest Oklahoma, as well as the current initiative to construct more of them.

“While CORE is all about finding alternative energy sources to fossil fuels, we have many questions that have gone unanswered about the impact these turbines have on the community, native peoples, the wildlife of the area, lands they are on, the sustainability of the energy produced, and what happens to them once they are no longer usable,” Caitlyn Shortnacy, junior social science major of Enid and CORE vice president, said. “We want to host this event in hopes of coming together as a community to see all sides of this initiative in a civil discussion that leaves everyone in attendance more knowledgeable about all of its aspects. As a student, I am extremely excited about our event because most discussions I see on the wind turbines is only one side of the story, for or against. I want to have a well-rounded understanding of the impacts they have, both positive and negative, specifically because they are being put up in our ‘backyard.’”

For more information about this event or CORE contact Jason Ogg, CORE president, at (580) 213-3141 or jlogg@nwosu.edu.

URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/04/17/wind-power-forum-scheduled-thursday/