“Fools Gold, the taxpayer scam called wind energy”
Capital Journal | www.capjournal.com
I have read in several papers (including today’s Argus) Bart Pfankuch’s article entitled “Wind Farm Surge draws vocal opposition”. Although written April 2, this article has been everywhere and is still making the rounds over 2 weeks later. I wonder why. Then I heard SDPUC Commissioner Gary Hanson on the radio talking about the same thing. And they were both using the same talking points; “The surge in wind energy in South Dakota was akin to a gold rush”. My idea of a “gold rush” is when gold was discovered in a certain area, everybody ran there to get rich. Did we just discover wind? No, what these folks should have told you that this is not a “gold rush”. This is a “subsidy rush”. The federal production tax credit that comes out of our pockets is supposedly phasing down to 40% in 2019, then end. And if you do the math, the 1300 MWs that Commissioner Hanson talked about (which is only 3 out of the 30 proposed projects) will produce about 1.093 BILLION dollars in tax credits to the multinational and foreign corporations that either build or end up owning these industrial wind projects. If there is a story to be told about opposition it should be about the Zoning, Commission, and PUC meetings taking place around the state with rooms full of people trying to protect their health, property rights and home values through proper setbacks. I would like to see that printed in every paper in the state for two weeks. The media is fair, right? Someday this same media will be reporting on “Fools Gold, the taxpayer scam called wind energy”.
Gregg Hubner
Avon, SD
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2018/04/23/fools-gold-the-taxpayer-scam-called-wind-energy/