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Letters from readers

By Staff | Mar 9, 2018

To the editor:

The “special ”edition (progress agriculture) in the Feb. 25 issue of Farm News published the most biased article I have ever read on the “glories” of wind energy! B/4 tackling the outright bare-faced lies of John Boorman, (VP Iowa Wind Energy Association) there are 2 unassailable truths about wind that NO ONE in the wind industry can or will dispute.

Truth No.1 -Wind energy can never compete in a free energy market w/o massive subsidies! Warren Buffet, through Mid American, invests in wind NOT for the electricity produced, but simply to use the subsidies as a tax write-off.

Truth No. 2 -A life cycle cost analysis of a wind turbine when EVERYTHING (including cost of keeping fossil fuel plants on line when the wind stops) is taken into account, the amount of fossil fuel expended will NEVER be recovered over the lifetime of the turbine! The 5.9 million metric tons of CO 2 emissions “saved” (according to Boorman) has already been emitted during construction and maintenance of the turbine which means less CO 2 is emitted had the turbine never been built!

“92 percent of people living close to wind turbines are fairly accepting of them, being neutral, positive or very positive.” That, ladies and gentlemen, is the epitome of “fake news!” The only possible way that’s true is if the ONLY ones asked were those with $10,000 contracts. If everyone, other than contact holders, living within 2 miles of a turbine were asked, I doubt you could find even one who likes them!

Not to pick on Karen Schwaller, but I’ve always wondered why anyone reporting on any subject would only cover one side and I question why a paper would publish it? Interviewing some one in the industry about wind is the equivalent of a farmer sending the fox to the hen house to check on the status of the chickens!

And my last point -why would Farm News publish this article in the Progress Agriculture section? Wind is NOT progress for agriculture! It is, however, perhaps the MOST destructive thing that can be done to our precious topsoil, and, once ALL subsidies cease, our stark landscape will resemble Chernobyl and Dresden after WW 2 because NO ONE will take them down! Pay attention all you supervisors because, unless you have money upfront, contracts for tear-down are worthless!

Jerry Crew

Webb, IA