Wind energy promoters continually downplay the death toll on birds by saying that buildings and cats also kill birds. But house cats are not killing bald eagles, golden eagles, pelicans, ducks, cranes, egrets, owls, geese and hawks – wind turbines are. How about the take permit that allows for the killing of 4,200 bald eagles per year? And what about the farmer friendly bats that are killed by the thousands?
Time and time again, I read accounts from other people regarding the results of wind developers coming into their community. Wherever the wind developers go, they leave behind what I call “scorched earth”. Fertile farmland desecrated, daytime eye sores for miles destroying a once pristine view of mother nature, destroying beautiful sunrises and sunsets, shadow flicker and flashing red lights destroying what was once a beautiful view of stars at night. One really tragic result is that corporate greed has pitted neighbor against neighbor; we now have split communities; families divided, even churches divided. That’s a pretty sad legacy for wind developers to leave behind.
It is truly sad to see people being forced from their homes due to incessant wind turbine generated infrasound. Now I know you will hear developers make the same old worn out claim that there is no evidence that wind turbines cause any ill health effects. Thousands and thousands of people all over the world must all be wrong. I have spoken with two families that had to leave their homes because of infrasound. They could not hear the turbines inside the house, however without looking out the window to see if the turbines were turning, they could tell the instant the turbines were turned on and when they were turned off.
So often we hear wind developers claim that “X” number of wind turbines can produce enough energy to power “X” number of homes. But that is only about 30% of the time. So when the wind isn’t blowing, the grid needs to rely on the back up of coal, natural gas and nuclear. The problem is that the “green” developers have already decommissioned way too many of these plants way too soon. This leaves us at risk of potential rolling blackouts or rolling brownouts.
The 70 turbines proposed by NextEra will forever change not only the landscape of Buchanan County, but the integrity of the land itself. To allow wind companies to continue to devastate the farmland of Iowa is a permanent decision. This mistake will also swing the door wide open for more turbines because there will never be enough. Many of us will be affected by this decision for the rest of our lives.
There are also case after case where property values HAVE gone down, regardless of claims to the contrary by NextEra and the lobbyists. There are many cases where homes could not be sold. It’s interesting how people that live in the big city, wind developers and their lobbyists seem to know what is best for us rural folks. “Good for thee, but not for me”. You won’t find wind projects popping up in Cedar Rapids, Iowa City or Des Moines. These projects tend to be foisted on poorer rural areas. Here’s a real simple question for the politicians, lobbyists and wind developers: You are going to buy a beautiful home in the country. You found two identical homes. One has wind turbines next to it. Which one will you buy? I don’t think we need a rocket scientist to figure out the answer.
