The Anger Is Blowing In The Wind

I was surprised by this article, Ms. Wolverson has wasted an excellent opportunity for open and frank discussion of the real issues surrounding wind energy. Mr. Schwoerer. I'm sorry she treated you this way. But those of us who have been opposing these projects for some time are treated this way by the media frequently. It is my opinion that the wind industry is powerful and politically well connected. Newsweek is simply a mouthpiece for these guys. The tactic of spliting communities has worked well for wind. They fire up neighbors by calling opposition names like NIMBY, CITIOT, and my personal favorite, obstructionist. They tell farmers interested in leasing to them that no one should tell them what they can and can't do with their land. They stoke the fire of hate with their juvenile behavior. In the end, they are the only winners. They build their wind farm, leave, and the community is left shattered in pieces.....Rene Taylor, Ellsworth, Illinois

Roya Wolverson has provided a perfect example of what has become known as "The Drive By Media". After visiting with Roya for an hour she has not only misquoted me but made up words and attributed them to me. The use of a word like "citiot" is an attempt to create anger in the people apposed to wind farms. Inflamitory languege like "cash strapped farmers" and "rake in about $5,000" creates a wrong image among supporters. After spending an hour discussing what the differences and disagreements between the two sides are in my opinion and explaining that we need to inprove communication between both sides, Roya has ignored everything I said. She has ignored the facts in order to write an inflammitory article. I told her the opposition is made up of my freinds and neighbors and we need to improve communication. That turned into the quote "if you don't like it, go back to town.". Both Roya and Newsweek should be ashamed of this kind of "Drive by Journalism" .

this article is the reason I would never buy your paper. Poorly researched and rife with gossip.

this type of story is the reason i will never buy your rag paper.

Now about that $300 comparison for corn or soy. Because 3 acres on average will be untillable in a wind factory . . . per turbine. That is for the roads that must remain to replace frayed blades and other heavy components. The closest you can space 2 MW turbines to each other is about every 20 acres without reducing their efficiency (further) from what the industry loosely describes as "prop wash." So what is your point with comparing a year turbine leaase to $300 is soy or corn sales?

Roya, you and Frankie need to do lunch. On another planet. You have made ridiculous misrepresentations of the facts. Which facts? Every one. For starters I will address just one - the assertion that $5,000 per year per turbine to farmers tells ta valid story. People opposing wind energy generally understand that it holds absolutely no promise for climate correction, reduction in oil consumption or better national security. The numbers just don't bear this out. Visit www.savewesternOH.org for more information. for every dollar a farmer reaps, $30 go out of state or even out of the country. And $45 of every $100 in revenues from wind energy come straight from government subsidy. The industry is a disgrace to American business, and though it is not as simple as saying "green is always good," the public will eventually catch on. Hopefully faster than Germany did.

Boy did you get it wrong! Farmers farm! Absentee landowners are signing the leases. We (the true farmers) will be negatively impacted not only at our residences but also the way we do agriculture in the future. The wind developers don't care if they cut up our fields with access roads. In Paw Paw there are triangles of fields no longer farmed because they are too difficult to access. Aerial spraying cost Ellsworth farmers 50% more than the rest of the state. The people who live here have been here for generations. The "citiots" you refer to bought their small parcels from the absentee landowners who don't care about farming anymore.