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Another landowner concurs on wind farms in ag countryIn response to the letter to the editor, "Wind farms are not good for this rancher," on Jan. 14, I would like to concur and also elaborate on the wind industry. I am a third generation landowner in northwest Oklahoma. Because I respect this land and all that goes with it, I feel that I must speak up about the consequences of the wind industry in the Great Plains. Some of the considerations regarding the wind industry are: property value questions, eminent domain, liability issues, CO2 emissions, loss of hunting and loss of wildlife habitat. One of my first concerns is we could be devaluing our property and our neighbor's property by long term leases that may not pan out. Most of the leases that I have heard about run from 30 to 150 years. In the future, land that should sell for a great deal of money, to be used for hunting, recreation and a country experience, will not be considered valuable by those prospective buyers if the land is tied up in a long term wind energy lease. Even though a study on property values and wind farms has not been conducted, I think property, especially the neighbors property, loses its value. A real estate agent in Garrett County, Md., specializing in rural property sales says, "Over the past two years, I have had more than 25 prospective buyers look at property in areas within 15 miles of proposed wind plant development. After disclosure, not one prospective buyer made an offer for any of these properties, although they did purchase property elsewhere." Landowners need to be aware that once an industrial wind developer sells their electricity to a power company, the companies have the right of eminent domain. With eminent domain they can go across neighbors property with transmission lines, trenches and roads. They can do this with a little bit of paper work. Not only are property value issues an unknown, but so are liability issues. Landowners need to be aware that they are dealing with mega corporations with unlimited funds. Many contracts state that the wind energy developers will be responsible for any damages to the property and expect the same from landowners. This seems fair until these landowners have to pay for damages done to equipment worth $1 to $2 million. Wind power is not as "green" as the promoters of wind would like you to believe. Because the wind is inconsistent and cannot be stored, the wind turbines need fossil powered plants set on ready to back them up when the wind dies down. This ramping up and down of the plant generates more CO2 per kilo watt hour than if the fossil fueled plant were operated on a regular load. No one has been able to document reduced fossil fuel use anywhere due to wind power on the grid. Hunting is a $76 billion industry in the United States. Wind farms eliminate thousands of acres of hunting due to liability issues, loss of habitat and loss of wildlife. This will affect landowners and communities that benefit financially from the hunters. Wind farms destroy and fragment wildlife habitat, resulting in the loss of food and cover. The thousands of wind turbines and hundreds of miles of transmission lines will disrupt the central fly zone for migratory birds and result in the death of thousands of birds and bats. Ground nesting birds cannot tolerate the disruption and fragmentation caused by wind farms. This can result in the loss of some ground nesting birds from their historic nesting grounds and may lend to the extinction of some species. Finally, an important concern for landowners should be... will the wind energy companies continue to pay leases through thick and thin...thin being if the government reduces or removes subsidies, which could very well happen. As a landowner and avid conservationist, I have to ask, "Is our loss worth the small gains from the technologically weak, highly subsidized, unregulated wind energy industry?" --Sue Selman, Buffalo, Oklahoma 2/4/08 Date: 1/30/08 Advertisement
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