A DRF Guide to the Wind Industry
I write this post with a heavy heart.
I have been avoiding writing it, because it just makes it real, on a whole different level.
You see, we may have to come up with a “Plan B” that we never once imagined — not in our Wildest dreams — Capital W-kind-of-WILDEST dreams.
We learned about six weeks ago, that our Township has been targeted for an Industrial Wind Turbine project. We learned that a good portion of the lands surrounding us have signed leases with the Wind Developer, DTE (that’s Detroit Energy for all you out of towners), to have their lands leased and be part of the commercial project.
Our DRF is that little 3 acre smudge in red. And all those yellow highlighted fields are the approximately 2,093 acres (yes I am counting) of folks who have agreed to lease their lands to DTE, within two miles, of our beloved Dirt Road Farm.
When we bought our tiny little 3 acre farm, we knew our view would include some combination of corn, soybeans, carrots and potatoes, and more corn. We cherish the green sea our DRF is nestled within! We love our agricultural community and chose it because it is rural and peaceful.
We never once imagined the green sea could include industrial 675 feet tall Wind Turbines.
That particular size Turbine is usually only seen offshore.
The size of which has NEVER — not once, been tried, or tested in Michigan.
The proposed 675 feet tall Industrial Turbines are TALLER than the Mackinac Bridge. Seriously? For crying out loud.
Your Rights versus My Rights
I am a firm believer in individual rights — after all, that is what this country is based on, right?
The reality is that we have the right to do, what we want to do, UNTIL that right infringes on someone else’s rights.
Your Rights as A Homeowner
Having just gone through the building process of our new addition — I can tell you that zoning trumps individual rights.
You can’t do much of anything with “what, where and how” you want to build, on your own property, WITHOUT first getting approval from your township, and then getting approval and passing inspections with your county.
An Armchair Quarterback’s Perspective
I have spent many of my waking hours these last six weeks, trying to get a firm grasp on the issues surrounding the Wind Industry. I didn’t want to jump to conclusions or hop on any bandwagon. I didn’t want to panic and I didn’t want to talk out of my backside.
Well, here I am — six weeks after starting my learning curve — panicked.
First of all, it is incredibly difficult to find unbiased information about the pros and cons of Industrial Wind. My conclusion is that much of the prevailing research depends on who is being paid for said “research” and who stands to gain financially. How many times will we put the cart before the horse? How many times in the rush to sell a product, to make a buck, will we jeopardize our own health and welfare? You can pick on the tobacco industry, or on Olestra, and e-cigarettes — just to name a few.
I fear Wind Turbines fall into the same category. The cart isn’t gonna successfully pull the darn horse.
It cannot be a coincident that the industry only saw a boom after it became heavily subsidized by our tax dollars. Federally speaking, subsidies and production tax credits can finance over two-thirds of a wind project. Then add state based incentives on top of that and you get another roughly 10 percent of cost covered through that. Over three-stinkin-quarters of an Industrial Wind project paid for on the back of the American taxpayers.
Whoa. That cart needs to slow the heck down.
I had no idea.
What I have learned isn’t pretty. The industry booms only when it has an influx of subsidies.
While the Wind Industry was once content to build 300-400 feet tall Industrial Wind Turbines, where wind was considered decent — my layman’s summary of scientific wind measurement — it now wants to put even bigger turbines where wind quality is weak… Like the wind around us here in Branch County. (Branch County is about 7 miles from the Indiana state line, incase you need a little more to go on.) You see, you have to physically go up ‘higher’ to harness better wind. I also had no idea that the wind farms in the “thumb” of Michigan, operate at a 20-30 percent capacity. That would be like having only 30 percent of the gas you put in your car actually make the engine run…
It makes ZERO sense.
After reading lots of policy, studies, scientific journal reports, investigative stories, and any other source I could find, on topics ranging from:
— wind speeds
— legislation
— litigation (which there has been lots of) and court rulings
— noise
— health problems (environmental noise is linked to sleep disturbance, annoyance, stress, and decreased cognitive performance — which can in turn adversely affect physical health)
— low frequency and reverberation issues
— infranoise
— daytime shadow flicker
— nighttime blinking light issues
— decreased property values
— blackwater
— well failure
— damage to roads
— lease agreements
— zoning ordinances
— “pro-wind” activists
— “anti-wind” activists
— risks from ice throws and turbine failures
— the harm done to the bat population (which in turn hurts the farming industry due to the loss of natural insect control, to the tune of $22 BILLION annually…yes, you read that right. Bats save farmers $22 BILLION a year in pest control.)
ANDDDDDD…. last but not least,
–bird deaths across the board, from songbirds to birds of prey.
Insert loud exhale.
Then throw in learning about the shenanigans of the Wind Developers, the well-oiled, deep pocketed utility company, who asks folks to sign 40 to 60 year leases, that do not provide any specifics as far safety setbacks, or noise and shadow flicker, all while requiring you to not talk publicly about them…and can divide a community with the writing of their check (with approximately 3/4 of that check being financed by taxpayers).
Wowsa.
I am completely and utterly exhausted, dumbfounded, and angry.
I have read and learned more than I ever wanted to know about any of these topics. And my profound conclusion?
The whole prospect stinks to high heaven.
Because much “research” has been paid for, I have concluded that it is the experiences of “regular” folks — folks like you and me — that I am putting the most stock in. These folks didn’t set out to turn into spokespeople for a cause. These folks provide the most reliable “data” on whether or not Industrial Wind Turbines make good neighbors.
The answer is a resounding NO.
These examples are from people sharing their first hand experiences of living in the footprint of an Industrial Wind Turbine. Sadly there are hundreds and hundreds of stories just like theirs. Folks who had to abandon their homes — their sanctuaries — because their township or county didn’t have strong zoning in place to protect them. I applaud these gentlemen for speaking out in the midst of their own private hells.
and
If you take the time to learn about their experiences, it is truly heartbreaking.
You may be wondering why we don’t hear more stories like theirs, like I did. Well, folks who sign leases and receive monies for doing so, are also bound to not talk, complain or criticize the project. That’s how someone can claim, “We haven’t had any complaints from participating homeowners.” There is no Better Business Bureau for people living with improperly sited turbines.
What Next?
When a company wants you to sign away the rights to your property, without telling you the what, where and how big, there is a suspicion.
When a ginormous amount of taxpayer money is spent to output a minute portion of renewable energy, that appears to be truly fiscally irresponsible.
When a company pays for ‘research’ to ensure the public that their product is safe, and refuses to explain any research that they didn’t buy themselves, there is deception.
When bigger and bigger still products are rushed to market, without long term data on their safety and viability, that is reckless.
But what about folks that don’t choose to lease or buy the product the Wind Developer is selling? What about folks like us, that find ourselves in the industrial footprint of a proposed Wind Turbine project?
Why then, that’s when we need responsible, fair zoning. Because when zoning doesn’t protect the health, safety, and welfare of ALL of its residents, that is the most fundamental component to the problem.
Hope Still Prevails
Yet hope prevails.
Since 2009, over 40 Michigan townships have said no to the Industrial Wind Turbine industry, whether through strong zoning focused on protecting the health and welfare of its residents, or through the ballot box. The last 17 Michigan townships that ended up putting Wind Referendums on their ballots defeated the Wind Industry each and every time.
You Speak Up
We have grouped together with concerned neighbors to ask our Township Board for help. We have met some wonderful, lovely people, who care a great deal about maintaining our rural, agricultural community… and protecting it from the harmful consequences of Industrial Wind Turbines.
I have been doing a lot of praying, and a lot of hoping, that our Township Board, as well as our Planning Commission, will do their own research. If they are willing to do the research, I have to believe that common sense will prevail. And if they aren’t willing to do the research, well, then, we will do our best to respectfully educate them. 😉
We are starting a petition to help the Township gauge everyone’s two cents.
We have to believe that zoning will put our safety, health and welfare, before the wants of a private corporation.
What history will report about the efficacy, and ultimately the safety, of Industrial Wind Turbines, has yet to be determined — but I personally wouldn’t bet on either of those horses.
What Can You Do?
Follow our little band of homeowners on Facebook, “Concerned Citizens of Matteson Township” — it helps us show up in the feeds so that people can learn about what is going on around them. https://www.facebook.com/MattesonTownship/
Research your local zoning ordinances. (What state you live in determines who mandates that — your Township or your County.) But if your zoning doesn’t have any language specifically about Industrial Wind Turbines, I strongly suggest learning about the issue, and then passing any concerns you may have on to them. Get the zoning amended to protect the health and welfare of all your neighbors, not just those signing leases.
Pray for us here at Dirt Road Farm. Pray for our Township to be wise.
Our Plan B would mean that if zoning doesn’t require strong setbacks, to protect us from the effects of having Industrial Wind Turbines as neighbors, we would not stay at our beloved Dirt Road Farm.
That was really painful to type…
Most of you know how long we have waited, and planned to be here at DRF, for this next stage of our lives.
As I sit here and look out at my little hill, our little grain barns, and can hear the cooing of the doves, the sqwalks of the blue jays, and the song of the red winged blackbirds, my heart fills with dread over the possibility of not being here. Anxiety fills my heart. I must breathe and give it back to God.
Inhale. Exhale.
We are still trying to decide if we put the renovation on hold. If we find ourselves within 2 miles of a Turbine, we lose approximately 20 percent of our property value. If we find ourselves less than 1 mile from a Turbine, we lose roughly 30 percent. If we find ourselves 1/4 of a mile from a Turbine, the loss grows to approximately 40 percent. But continuing to put money into the farmhouse now, before we know what will happen, could be throwing more money after already lost money.
I know that whatever happens, we will deal with it. Together. With as much faith as we can muster.
We really do covet your prayers. Please pray that we grow old at our Dirt Road Farm (and no, I am not talking about turning 50 next month)…
See, I am still trying to keep my sense of humor. 🙂 What else can we do?
Big love from DRF to you…
xoxo
This is devastating. I will be praying for your DRF. I so love the land around me and know how much your rural and tranquil home means to you. We are seeing those gross solar farms covering beautiful acreage here. It is awful! Prayer can move mountains and giant turbines!
Love it! Prayer can move mountains and giant turbines! I’m gonna use that one! xoxo
Oh, Pam, you are most certainly in my prayers. Stay strong. It sounds like you have done your research – continue to get it out there. I will follow your group on Facebook and do anything else that may help. Really hoping that your happily-ever-after farm remains everything you dreamed it would be. Hugs.
Thanks Kathy! We are gonna try and make sure that zoning focuses first and foremost on the health, safety and welfare of all residents! Fingers and toes crossed! xoxo
Pam,
I have a n idea or two , but based on your thoroughness in researching other issues elsewhere, you probably thought of other. At any rate, I’d be happy to fill you in. It’s not something I would put on Facebook… these days.
I will message you my cell…? Via FB? Thanks Mark!
Pam, I can’t believe you. You are so very talented at expressing what we all are feeling here in Matteson Township….at least the ones who don’t wish to live amongst the tall metal wind turbines that make the awful noise as if we lived in a laundromat. I wish you could put this part of “ourdirtroadfarm.com” onto our concerned citizens site. We all are praying that these do not come to fruition here in Matteson Township. If they end up near our “Frost-Work Evergreens” Christmas tree farm, we too will have to leave the place we have called Home for 42 years along with the many friends (we are working on our 4th generation of families) coming to cut a Christmas tree! So sad! We continue to pray and hope our Township board is wise when considering the final outcome. Keep strong! Your friend and neighbor on the other side of the township.
Shellie, you are too kind… I will post to the FB page and hope folks will read! I look forward to making Frost-Work our new tradition this Christmas and hopefully many many more! xoxo
Thanks Summer! Send us lots of good juju! xoxo
Thank you for writing this. It is spot on and contains the plethora of reasons that keeps people fighting this on a volunteer basis year after year. I will spread your words as far and wide as I am able.
Thank you Janna! I so appreciate all the support! I know it’s going to be a long haul!
Thank you for your heartfelt commentary.
One correction: there is a source of science-based wind energy information, put together by an independent physicist who has not been paid a dime for 40± years of environmental and energy work. It’s WiseEnergy.org.
Essentially everything you need to know is there. Start with the Key Documents page.
Thank you John, I will take a look… I feel a bit like a grad student trying to do a two year thesis in six weeks! I appreciate the feedback!
Heart wrenching, says it. Our prayers around North America are with every single family experiencing the horror of advancing or installed industrial wind factories. Encouragingly, the news that YOU KNOW and express SO WELL, is advancing in spades, and the political will is sometimes changing, too. Watch Ontario take back its power in June 2018. Do everything in your power to make sure POLITICIANS know the horror, and understand the issues, including the climate change fear fraud. Let us know if we can help in any way.
http://www.na-paw.org
Thank you so much Sherri! I appreciate the encouragement… Seeing what is happening in Ontario is horrible! Sending some blog love back to you!
Wow, your story brought me to tears. I too live within a wind farm. I live in Chatham-Kent Ontario Canada. For 2 years we sat and watched and waited with the same anxiety and fear that you have. Our fears were realized when our pristine water well went bad on Feb 25 2018, four days after the turbines began operating. It is the most heart breaking thing to watch happen when you don’t have a say in any aspect of what’s affecting your life. I can completely and honestly say I feel/share your pain/fear/anxiety. I hope you are able to find resolution with this.
Oh Angela, I have been learning about what has been happening in Ontario….I am so sorry! The lack of accountability is awful! Praying you get some resolution asap!
the 76% taxpayer subsidy is an underestimate of reality. do not forget the electric distributors will be required to buy electricity first from the turbines at greater cost than the traditional producers (coal, gas, nuclear, hydro etc). the distributors will have to pass on the increased costs in the form of higher rates. dig into maintenance costs; again, passed onto rate payers (who are also the taxpayers) … then, after about 20 years, the wind turbine complex, declares bankruptcy just as all their turbines require replacement due to natural age deterioration. who pays for removing the dead and dying turbines? yes, the taxpayers and ratepayers.
I am still trying to grasp the immensity of the financial web that has been spun, thanks for the feedback, Glenn! Much appreciated! Still making leaps and bounds on my learning curve!
Tammy, thank you for the blog love — sending it back to you! I am so sorry you have lost so much of your property value… SO wrong and disheartening! Thank you for the prayers!
Thanks Sue, I will! Really appreciate the blog love and support! 12 years?! Oh wow, thank you for staying the course!!!
Thanks for taking the time to share all that… There are certainly lots of arguments to make about the industrial wind industry!
Thank you for your article. There’s also a website with pertinent information at
http://www.big-wind.homestead.com
Please keep up the good work.
Thanks Kathryn! We are trying to fight for fair and equitable zoning for all residents!
Sending good juju and prayers for you and your fight in South Dakota!! Thanks for the blog love!
Our hearts and souls are praying for you and for all of us that are having the same nightmare (industrial wind turbines). We are in almost the same scenario that you are in . In our county (Poweshiek County, Iowa), the signed land owners were approached by the developers as early as 2006; now we are in the midst of 240, 2 MW wind turbines under construction . So far only access roads and turbine pads are getting put in, at an unbelievable rate. Presumably, so the developers can claim their portion of the tax credits for the project.
We might appear small, but I pray that we are mighty.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness. That to secure these rights, Governments are instituted among Men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed.”
Pardon my “french”, but I sure as hell did not give my consent, to be denied my rights, as stated in the “Declaration of Independence.”
It appears that the majority of our local, state and federal governments are ignoring, disregarding, or just plain denying those rights that belong to all of us.
We all need to be joining together to defend rights for all of the rural residents.
Dennis, I will be praying for your fight for justice in Iowa! We are mighty!
I am SO sorry to be reading about your story and the decisions to be made. See, my family and I recently sold our 10 acres after fighting wind turbines in our county for a year and a half. We are moving into town because the county that the town is in, has decided they want to bring wind turbines there, too. We are exhausted, emotionally and physically and don’t want to move to another acreage where we will have to fight for our rights to live comfortable and peacefully in our own home. Our ten acres have leases signed all the way around them with setbacks being 1645 ft from our house (not our property line) so we were in the same position as you. I spoke at multiple commissioner meetings not only in our county but the surrounding counties. I testified in front of the Natural Resource Committee at the state capitol (Lincoln, Nebraska) and spoke with our Senators many times. All our Senator could tell us was to get out while we could and our acreage still retained its value. Our dreams of having horses, of our children growing up here, of grandchildren coming to visit, of sunrises and sunsets that bring a peace to the soul that can’t be found in a town, and on and on; those dreams have all been crushed. We are heartbroken and we know we are not the only family to go through this. You are in our thoughts and prayers and we hope you get the answers you need, that whatever decision you make, you will have peace.
Bobbi, thank you so much for sharing your experience! 🙁 I am so sorry you and your family have had to endure this… It is so hard to comprehend why it is allowed to happen, time after time, community after community, and state after state. Thank you for trying…
Oh, I also wanted to add that a wealth of information can be found in two books: The Wind Farm Scam by John Etherington and Paradise Destroyed: The Destruction of Rural Living by the Wind Energy Scam by Gregg Hubner and Jamin Hubner. Both can be found on Amazon at reasonable prices.
Thanks for the tips! xoxo
Good Luck, they belong nowhere! We live in Antelope County, Nebraska, on 480 acres of land surrounded by towers signed for by absentee land owners. Now insult to injury hear they are signing leases in adjoining county and that my father has been approached and he is considering doing it. Haven’t went to have the talk with him, am still hurting too much. He knows we didn’t sign for any, he knows they affect his Grandson’s aerial crop spraying business. But the slick willies selling the leases make them forget all this. Know that even if he doesn’t sign he will get surrounded, as unbelievably many of the same absentee land owners who signed leases in our county, have land around his. We farm his land, but my husband said if he signs a lease, we won’t farm it anymore, we will hate to tell him this if it comes to that.
Good luck to you too Judy… Maybe your dad will watch one of the videos about what happened to other families? Kinda hard to refute first hand experiences…? I am holding out the hope that education is key!
besides money talking, I know they also use the line that everyone around you has signed, and of which they either have or will, as I know them all personally. So if everyone else is getting paid and you have to live with them, why not? Is not the way we see it, but it is hard to dispute. If we had signed, would have possibly had 3 on our land, but we wanted no part of it. Not then and not now. but we are a minority. Few even live in the country anymore, so we are looked at as basically scabs, wanting our property rights at their expense, not the other way around. The old majority rules, but it is absentee majority landowners, not those who actually live in the project areas.
I hope you have success, never give up! I hope to start a drive before this coming winter to get all those who live by towers and those who have to drive past them in the winter that they have to shut down during icing conditions, it should be just as illegal and more so, for them to throw ice chunks on the roads that for pivots to irrigate the roads.
Will be praying for you Judy!
Our zoning and county boards have just gone through the process of approving 2 wind farms to be built in our county. Mr Hartke, & numerous other people testified why these huge turbines should not be built. They didn’t feel there was enough “expert” testimony. We have some of the most fertile farm ground in the state of Illinois being signed over to wind farms & our governing bodies do not care! Money is the prevailing motive.
Sandra, that is heartbreaking… I find folks like Mr. Hartke to be more credible than the person selling snake oil!
Please contact the matteson lake association to see if they can help spread the word to lake residents. They have a meeting Memorial Day weekend and I believe Labor Day weekend. The more people that know, the better we will be. I myself just discovered this by accident this past week. If I had not heard someone else taking about it, I still would be unaware. I do not get the local paper and I had not heard anything about it on the radio. Best of luck… to us all.
Mike
Thanks Mike, glad you found the blog! We are planning on coming to your Memorial Day weekend meeting! (We will also be handing out fliers to folks starting this weekend to get the word out!) There is a public meeting May 16th, at 7 pm, at the Township Hall too. DTE will be presenting some information, as well as our Concerned Citizens of Matteson Township.
Best of luck to us all is right…We are very fortunate that none of our Township Officials are lease-holders.
I’m another country person down the road from you.
I saw an owl today in a field slated for turbines. Let’s stop them from putting up turbines that will drive us out if our homes and chop up birds …save wildlife.
“In the wilderness is the preservation of the world.”
There are still forests, streams, hills, meadows and wildlife here. We need to fight for each other and for the natural world here. It’s priceless.
We are trying to remain hopeful!
This just makes me sick. We cannot all live in the cities (don’t want too) to escape these. Money and Greed control this country anymore and it’s just wrong! We the people have to take a stand and lawmaker’s need to listen. They work for us and when our health, safety and welfare is jeopardized due to this wind legislation (that has run amuck), they need to re-evaluate it!!! How much bad do they need to hear before something is done. It’s all about the money, shameful.
We need to stand together to help keep these out of our communities. Turbines do not benefit the majority of us and will only make it worse for us down the road. Get involved before it’s too late!!
Great presentation on the truths about these, Pam. The comments from the folks who have already had their fears/ horror stories realized should tell us all something.
Cathy, I can’t tell you how grateful I am that folks like you and Gary have stepped forward to help get the word out in our community, as to what is going on! We are gonna do our best to keep the health, welfare and safety of all residents as the priority! XOXO
Praying for your group. We are in similar position here in Oklahoma with a Wind Farm going across our state taking electricity to Arkansas and Tennessee. It has a large high voltage power line that will go with it and it will be eminent domain, which will go through those of us that want NOTHING TO DO WITH THE WIND FARMS! Please pray for us! They are trying to “sell it” by saying our electric bills will go down, but we have 2 other lines on us and our bills have NOT GONE. DOWN! They are able to say whatever they want to say. It DOES NOT HAVE TO BE TRUE!!!!
Thank you Burdettya Linn… I am praying for your fight too!