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Letter: Let Iowa stay leader in wind, with moderation
Op-Ed · August 22, 2014
You may have heard about the battle raging between Iowa landowners and the Rock Island Clean Line. If you are not on the proposed route, how does this fight affect you and why should you care?
RICL would like for others to erect wind turbines to sell electricity down their line. They would like to see 2,000 new wind turbines built adding to the 200 being built now. Envision that. 2,200 wind turbines in and around O’Brien County. Wind turbines and their red flashing lights that can be easily seen for 30 miles. Now imagine all the new power lines to hook up all of these wind turbines to miles and miles of 15-story tall transmission line with towers also adorned with red lights.
If you feel so inclined you could drive down and see the field of 260 wind turbines down by Storm Lake. We can easily see them from our home near Ayrshire if you don’t feel like driving all the way there.
Some of you may think that this is just the price that we must pay to cut carbon emissions. I understand. After all, we have the wind and all this land where “nobody” lives. I don’t know about you but I don’t feel like “nobody.”
The truth is that there is a place where absolutely no one lives, no one is trying to make a living that has far better wind power than here and is closer to the East coast. It is the Great Lakes. Yes, wind turbines have been proposed but the people block them citing property value loss. To date not one wind turbine has been built in the Lakes.
Iowa is already a leader in wind power. Let us stay with moderation and protect all aspects of our environment.
The Preservation of Rural Iowa Alliance is working hard to stop RICL and protect the rights of landowners. The Alliance is against the use of eminent domain to take private property for economic gain.
We encourage people not to sign RICL’s voluntary easements and to file a formal objection with the Iowa Utilities Board. For further information contact PRIA at www.iowastopricl.com or 712-262-5229
Janna and Paul Swanson, Ayrshire
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