Say no to the DeKalb-Lee wind farm

By DAVID L. CRITCHETT and JACQUELINE SNYDER CRITCHETT Special to the Daily Chronicle The recent application by a Florida Power affiliate for a “Special Use” permit to construct 152 wind-farm ...

[WindFarmIssues]

Did you know there is a plan in place to change the landscape of Lee-DeKalb county for the next 30 years? Think wind energy is completely "good" and "safe"? Get the details at http://www.NoWindFarms.com

[deep]

Come on what the hell is wrong with a wind farm.
Give me a break, you elect a Messiah who wants this crap and then you try to deny him.

This is not good for Barry Obamas followers.

[MrRochelle]

WindFarmIssues, you are out of your mind. The one down by Paw Paw causes no problems, its actually a nice diversion to our flat cornfield terrain. Remember, nobody owns the view! Your an idiot.

[shabbonares]

I did not move here for a windfarm landscape.
I wanted the farm style scapes, and if you would like a tower in your yard please feel free to contact FLP

[dolly]

they need to do wind farms if its going to save money for ppl . we need to build not have a million farms

[MrRochelle]

When you moved there, did you get a guarantee on the view? You want to control the land surrounding you, buy it. And if you want some other restrictions on view, but land with hills.

[icare]

MrRochelle wrote:

When you moved there, did you get a guarantee on the view? You want to control the land surrounding you, buy it. And if you want some other restrictions on view, but land with hills.

I would be willing to bet you live in town and listen to sirens, neighbors fighting, loud pipes, trains and can't even see the sunset. You are numb to it. I moved away from those things to enjoy peace and quiet along with awesome views. Mine will be a blinking sunset if this goes through. Tractors feed people, they run twice a year. Do we need more electric? No, we need to use less. Byrons not going away. Put your efforts toward driving a completley electric car and shutting down Byron then I'll consider windmills.

[Mr Kevin]

NIMBY strikes again! We need more electricity, not less. To say we must conserve and use less is short-sighted. Conservation has never been, and will never be the answer. America is great because we don't accept that as an answer. We can build many things, but it will take electricity.
Electric cars are right around the corner. Battery power for all kinds of items, important items, are in demand. Wind farms make sense. So do nuclear power plants, and elsewhere; solar energy.
Those against the wind farm don't realize the taxes it brings to our county. They just care about their "view" or "property values". Guess what? Chicago-land isn't coming any more West. The fuel shock last year and housing collapse took care of that. Thousands of homes are for sale much closer than western Dekalb County. People who bought farmland as an investment made a mistake and are now whining about it. Many don't even live here, never did.
It is easy to oppose something based purely on ones own self interest. It is the ultimate in greed. You are no better than AIG executives.

[icare]

OK then. Take the millions it costs to build these windmills divide it up and put a solar panel on every house in dekalb county. I'll take one. Your obviously looking for a handout in the form of taxes! I just want things left alone. You didn't say what kind of electric car you drive. I assume you do if being green is your main concern. The money comes from the Fed to go into local taxes. Robbing paul to pay paul. Self interest huh? I took the time to learn the rest of the story on windmills. You are on the gimmie money and i'm green band wagon. FPL does not care about being green. They make money. Do you think waste management recycles for free? No, they charge us for our garbage then sell it for profit, big profit! Maybe the county would save money if they got those guys who hold up rakes and shovels or plow bare pavement to actually do something. There are much better ways to save than sell out your neighbors!

[icare]

I forgot to address the conservation thing. You must be against hunters who pay millions every year to improve habitat for wildlife to thrive and grow in numbers. When housing returns it will to continue to eat away at the wildlife's area. Conservation is very important. Should we all keep driving 15 mpg cars then? I guess conserving farm land that produces food for the masses doesn't need to be done either. Put the money into solar. If every house was on solar the land could stay the way it is. I'd love to be off grid and conserving.

[icare]

Mrkevin you must have NIMG syndrome. Not in my garage. You still have not stated what kind of fully electric car you drive. I guess you have some good reason why you don't have one like i don't want windmills blinking in my sunsets. You say for the good of others. Do you mean the overpopulated states that want us to look at and deal with this so they can waste more electric?

[Mr Kevin]

icare,

I don't have an electric car, probably won't ever get one, who knows? I do know that the current administration is ushering in the era of electric cars and increased electrical consumption. We must get more soon, and plenty of it or we will face huge rate increases and shortages.

Solar is not a solution for us. We live too far north and the return isn't good. Geothermal is better, yet costly. Burning fossil fuels is an unsustainable path, so we either produce nuclear power or wind power, or we invent something new.

There isn't anything new that we know of. Yet the electrical demand increase is staring us in the face. We must put up new wind farms and there will be winners and losers. My sister-in-law lives near the Lee County ones and doesn't mind them at all. She thought she would, but does not.

I can relate to an unobstructed view of the setting sun, but that option was taken away for nearly all of us when Byron was built years ago. I would argue that what Byron has given us more than makes up for it. Wind power is needed, people are willing to sell their land to provide it, the county is in dire need of the revenue. Seems like a win for the vast majority of the people, and a loss for those whose view is less than before.

Progress cannot be stopped. How many people living on the outskirts of Hebron, Elburn, Huntley, etc. lost their beautiful views and privacy when their neighbors sold out and hundreds of houses went in? It happens.

My last point is the amount of land needed for wind farms is the same as an electrical grid. You can still farm the vast majority of the area. I doubt we will see a housing rebound for many years. We overbuilt and by a long shot. Waterman, Hinckley, Malta, Creston, and others cannot sell the lots or homes. As I stated before, there are now thousands of homes available in Chicago-land. There are no jobs to support their purchase.

So in summary:

-Electrical consumption will continue to rise.
-New sources of production, economical sources must be found.
-Refusing to recognize need and progress, plus new revenue to preserve the view of a few dozen people is a "head-in-the-sand" attitude.

[MrRochelle]

icare, I had a country home once and they built houses around it. I bought land a second time and built on a hill, nobody can build around me. One thing I will agree with you on, wind turbines provide little cost benefit due to the cost. I the other hand I think they are pretty cool and don't mind looking at them. Regarding neighbors selling out on others, remember it is their property and their decision, your not in their shoes.

[icare]

"Progress cannot be stopped. How many people living on the outskirts of Hebron, Elburn, Huntley, etc. lost their beautiful views and privacy when their neighbors sold out and hundreds of houses went in? It happens."

Pointing to wrongs doesn't make it right. Progress? Why? You contradict yourself. You say we need more electric but it will take years for housing to rebound.

Um, Byron smoke stacks are many miles away, we are getting 400 foot towers 1401 feet away. Blinking and flashing. Big difference!

City people want to play Sim city and compete for the dollar. Rural people want to be left alone and enjoy the peace and quiet we paid good money for.

[MrRochelle]

Enjoying the peace and quiet you paid good money for means that you need to spend more and buy the land around you too. There are no guarantees in life and what my neighbors do, as long as its legal, is their business.

[icare]

Until it passes it's not legal. It's zoned ag.

[Mr Kevin]

I understand your desire to retain the status quo. I wanted Shabbona Lake to fail. I watched my childhood memories be erased by the damn thing when they flooded the land. Now I appreciate what it is.

I actually don't live in Sycamore, I'm not sure why it gave me that location. Where I live the Byron plant is very visible...and I don't mind. I can see the Lee County windmills from my sister-in-laws home, and they look kind of cool.

My point echoes Mr Rochelle's; no guarantees anywhere. Prisons must go in, nobody wants one anywhere near them, some folks lose. Dumps must go in, society needs them, but some people lose property values and clean air. Wind power is needed, they will go in SOMEWHERE. What makes one view worth more than another?

[Bucky Badger]

I have no argument with that, I said "if its legal", which includes in zoning laws.

[Not NIMBY - WELL INFORMED]

Mr Kevin wrote:

NIMBY strikes again! We need more electricity, not less. To say we must conserve and use less is short-sighted. Conservation has never been, and will never be the answer. America is great because we don't accept that as an answer. We can build many things, but it will take electricity.
Electric cars are right around the corner. Battery power for all kinds of items, important items, are in demand. Wind farms make sense. So do nuclear power plants, and elsewhere; solar energy.
Those against the wind farm don't realize the taxes it brings to our county. They just care about their "view" or "property values". Guess what? Chicago-land isn't coming any more West. The fuel shock last year and housing collapse took care of that. Thousands of homes are for sale much closer than western Dekalb County. People who bought farmland as an investment made a mistake and are now whining about it. Many don't even live here, never did.
It is easy to oppose something based purely on ones own self interest. It is the ultimate in greed. You are no better than AIG executives.

Please do proper research. Are you aware that 11+ landowners are being SUED in NY due to wind company not paying bills and the LIENS are being placed on the hosting landowners homes/properties? Did you do any research on MN schools who were promised big bucks - and now laws are being changed that is DESTROYING that? Do you know the actual FACTS on how WE pay and pay and pay --- FIRST our US TAX $$'s go to build them (60% of the cost is being paid by ALL of us!) THEN they sell the Energy Credits and reap a HUGE profit which they of course DON'T return to the taxpayers who paid for their construction. THEN they get ENTERPRISE ZONES so theey don't have to PAY any taxes while they build, THEN they make us pay again by ELEVATING electricity rates!!! I am OUTRAGED! If we're PAYING THIS MUCH we shoudl get a better return than 6-10% efficiency. And you call me GREEDY? YOU should conserve - we ALL should conserve - and while it can never solve the ENTIRE problem, it surely will make it easier to wrap our collective arms around. You response of we need more not less is THE PROBLEM and the ANSWER is NOT to take 20,000 acres of prime agricultural land OUT OF USE - when world hunger is at its highest level EVER...!

[MrRochelle]

Wait until ethanol production gets hammered next and the corn market collapses, "prime ag land" will be sitting empty. Ethanol and the subsidies are a much bigger joke then wind power, and I actually enjoy seeing the turbines instead of miles of corn tassles.