RAISE AN EYEBROW? WHAT IS IN A NAME?

10 Apr RAISE AN EYEBROW? WHAT IS IN A NAME?

“THE ONLY SOURCE OF KNOWLEDGE

IS EXPERIENCE.”

Albert Einstein

If you have been around a while and especially if you have spent any time setting at the Liar’s Club drinking coffee, you soon have a good idea of what to raise an eyebrow on.

When you are being oversold on something you do not want and the stories of how much you need something, you start getting a twitch. Even raise an eyebrow, and maybe come to the point that you know you are in the presence of a con of giant order.

I have been reading about the Pretty Prairie Wind Farm proposal that the folks over in Reno County have been dealing with. In the past I have been a supporter of wind energy. After all my grandpa had a Delco wind charger and an Airmotor Windmill. In fact he had more than one windmill. They served a good purpose. Many places  still do.

I saw the first wind generators being sold to people to supplement their electricity for their homes years ago. Many times I also saw the wind blow them over. I was never convinced at the cost ratio when they first came out.

When the first wind farm was built in Western Kansas there were carloads of guys from the coffee shop that drove out to see them. They were a novelty. They were also all good farmers and I did not see them actively want to have these huge windmills on their land.

When the wind farms were being studied before being built the word about the cost raised an eye. It was that they were not profitable and had to have a government tax credit to make the numbers work. They still do. Pushing the timeline is still what is being used to get the approval to build them, every field built uses the same rush timeline. Eyebrow raised.

I defended the wind farm when they came to Barber County partially because the claims of the anti activists were getting to be a bit eye raising. The promises that if we did not tax them they would give the county a million dollars and that they would rebuild the roads was enough to satisfy most. Even if it did raise an eyebrow. Our county is still strapped for cash as is the school districts.

Now I look out the window and can see parts of three wind farms. running around 3 sides of my hill. I am happy about the income that the land owners are getting, even if it is slow. Farming and ranching is pretty precarious and the promised income is very much appreciated. But the land owners that have the towers are not 100% happy with them.

What is in a name? When I heard the name Pretty Prairie Wind Farm I picture the field in the area close to Pretty Prairie. When I saw the map I raised an eyebrow. When someone is trying to sell something you don’t need or use a misdirecting name, I sure raise an eyebrow.

The name more rightly should be called the Cheney Lake Wind Farm or the St. Joe Wind Farm. The wind towers are all being built east and north of Cheney Lake. I lived 32 years 9 miles south of St. Joe Ast. I know that area. This is not a place that you want wind towers.

Add to the mix that the planning commission just learned that there are towers within the 3 mile restriction zone from the wildlife areas that is recommended NOT to build wind towers.

The reason I love living in Barber County is the low population density. In the area that this wind farm is proposed is 7 times the density that we are in. EYEBROWS RAISED.

Why would you use a name to divert attention and ignore the guidelines that Wildlife and Parks recommends?

My eyebrows are raised! If I go much further I may get sued.