Every time I cross western Iowa on I-80, I see these majestic wind turbines spread across the countryside. I marvel at their simplicity: three blades rotating quietly in the wind, harvesting megawatts of power without consuming any natural resources.
The wind turbines (wind mills are so passe’) along I-80 seem to be multiplying like rabbits, yet they do not, in my opinion, clutter Iowa’s idyllic farmland. The wind farms I have seen on the west coast, where turbines are clustered closely together in row after row are eye sores, nothing subtle about them. Either there’s less wind in Iowa than the west coast, west coast land values dictate spacing, or Iowa has found a nice balance between progress and landowners’ concerns.
Nebraskans, on the other hand, have fought tooth and nail against wind turbines, claiming they reduce property values, are noisy, and hazardous to health. NIMBY (not in my backyard) is alive and well in Nebraska. Seriously? C’mon, people; fight the wind turbines on economic justification (it is very costly to build transmission lines necessary to bring wind power to the consumer), but not on aesthetics.
Thought for the Day: You can’t make a silk purse from a sow’s ear. 16th century saying
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