Progress comes with wind turbines
I am a fourth-generation farmer in Whitman County and am writing to express my support for the Harvest Hills Wind Project. I know that some people in our community are having a hard time with the change, which is why I want to make sure all voices are heard.
Farming is all about helping people. Our farm has provided food for thousands upon thousands of people through the years, and now we have the opportunity to provide for people in a new way. It is a really good feeling to be able to contribute to our community by providing the energy we need to live and be part of something bigger than ourselves. Turbines and agriculture can coexist on the land, and we will be able to continue our farming now and into the future. I know that my great-grandfather, who started this farm, would have felt proud. Harvest Hills will create hundreds of construction jobs and will also bring tens of millions of dollars into our community to support schools, roads, first responders, law enforcement, and more. Whitman County will prosper with this partnership.
The appearance of the wind turbines may take some getting used to, but they will bring so many benefits to our community. That is why I signed up. My hope is that our community can see the big picture so we can continue along a path of progress, production and prosperity in the years to come.
Stacey Walker
Palouse
Stand up
to corporate America
Does anybody in pint-size America have the courage to stand up to big-belly corporate America? We first gave up on curbing corporate monopoly and straightening out corporate income taxes. We next rolled over and allowed corporations to buy up soulless public servants at election time.
With the goal of a two-class America now in sight, the latest coup of the new American aristocracy has been to take daytime TV by storm. Corporate sponsors have virtually forced daytime news and talk shows into “deal of the day” or “steal of the day” segments that eat well into program content time just like the ever-expanding commercial breaktimes do.
It used to be that oil, railroad, steel, telegraph, utilities, and meatpacking were the hardest-working white-collar robbers in America, but today retail product companies and banks have taken over the railroading of folks into their consumer graves. We must have what we don’t need, and we must go deeply into debt to pay for it all.
Our TV celebs and commerce moguls just can’t get enough millions and billions to satisfy their personal needs for luxury. They must turn the middle class into the working poor to get the job done.
Kimball Shinkoskey
Utah
On oil derricks and windmills
Transitions are hard.
When oil derricks first graced the western landscape, they were greeted with mixed emotions, depending on who profited and whose landscape was blighted.
Today, we face conflicts as windfarms elicit similar emotions. The “No Wind Farms” signs posted around the Palouse are counterproductive, though. Communities must have a meaningful voice in issues of land use, wildlife impacts, cultural values and aesthetics, but a costly delay only prolongs the inevitable.
There’s a concern windmills kill birds. The reality is modern turbines kill a small fraction of birds compared with other causes.
New blades like DynoTails appear far more efficient than previous generations, capturing wind energy more effectively, reducing noise pollution, and lessening risk of bird and bat mortality.
Innovations, such as inter-cropping and controlled environmental agriculture, promise to improve coexistence between windfarms and agriculture. Farmers can benefit from leases on marginal land and at the same time provide electrical power.
Wind power is critical to the energy mix of utilities like Avista — not because it’s trendy, but because it’s necessary.
As battery technology improves, the contribution of wind (and solar) will become more significant. All methods of creating energy — hydroelectric, coal, oil and, yes, wind — have environmental costs. But unless we’re ready to return to the lifestyle of the 1890s, we need to encourage clean energy.
I find the sight of turbines on hilltops heroic. Let’s appreciate their work for all of us.
Mary DuPree
Moscow, Idaho
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