Why Would We Want Wind or Solar Energy?
Especially when you can hand more power to the cranks in the state.
America should have realized it had elected a demon and set the country back 150 years as soon as Ronald Reagan tore Jim Carter’s solar panels off the White House.
That was in 1981. Thirty years later, and we’re still infested with American who think they don’t need to harness the Sun’s energy to survive climate change.
Little surprise that these freaks assumed power in Ohio. Why would our state government want to invest in renewable energy like wind and solar as our planet teeters on the brink of climate armageddon? It’s easier to stand in the way of green energy and cloak another handout to fossil fuel interests in “bestowing power back to the locals.”
That’s exactly what Ohio just did.
From Jessie Balmert of cincinnati.com:
Wind and solar companies hoping to do business in Ohio will face an additional hurdle in the process under a bill Gov. Mike DeWine signed into law Monday.
Under Senate Bill 52, county commissioners could reject particular wind turbines or solar farms, ban the projects entirely or carve out portions of the county where those facilities couldn't be built.
The change, which takes effect in 90 days, adds a step for solar and wind companies that their coal and natural gas competitors don't face. But lawmakers who introduced the bill say companies need to involve local residents – not just the little-known Ohio Power Siting Board – to succeed.
Under the new law, project developers must notify county commissioners and trustees at least 90 days before filing with the power siting board. The proposal also adds a commissioner and trustee to the board while it reviews the local project.
Ohio could be a powerhouse in wind thanks to Lake Erie. We also have plenty of room for solar panels.
But no, instead our state leaders continue to feed at the trough of natural gas and coal. It’s a bold play considering former Speaker Larry Householder is on his way to federal prison for much of the same and his former chief lobbyist died by suicide in Florida while wearing a “DeWine for Governor” shirt.
Republicans are pitching their scheme to voters as giving them more power over local issues—as if people who think windmills cause cancer should be able to override somebody who wants to build a wind farm on their private property.
America is pitched as a land of democracy. In actuality we’re a textbook example of letting the inmates run the asylum. Even in a backwater outpost like Ohio, I’m sure wind and solar energy would be popular in a poll among everyday Ohioans.
But that’s not how it works here. All you need is an a vocal and insane minority to make enough noise and you can stand in the way of progress for everybody else.
Unfortunately the err in their ways won’t be realized until climate change tightens the grip on our planet and the ultra rich price the rest of us out of the Great Lakes Region and we’re fighting for scraps from a dumpster behind an abandoned Chuck E. Cheese.
But hey, at least we’ll always have the sweet victory of 300 voters in Seneca County blocking a wind farm. We can always thank Mike DeWine for that.
THOSE WMDs. Edwin Edwards, who defined Louisiana populism, dead at 94… Doctors might have been focusing on the wrong triggers for asthma… How to manufacture a moral panic… Cape Cod learns to coexist with great white sharks…What if Texas tore down its highways?
It's just absolutely incredible that you can build a huge fracking operation in Ohio with fewer approvals than a wind or solar farm.
Wind power as a viable volume source of electricity is the biggest scam out there. Thanks to government mandates and subsidies, solar and wind ("unreliables") provide about 10% of American electricity. This 10% has already caused big electricity price increases and huge reliability problems. Politicians should admit their failure, apologize, and reverse course.