Over the past few weeks… I started noticing some yellow signs popping up around Allentown Road in rural Tremont where I live. I tried really had to remember the dot-com address printed at the bottom of the signs… But the letters did not make any sense and I kept
forgetting!
Eventually, I remembered. https://www.uctcil.com/
Hmmmm.. According to this website, a wind farm has been proposed in our area? A website of concerned Tazewell County citizens has been made and I have never heard a word about it until now? That seems nuts in some ways. How does this not make the local news?
So, automatically, I am skeptical of both sides. A giant company is proposing a wind farm… And a non-descript group of people who claim to be my neighbors has started fighting against it.
Google the heck out of it looking for articles speaking to the Tazewell County project. Good luck. I found very little.
Here is where I stand on this issue.
I’m against more wind turbines in Tazewell County.
I am not a person to halt progress for the county. I admire the technological aspect of these machines. I also think there is something regal about these wonders as they turn gently on the horizon. They are kinda cool. Plus, tax revenue bro.
But, (There’s always a “but”)
I live in the country for a few reasons. The main reason is a bit of isolation from city views and lights. I want to be surrounded by trees, fields, and wildlife. I have lived in the city and find our use of light and its pollution completely grotesque. Don’t get me started on the lights on the Murray Baker Bridge (They couldn’t point down?)
Those blinking red lights are terrible. I am always shocked at the number of red lights on the horizon from Bloomington to Lincoln that can be seen from the intersection of Allentown and Springfield roads. Go there sometime on a clear night, it feels like the highest spot in Tazewell County. You can see for miles. Seriously, go there. (maybe make a tidal motion with them or have them turn different colors for the holidays?)
You cant stop progress… So if the countryside changes. I understand that. Here is my main windfarm problem: Who’s getting paid.
In my opinion, the only ones getting the benefit of the turbines are the electric company and the turbine landowners. Unless someone can show me cheaper electric bills for county residents that are directly a result of their installation, I will keep this position. Yes, they do provide property tax that is used all over the county. But it’s not directly paying the taxes of those who look at the turbines. Also, don’t come to me with $5000 donations that the companies throw out to local charities, etc. You don’t drop 3 million per unit (quick google search) for dozens of these unless your payoff is substantial. There needs to be a true financial reciprocation for all those affected by the turbine.
If you can see the turbines from your home… You should benefit financially from the view that has been destroyed forever. It’s a documented fact (many times over) that property values fall wherever turbines are installed. So, I believe you should get discounted electricity or a cash payment like the landowners who planted them on your skyline.
Eric, that’s very anti-business, that’s not very Libertarian of you. Well, I have said it before… I am sometimes a bad Libetarian. But not this time. I do believe that the non-aggression principle plays into my stance. If you are building an object in your backyard that affects my view, my property value, and possible mental health… Well, you have just aggressed me.
Honestly, where my house sits… I probably will not see the turbines during the day. But I am sure I will see the nighttime red blinking lights of insanity for the rest of my tenure in this house. This alone is reason enough for me to be against the project.
Listen… My internet already is terrible in rural Tazewell County… Don’t ruin the view as well!
Great article from Komomo Indiana about the “Windfall to Few”.
Wind energy increasing in Illinois and Indiana, despite challenges