Lincoln County

The Windhaters are wrong. When will the Lincoln CC wake up

l3wis May 1, 2017 10Comments

Wind energy in the Midwest, what an amazing MODERN concept!

These poll numbers of course don’t surprise me;

On the question “Would you support or oppose a plan to build wind turbines to generate electricity in the southern part of Lincoln County?” surveyors found 41 percent strongly in favor, 26 percent somewhat supportive. Thirteen percent were somewhat opposed and 17 percent strongly opposed.

So will the county commissioners wake up?

The company released partial results from its poll in the run-up to a county commission vote on wind turbine setbacks that would doom the project if left unchanged. Commissioners could decide as quickly as Tuesday morning

It will be interesting to see what kind of excuses the county commissioners will cook up to vote for these stupid setbacks (especially Schmidt and King). It will probably go to a referendum anyway, so they might as well vote against the setbacks and let voters decide.

But you gotta love the windhaters and their continued opposition based on what they can pull from their butts;

“We’ll take all of that with a great amount of salt,” said Winnie Peterson, Director of We Care-SD. “Some people were very upset about the way the information was presented.”

We Care’s volunteers conducted door-to-door surveys in 2015, and Peterson said more than 80 percent of those surveyed within the area of the original 500-turbine project said they didn’t want to live within a quarter mile of a turbine.

I wonder if Winnie knows that it is a county wide election? Asking my neighbors what they think of a certain ballot proposal certainly isn’t scientific, but what would you expect from a group that depends on junk science to argue their points?

“As people from South Dakota, we don’t need to hire a fancy Washington polling agency to find out what our neighbors think,” Peterson said.

The poll from GOP strategist Glen Bolger’s Washington, D.C.-based agency is the first survey of Lincoln County voters specific to wind energy. National polls consistently show support for wind power and other forms of renewable energy.

The questions were asked of 300 registered voters, with 120 cell phone interviews by telephone March 23-26, and has a margin of error of plus or minus 5.66 percent.

Fancy or Not, it is scientific and way more accurate then the rag-tag group compiled of coffee drinkers from a Canton Café. I can’t wait to see them crushed at the polls, I’m sure commissioner King will blame the crack baby having liberals for swaying the vote.

Some Lincoln County Commissioners chickenshit out

l3wis December 28, 2016 11Comments

Make a decision already so the voters can finally decide the fate of wind energy in Lincoln County;

County commissioners decided Tuesday to punt until 2017 on a set of proposed restrictions on wind turbines in the fast-growing county that includes the southern edge of Sioux Falls.

The commission voted to study ways to refine the rules, which would require turbines sit at least three-quarters of a mile from homes and meet low-decibel sound limits.

We all know, no matter what they decide, voters will ultimately make the decision. And I think with the large voting block in Sioux Falls, they would approve the wind farm. But it really shouldn’t be that way, this is a simple decision to make;

Commissioner Jim Schmidt said the county’s voters deserve a decision that accounts for all the potential ripple effects of wind turbines.

“Every time we listen to testimony, it becomes a more complicated issue,” Schmidt said.

Jim, first off it is not complicated, and even if it was, you have had two years to do your research. It is very easy to contact universities and other scientific groups to get the information you need, which would all lead to the fact that wind turbines have no harmful health effects unless one fell on you.

This comes down to two very simple points, Money and Asthestics.

• Money; The county, the state and landowners would make money from the project, which would benefit many people. This is a fact.

• Some people don’t like what they look like. This really is the only sticking point in the matter. As a person who is an artist and collects art, I do understand and defend people who think wind turbines are ugly. I get it. But the same could be said about barb wired fences and power poles in the country landscape. As I said to a detractor once, ‘I would much rather look at a wind farm peacefully churning in a meadow then plumes of smoke rolling from a coal plant or refinery.’

But government officials are not art critics, their duty is to rule on law and what is best for people within those laws. Wind energy is good for the public and the economy. Stop being chickenshits and make an easy decision.

Do we just break wind or do we Harness it? Lincoln County Commission 2016

l3wis December 17, 2016 3Comments

Here we go, the great questions of Lincoln County are debated. Do we grow or do we die? Do we just break wind or do we use it? To wind or not to wind? Is it selfishness or purity? The County Commission on November 22, 2016 heard several versions of these questions.

The rural southern part of the county has had a serious hurt on the more urban sprawl northern section and it seems the two will never meet until the farmers are pushed out. Farmers are important and so is peace of mind but as you listen to this meeting keep in mind, no one wants to find a way to compromise.