LTE: Public should have input on proposed wind farm

Invenergy, a Delaware limited liability company (LLC), is soliciting easements from landowners in northern Grundy/southern Butler Counties for a wind farm that will encompass some 60,000 acres.

Iowa, our beautiful state, is being littered by these giant eyesores and it’s for no other reason except so wind developers can cash in on federal, state and local tax incentives.

Farmland is Iowa’s most precious resource.  It’s incomprehensible, irresponsible and short-sighted to allow thousands of farmland acres, the lifeblood of Iowa, to be overtaken by large scale industrial wind projects.

Because of a loophole in the law, wind developers have been able to by-pass the requirement of public informational meetings. Thus, the public is not afforded an opportunity for input and often is unaware that a wind installation is even planned for their neighborhood until it is a “done deal.”  Wind companies solicit landowner easements “under the radar”, often targeting the elderly, absentee and non-operating (non-farming) landowners.  There is no transparency.  If wind projects were truly a good thing, they would stand on their own merits and gain public approval first.  No other kind of heavy industrial development transforms entire communities without informing the public first. This loophole needs to be closed to give the public a voice.

Angie Reifenrath

Parkersburg