Local Opinions

 

Letter to the Editor by Buddy Sweeney (L’Anse Sentinel)

Letter to the Editor by Sharon Kunitz (L’Anse Sentinel)

Letter to the Editor by Evan and Claudette Gunther (L’Anse Sentinel)

Letter to the Editor by Doug Welker (L’Anse Sentinel)

Letter to the Editor by Ron Stiebe (L’Anse Sentinel)

Letter to the Editor by Linda Rulison, President of FOLK (L’Anse Sentinel)

Letter to the Editor by Michael J. Faucher, Baraga (L’Anse Sentinel)

Letter to the Editor by Al Boda, Arnheim (L’Anse Sentinel)

Letter to the Editor by Jeffery Loman, L’Anse Indian Reservation

4-13-18

Dear Editor:

With the ongoing discussions and pending government decisions on the proposed Summit Lake Wind Project – I spent the better part of the last two weeks conducting research on wind energy conversion systems, commonly known as wind farms. My research into the hazards associated with wind energy conversion systems brought me to the conclusion that harm to birds and bats, noise, flicker shadow, damage to the “view shed”, ice tossing and other things people in our community have expressed concerns about should be the least of our worries. The most significant risk in my opinion is FIRE. I’d like to share a few headlines with your readers:

• “Wind company fails to call fire department, lets blaze burn overnight…”
  By Miriam Raftery
  Photo: Tehachapi fire, 2012
  April 27, 2013 (San Diego’s East County)
• “Cowboy Fire sparked by wind turbine burning on 1,592 acres…”
  POSTED 4:31 PM, SEPTEMBER 10, 2017, BY MARK GREEN, UPDATED AT 09:10PM, SEPTEMBER 10, 2017
• “Wind turbine fires ‘ten times more common than thought’, experts warn…”
  Telegraph By Emily Gosden
  12:01AM BST 17 Jul 2014
• “Kahuku Wind Farm Fire Spreads Concerns Over Future Wind Projects…”
  Published August 28, 2012 By admin
  hawaiinewsnow.com
  By Tim Sakahara
• “$4-million turbine fire at Kibby Mountain puts wind energy under new scrutiny by state, opponents…”
  Maine Forest Service
  By Whit Richardson, BDN Staff • April 23, 2013 11:38 am

Yes, that’s right – wind turbines have resulted in fires. I have also come to the conclusion that whatever “social license” the wind industry thinks they should have disappears after the first couple hours of any scholarly research. It’s a fact that rural communities with wind energy projects around the world are fighting back to protect themselves, their natural resources, their farms, their businesses and their families. The sense of seething rage is palpable from rural communities in Australia, Ireland, the UK, Canada, the US and Europe.

I’m also extremely troubled by the seemingly endless lies tossed up by the wind industry and its parasites (they call themselves lobbyists). There are countless cases that demonstrate that when people in rural communities with medium to large wind energy conversion systems experience the actual risks and benefits – the industry’s claims simply don’t wash anymore. There is overwhelming evidence these days that people are aware of the fraud; and they’re angry for having been taken for gullible country bumpkins. It seems that once reasonable people are introduced to the reality of the real costs of intermittent and unreliable wind power they cease to support it.

Finally, when the people from Renewable Energy Systems (RES) hold their next community meeting they’re going to need to explain how their promise of $34 million dollars in tax revenue spread out over the next 25-years is going to pay for the morticians, the forest fire fighters, the paramedics, the hospitals, doctors and nurses, that will be needed along with the loss of public and tribal use of thousands of acres of what is now CFR land. And lastly, with respect to counting on that promised tax revenue of $34 million from the Summit Lake project – I would like to remind your readers of the not so distant experience with the only other “renewable energy” business in L’Anse. Please visit the township office. I’m sure they can scare up a copy of the Michigan Tax Tribunal case “L’Anse Warden Electric Co. LLC, v Township of L’Anse MTT Docket No. 392335.” You know – the case where the company challenged their tax rate and the judge made the township pay back all that money….

Jeffery Loman, L’Anse Indian Reservation

Letter to the Editor by James Haun, Skanee

Letter to the Editor by Wayne Abba, Skanee