Industrial wind turbines hurt rural economic development

To the Editor,

     Agricultural states that produce corn, beans, and livestock, feed the world. Our agricultural productivity is the engine of all rural communities and businesses.

     Wind energy is not an agricultural commodity as hogs, cattle, and grain are. It is not a product that supports rural economic development. It does not revitalize communities; it damages them.

     Around the world, industrial wind turbines have driven people away from homes due to their noise, flicker, and adverse health effects. Businesses flee or avoid communities that host wind, taking with it any chance of future growth. Homes and community businesses become devalued.

     Raising livestock is a complete lifecycle tied to many local businesses. Livestock is fed corn and soybeans, and manure is applied to fields to fertilize crops. Livestock feeds the crops and the crops feed the livestock. Each piece of that lifecycle has local businesses tied to it. The wind industry does not create a lifecycle of economic development.

     The daily operations of grain and livestock production involve a large network of people. Agricultural dollars turn over in rural communities many times. The wind energy companies cannot say the same.

     Rural communities should not suffer from noise, shadow flicker, adverse health effects, and devalued homes because of wind turbines.

     The wind is promoted as free, but the true costs of the wind industry are not.

     Is our goal the elimination of rural communities and create a vast industrial scale, corporate ag-industrial mini-state?

Kim Brenneman

Parnell, Iowa