All hope the governing bodies of our community make decisions that benefit our citizens. Unfortunately, the Howard County Board of Zoning Appeals does not qualify. That Board (BZA) of 5 members in the past two months has approved solar farm projects for eastern Howard County that will take about 3,500 acres of the most prime farmland in the world out of agriculture production for 30 years or more. Think about that. Over 5 square miles of Howard County farmland will be covered with glass top solar panels for 30 years.
The rich soil land of Howard County will be destroyed for agriculture use. One of the most continuing and serious concerns of farmers is that top soil not be compacted. We will soon see heavy machinery all over this land that will, indeed, compact top soil. And, we have already been told that “dirt” will be moved to level areas. This takes bulldozers. This means top soil will be scraped off of some areas and moved to others leaving exposed clay behind.
Hundreds of pilings will be driven into the grounds. Heavy equipment is required to drive the pilings. More compaction and a total destruction of the tile drainage systems in the fields. Large area — over 5 square miles — drainage patterns will be disrupted. No one really knows now what effect that will have on neighboring properties.
Then one has to wonder about just who made such unwise, foolish, and damaging decisions. In both approvals, the BZA vote was 2 members of the Board against the solar projects and 3 for; so the approvals were made by a split vote. And who were those who voted “yes”. As far as I can tell, none of the 3 voting “yes” have any agriculture or biological background at all. One even has a direct vested interest in the development of electric vehicles. The ignorance of the three is blatant.
These approvals were made in spite of the fact new solar energy collection technology will soon follow. One such development would leave 80% or more of the land available for farming and still produce the same amount of collected solar energy. This information was given to the BZA a month ago. One must also anticipate even more technological developments in energy production in years to come making what was approved totally obsolete, but locked in for 30 years.
More importantly, the USDA early in 2022 reported the USA will become a net food importer within the next year or so. We are there. Ag exports are expected to grow at an annual rate of 0.8% per year through 2031 while imports grow at an average annual rate of 6%. Domestic preferences for an array of agriculture goods already exceed domestic production. Yet, the BZA for 30 years put rich, fertile land out of agriculture production. Insane.
Interestingly, several of the owners of the land involved are absentee owners caring about one thing — short term money. Shame on them.
The people of Howard County will come to regret the decisions made by the BZA. That may take a few years, but it will come. Eastern Howard County will become a sea of glass that will haunt those who voted “yes”.
Frustrated
I have to admit strongly that I am very frustrated at not having the voice and actual power that I once had as Publisher of the Kokomo Tribune. That newspaper in the day had great influence over what happened and the directions taken in Kokomo and surrounding area. The citizens of our area trusted us as evidenced by the over 95% of the homes receiving the Tribune each day….. seven days a week!
Our editorial philosophy was one of moderate conservative Republican. It really boiled down to “common sense”. Nothing stupid. And the people knew this and supported this.
We promoted good jobs and a safe community in a healthy environment. It was through the efforts of the Tribune that the clean up of the Wildcat Creek began. It was a polluted open sewer at the time. We exposed that and forced clean up of other places as well .
We opposed the building of the Lafayette Reservoir that would have covered over 4,000 acres of prime farmland. It was ultimately decommissioned by Congress which stopped the Corps of Engineers building the reservoir.
We did our best to educate people about the importance of clean air, clean water, and clean land. We were trusted.
Now we have shit coming along like a proposal to cover 1,800 and 1,700 acres of prime farmland with solar panels in eastern Howard County. Insane. It never would happen in the old Tribune days. I can only hope it will not happen today, but there is an uphill battle to prevent same.
While I am at it, I am going to bitch about President Joe Biden. I have no idea how he has the authority to unilaterally pass out billions of dollars and massive numbers of weapons to the most corrupt country on the planet, Ukraine. Ukraine has been criminal ole Joe’s money basket for a long, long time. Where in the hell is Congress. I thought they had control of the purse strings….. the Republican controlled House of Representatives at that.
I am really getting the feeling that everyone in political power in the United States is corrupt or afraid. There have been so many crimes exposed but nothing happens but talk, talk, talk, talk. No consequences. Hillary Clinton should be behind bars along with George Bush, Dick Cheney, and now Joe Biden along with his entire criminal family and fellow travelers in the Biden administration.
We are on the edge of a global nuclear war. Russia has just pulled out of a nuclear treaty with the US. Russia is not going to lose face in Ukraine. Putin will pull the trigger on nuclear weapons first.
And by the way, the United States did blow up the Nord Stream pipeline. There is no doubt. Fuckin’ Biden as usual made the decision. As reported time and time again, in his entire political life he has been on the wrong side of every decision regarding foreign relations. Now he is playing with nuclear fire.
Biden et al must go. I don’t know how or when, but he and the cackling VP have to be gone or our country is not going to survive. The doomsday clock is ticking. It is close to midnight.
Massive Solar Projects
[This piece was sent to the Kokomo Tribune. Not known if it will be published]
Are you paying attention?
In the name of clean energy, tax revenue, and landowner income; we are on the verge of losing 1,800 acres of prime farmland in eastern Howard County. If the Board of Zoning Appeals approves the project next Tuesday, a French energy company, ENGIE, will cover those acres with sterile solar panels for electricity. The area will be designated the “Emerald Green Solar Project”.
The catch is this is not for the short term. It will be for the next 30 or more years! That land will not be able to produce soy beans or corn or anything else for that matter for decades. Those are beans and corn that did go into the food supply directly or indirectly or into ethanol fuel for our vehicles. No more.
Could you guess where the solar panels are manufactured? You would be right if you guessed Communist China. The IAE (International Energy Agency) reports Communist China is the source of 75% of all solar modules, 85% of solar cells, 97% of solar wafers, and 79% of polysilicon used. Other countries than Communist China, like Viet Nam in the case of ENGIE, may do some of the assembly; but not make or supply the primary components.
And the kicker is there is yet another solar energy project coming right behind ENGIE/Emerald. This one is for 1,700 more Howard County farm acres. It is called “Locomotive Solar” by Ranger Power. It is being alleged that company is offering to pay $1,000 to people to support this project which does not yet have Board of Zoning Appeals approval either.
What is the point? All over the country massive solar field projects are popping up. The goal is to use solar panels to capture sun energy and convert it to electric power for electric utilities. The problem is these solar companies have tunnel vision. They want to gobble up massive acreages of flat, fertile farmland and take it out of production for agriculture for decades when the world is facing food shortages and hunger.
For example, due to war, Ukraine, called the “Bread Basket of the World”, will likely not harvest anything this growing season and for years to come. Europe and Africa depended heavily upon Ukraine crops for food. The United States will be called upon more and more for food supplies; not less.
This madness cannot continue. Technology moves fast. Today’s solar panel technology will be outdated very quickly. The frenzy to cover the world with today’s panels will cease. Then what? And if today’s panels are useful, put them on brownfields or on building roof tops, or on non-tillable lands; not on some of the richest, most fertile farmland in the world.
Wise Words
“You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” — Jane Goodall, Biologist
Solar Insanity
To the Howard County Board of Zoning Appeals (BZA):
Mike Imbler, Dick Byrum, Mike Schroeder, Greg Tipton, Russ Hopkins
RE: ENGIE Emerald 1,800 Acre Solar Field Proposal on Prime Farmland
Board Members:
Kokomo, “City of Firsts”: a phrase that has defined this community and this county for more years than any of us alive today can count. From Elwood Haynes to the production lines to our farmers, the people of Howard County have made livings using their hands, hard work, and ingenuity. Occasionally, leaders of Howard County have been called upon to make decisions that will chart the course of the lives of those who have chosen to make this their home now and for many years to come.
In recent years, the responsibility of preserving the quality and integrity of the land upon which we walk and grow crops has entered into the hearts and minds of people everywhere. That we care about these things is not at issue. What we do about them is.
ENGIE is a very ambitious French (not USA) multi-national energy company with tentacles everywhere on the planet. It reportedly operates in 27 European countries and 48 countries worldwide. The tentacles of this company have now found Howard County, Indiana. The BZA Board has been struggling with this intrusion for some time. To date they have denied the Emerald 1,800 acre solar project twice.
Why Howard County? ENGIE has a slick answer repeated verbatim in every agri-acquistion they seek. “ENGIE is looking to be the best local business and neighbor that we can in (Blank County, Blank State.)” “Beyond Clean, renewable energy, the project will create positive economic and quality of life impacts in the region with short and long term employment opportunities as well as tax benefits…”
In truth, ENGIE has locked into a tunnel vision solar strategy called, “utility-scalar solar.” This means ENGIE is converting flat, tillable US acreage into fields of solar panels. Cleverly, ENGIE targets rural communities they know are struggling in these challenging times. Howard County and its rich farmland make ENGIE developers salivate.
However, ENGIE doesn’t live up to its hype. Short term employment is typically outsourced and long term job creation commonly translates to 2 per project.
Howard County residents don’t have direct experience with these solar fields. Ohio residents do. They now live with the 30 year sentence consequences imposed by ENGIE contracts. These include loss of farmland, buzz of solar panels, and an increase in temperature by 5 degrees in the region.
ENGIE doesn’t like to be told “NO.” They are fighting right now to get Miami County judge David Grund to overturn prior denial of its project by the Howard County Board of Zoning Appeals and rule in ENGIE’s favor. And despite their friendly spin, ENGIE CEO of North America, Gwenaelle Avice-Hue, boldly states how ENGIE really views us “…we want to be big in the U.S.. This is a huge playground and a core geography for us strategically”.
Howard County, like many other places in this country and around the world, is faced with two issues: sustainable energy production and food production. If you isolate those concepts and make decisions from an isolated viewpoint, they wind up as competitors. ENGIE is focused on finding places to install sustainable energy and they have selected agriculture land as a target not only here but elsewhere. What they ignore is the competing needs of the world to be fed from the land upon which food is produced.
Do these ideas have to be enemies; do they have to be at war? No. Is there a third way? Yes. Howard County has acreage (brownfields) that has been rendered useless from decisions made in the past or land not suitable for tillage. Perhaps a third way is to build on the non-tillable land and brownfields and to turn them into fields of light energy… and preserve the highly valuable, tillable agriculture land.
The proposed Emerald solar project would remove over 1,800 acres of land from agriculture use for 30 years or even more. By the grace of God, Howard County is blessed with some of the most fertile soils anywhere in the world. This fertility, with its ability to produce abundant crops, would be traded for acres of sterile electric generating solar panels. Capturing land for 30 years is a huge committment given how fast technology and conditions change. That, itself, does not seem wise.
It appears all associated ENGIE resources with justification analysis (cost/benefit analysis) for the Emerald solar project are economists – dollars folks. That is telling. Nowhere is it stated any have a science or agriculture background. The project is viewed for dollars from widgets in and widgets out similar to a manufacturing operation; period. There is no regard for the loss of the biological potential of the soil over many decades. The pitch is for more money now into the pockets of landowners and the county. There may be a time in those 30 or more years when all available tillable land will be needed for food production. There are already food shortages in many countries around the world.
The analysis by the Certified General Appraiser, Richard C. Kirkland, concerning property values is voluminous. He could have easily summarized his findings on one page in one sentence by stating his opinion is there is no negative impact of solar panel fields on the value of any adjacent or nearby property anywhere forever. That’s it. His report is an exercise in extrapolating conclusions from data from the past and places far and wide into the uncertain distant future and into Howard County. This defies common sense.
Another extremely important point is about the solar panels themselves. Communist China is involved in manufacturing more than 80% of solar components worldwide according to the IEA (International Energy Agency-Paris) and reported by Mamun Rashid, CEO of California-based Auxin Solar; one of the few US manufacturers of solar panels. Ask yourself, do we want to support economically the Communist Chinese: enemies of our nation?
Again, if solar electric generation using US manufactured solar panels without Chinese components is something our county and city wants, there are many locations for possible solar generation development as mentioned earlier. There may be more. I ask you consider other locations and continue to deny the proposed 1,800 acre ENGIE Emerald solar panel project in eastern Howard County on productive agriculture land.
Sincerely,
Kent H Blacklidge MS Ph.D.
BS Industrial Management
M S Conservation of Natural Resources and Public Policy
MS Aquatic Toxicology and Fish Biology
PhD Genetics — Purdue
Hummmm…..
I pass this home in Howard County, Indiana, pretty frequently. Seems to represent my sentiments exactly.
Sham Debate
[Marcia Blacklidge wrote and posted on Gettr:]
More about that sham debate (supposed to be between McDaniel, Dhillon, and Lindell) — the purpose of a political debate is 4 candidates — not their surrogates — to show why they deserve to be elected. We all know this! And Bannon and Fredericks have rightly & often criticized the Dems 4 avoiding debates. Yesterday, Fredericks had the nerve to pretend in that sham a real debate was taking place! Can you see how the thirst 4 power has corrupted the ethics of Bannon, Fredericks and Harmeet? Wren (the surrogate for Dhillon) even suggested we beat the Dems at cheating until WE can win and change things. People clapped 4 that. Only Mike said, “No, that’s not the way, you’ll never get there doing that.” I call on Kent, Lake & all others who have endorsed Harmeet to withdraw their support now! Winning cannot be so dear we sell r souls 4 it!
RNC Coming Election
Those who will vote soon for Chairperson of the Republican National Committee (The Republican Party) have one chance to get it right. There are three candidates on the ballot: Ronna McDaniel (current Chairwoman), Harmeet Dhillon, and Mike Lindell. There is one and only one who deserves to lead the Republican Party. That person is Mike Lindell. And why, you ask?
Ronna McDaniel has failed as Party leader. She has been great at fund raising, but look at the results of the 2022 General Election. This was supposed to be a Republican sweep of the House of Representatives and the gaining of a majority in the Senate. Neither happened. Yes, Republicans now have a narrow majority in the House, but are in the minority in the Senate. Many of us believe it happened in large part because McDaniel chose not to support several MAGA (Make America Great Again) candidates in the Republican primaries causing them to lose. She withheld financial support. She went with Republican Establishment candidates instead or chose not to be involved at all.
And there have been allegations that McDaniel spent donor money unwisely on frivolous items for her staff….. tens of thousands of dollars. This charge was the icing on the cake. McDaniel, Senator Mitt Romney’s (RINO) niece, does not deserve re-election. She failed.
And how about Harmeet Dhillon. Dhillon is a west coast California based attorney who was educated at Dartmouth and the University of Virginia on the East Coast. She is a respected, competent attorney who has been involved as legal counsel in many Republican fights against corruption and fraudulent elections. She is a former vice chairwoman of the California Republican Party, but cannot point at anything she has accomplished herself as part of the California Republican leadership. Her promises, if elected as Chairwoman of Republican Party, include “planning” for the next two years, encouraging better ballot harvesting than the Democrats, and more voting by mail and early voting. In other words, out cheat the cheaters. As Chairwoman, she would be out of her lane. She needs to stay as legal counsel and fight in courts in which she has had mixed results.
Then we have Mike Lindell. Lindell has devoted his life and his fortune to seeing the United States get healthy again. He knows more about election fraud than about anyone. He financed a Computer Symposium that exposed the fraud of the 2020 and 2022 elections. Hard evidence. Lindell does not want fraud to benefit either the Democrats or the Republicans. He wants elections to be fair and honest; period. He knows how to make them so. His biggest push is to ditch all machines and go back to paper hand counted ballots.
Further, Lindell is a man of the people and frankly, a genius. He has been through rough times in his life, turned it around, and built a multi-million dollar business, My Pillow. His company employs thousands. Lindell knows how to get things done and, like President Donald Trump, he does not owe allegiance to any special interest group, lobbyist, big donors, or to the Washington Establishment. He is an independent businessman and devoted patriot. Just what the Republican National Party needs; not more Establishment.
Getting Lindell elected is somewhat of a long shot, but he is the only qualified candidate on the ballot…. And is he qualified!
The Grandfather
[From the Internet with a bit of modification by me}
One evening a grandson was talking to his grandfather about current events. The grandson asked his grandfather what he thought about the shootings at schools, the computer age, and just things in general.
The grandfather replied……
Well, let me think a minute. I was born before television, Penicillin, polio shots, frozen foods, Xerox, contact lenses, Frisbees, Hula Hoops, and the pill. There were no credit cards, laser beams or ball point pens. Man had not invented panty hose, air conditioners, dishwashers, clothes dryers, and the clothes were hung out to dry in the fresh air and space travel was only in Flash Gordon books.
Almost every family had a father and a mother. I called every woman older than me, “Mam” and every man, “Sir”. Still do for that matter, even though I am older than most.
We were before gay-rights, transgender anything, computer dating, dual careers, daycare centers, and group therapy.
Our lives were governed by the Christian principles, good judgment, and common sense. We were taught to know the difference between right and wrong and to stand up and take responsibility for our actions.
Serving your country was a privilege; living in this country was a bigger privilege… We thought fast food was eating half a biscuit while running to catch the school bus…. If there even was one to catch. Mostly, we either walked or rode our bikes to school.
Having a meaningful relationship meant getting along with your cousins and other family members.
Draft dodgers were those who closed front doors (and even locked them) as the evening breeze started. Front doors were commonly not locked and keys were left in cars.
Time-sharing meant time the family spent together in the evenings and weekends — not purchasing condominiums.
We never heard of FM radios, tape decks, CDs, electric typewriters, yogurt, or guys wearing earrings. We listened to Big Bands, Jack Benny, and the President’s speeches on our radios. We rushed home from school to listen to Hop Along Cassidy, the Green Hornet, Inner Sanctum, Captain Marvel, and Tennessee Jed on the radio.
We loved Comic books and Yo-Yos. We loved Saturday movies of Roy Rodgers, Buck Rogers, and Tarzan. Those were 25 cents.
It you saw anything with “Made in Japan” on it, it was junk. Chinese stuff did not exist. The term ‘making out’ referred to how you did on your school exam… or necking.
Pizza Hut, McDonald’s, Starbucks, and instant coffee were unheard of. We had 5 & 10 cent stores, Woolworths and Kresge’s, where you could actually buy things for 5 and 10 cents. Ice cream cones, phone calls, rides on the city bus, and Pepsi were all a nickel or at most a dime. And if you didn’t want to splurge, you could spend your nickle on enough stamps to mail 1 letter and 2 postcards.
You could buy a new Ford Coupe fo $600, …. But who could afford one? Too bad, because gasoline was 11 cents a gallon.
In MY day:
“Grass” was mowed.
“Coke” was a Coca Cola drink.
“Pot” was something your mother cooked in.
“Rock Music” was your mother’s lullaby.
“Aids” were helpers in the Principal’s office.
“Chip” meant a piece of wood.
“Hardware” was found in a hardware store.
“Software” was not even a word.
And we were the last generation to actually believe that a woman needed a husband to have a baby…. or even a woman was the only gender that could have a baby. No wonder people call us “old and confused” and say there is a generation gap.
How old do you think I am? I bet you have this old man in mind…. You are in for a shock!
Read on to see — pretty scary if you think about it and pretty sad. This old man would be 72 years old today. Gives you something to think about. Oh, and one more thing: our phone number was 4339.
ADDENDUM: Auto tires had inner tubes, most cars had manual (not automatic) transmissions, no power brakes or power steering. Necker’s knobs were the thing on steering wheels. And about everyone had a Victory Garden and/or ate food grown by local farmers without pesticides. There were slide rules, not desk or handheld calculators. No Internet and even no computers, really….. let alone cell phones and before them, beepers. This from an 84 year old man.
Search for a Speaker
We have been watching the US House of Representatives struggle to elect a Speaker of the House. The Speaker has incredible power over House procedures, the movement of legislation, the appointment of Committees and Committee Chairs, and more. Nothing happens in the House without the approval of the Speaker. We know that clearly from the past reign of Speaker Nancy Pelosi, a Democrat in a Democrat House majority.
The big question is whether Kevin McCarthy, who has been the minority leader and leader of the Republican Caucus, is the person to be Speaker. To become Speaker, one must garner a favorable vote from the majority of Representatives. In times past, this has been almost automatic for the winner to be the existing leader of the political party in the majority. Not now.
The majority held by the Republican Party in the new Congress is slim; only a few votes. McCarthy has managed to alienate several Representatives who now have taken a stand against him becoming Speaker. The number now is about 20 who oppose him.
Representative Warren Davidson rose for one of the Congressional votes for Speaker to nominate McCarthy. As part of his nomination speech, he read a long list of changes in Republican Caucus and House procedures and rules McCarthy had agreed to make. Davidson must have thought this to be a positive move, but it came across as an indictment of McCarthy’s inaction in the time he has been minority leader. Why haven’t changes already been made or promised without the pressure from the now opponents of him. Frankly, McCarthy cannot now be trusted.
It is time to move on. McCarthy needs to step aside. His opponents are entrenched in opposition to him. As long as they are, there will be no Speaker. Unless!!!!
It is not beyond possibility that McCarthy will begin to negotiate with Democrats for votes. Not many votes from Democrats would be needed to take McCarthy into a majority of the House vote and the Speaker office. Democrats do not have any possibility of electing one of their own as Speaker even if they stick together 100%. Democrats may conclude it better to support a Speaker that has made concessions to them, which he would have to do to get their votes. What concessions: committee appointments, agreement about specific legislation, and more. This would be a disaster for conservative Republicans and a win for Democrats.
McCarthy made the arrogant decision to physically move into the Speaker’s office before being chosen as Speaker. I think this says it all. Do we want another dictator Pelosi as Speaker of the House? I don’t think so.