The letter in the Kokomo Tribune on January 6th by residents concerning the Indiana Economic Development Corporation (IEDC) and the Kokomo electric vehicle battery plants, StarPlus, points out several issues. The primary one may be the functioning of the IEDC in Indiana. This “Corporation” is a child of the Indiana General Assembly. The President of the Corporation is Indiana’s governor, now Governor Mike Braun. All of the board members are appointed by the governor alone.
This “quasi-private government” entity has a lot of power and can operate quietly with millions of dollars. That is, make decisions that seriously affect communities without full and open knowledge of all citizens therein well ahead of time. The Stellantis-Samsung StarPlus electric vehicle battery plants and the Jaewon plant in Kokomo are prime examples.
Now, late in the process, citizens are asking questions. There are questions about the available water supply, surface and underground, and what a draw of about 2.5 million gallons per day per battery plant might mean. The water needs of the Jaewon plant are not presently clear. There are claims the most recently released water shed study by the State of Indiana showing plenty of water is available is flawed.
There are questions about how waste water will be transported and handled and what chemicals such waste water will contain. A report is water used for cooling will be recycled. Water for industrial processes will be containerized and sent off site for treatment and not to the local waste water treatment plant. Water used for human waste will go to the local waste water treatment plant. Storm water off of buildings and parking lots will go to holding ponds, but there is a question as to whether the ponds will be lined to prevent leakage to ground water. Given the above, one must wonder why over 2 million gallons per day of utility provided water will be consumed.
We have already seen the expenditure of millions on the extension of a gas line to serve the battery plants which reportedly is to be paid for by the gas consumers. We have to wonder about what electricity needed and where it is to come from.
There is another company, Jaewon, that is building a plant next to the StarPlus plant. Jaewon is to handle certain chemical waste products from StarPlus. How much water will this operation require and what is to become of whatever products and/or wastes it will generate? Answers are not clear to the public. And now, there are questions about construction quality practices going on in the building of this plant. Reports are that shoddy workmanship has resulted in project shutdown at times by Kokomo Fire Department officials only to be overridden by some State agency. Reports are that complaints will be submitted to OSHA.
Unrelated to the battery plants, there was a proposal for a lithium electric battery plant nearby to store electricity for feeding back to the power grid in high demand times. It was denied so far due to serious safety concerns centered around possible lithium fires.
Cost numbers of all of these projects are in the billions with more to come. What is the cost per job generated? We already know at least a few hundred of the jobs at the battery plants will be held by Koreans, not US citizens. How many US citizens will actually be continually employed when all is done?
There is a residential and commercial development proposed just south of the battery plants and the Jaewon plant. Now, questions about the elevation of ground levels compared to the 100 year flood level were raised by the City Engineer. The development has been put on hold. There is land requested for rezoning to intensive industrial zoning for Jaewon immediately adjacent north to the land with elevation questions. How about the Jaewon land? Is it, too, of insufficient elevation above the 100 year flood height? What restrictions may be the result?
Finally, there is yet another $7 billion in loans either offered or already taken down related to the battery plants. It appears billions and billions of dollars are being risked in the development of all projects related to the EV battery plants. This is at a time when President Trump may well terminate the mandates of the Biden administration regarding electric vehicles.
Our new governor and the Indiana General Assembly need to take a careful look at the IEDC and what it has done here and elsewhere in Indiana.
Let Wind Blow & Sun Shine?
The headline in the article in the Kokomo Tribune on December 14th said, “Facing looming energy shortage, Indiana utilities slowly adopt battery storage”. In October 2024, the Kokomo Planning Board turned down a application from Spearmint Energy to build a battery storage system station on approximately 25 acres of now farm land near the intersection of Lincoln and Goyer Roads. Spearmint Energy said they would reapply in six months.
Citizens objected. The “No” vote was 9-0. The Tribune article said citizen concerns centered around the possibility of one or more of the batteries catching fire posing a safety risk to buildings and residents nearby. This has happened elsewhere. The article pointed out lithium ion battery fires are notoriously difficult to extinguish as the salts in the batteries are self-oxidizing, which means they cannot be “starved out” by traditional fire fighting methods. That and lithium battery fires release toxic gases including hydrogen fluoride (HF), hydrogen chloride, hydrogen cyanide, carbon monoxide, and sulfur dioxide. These gases can cause severe respiratory distress, skin burns, eye irritation, and even death.
But what is all the push for electric battery storage for in the first place? The reason shouts! The demand for more and more electricity supply is on the increase. And electricity is not something one can store up at home or in an office space or a data center or factory. The demand is instantaneous and the supply must be there then, not later.
On the other hand, electric utilities have been closing down traditional power generating plants, many of which were coal fired. They have been depending more and more upon unpredictable generating like wind mills and solar panels; neither of which can be depended upon continuously. Locally, look at the wind mills in Tipton County and the to-be solar fields in Howard County and Cass County. The answer to lack of instant electricity seems to be build large battery electric storage facilities that can feed electricity back to the power grid when demand is high and instant generating capacity cannot meet the demand. This looks a lot like a huge band aid solution.
We need an updated electric power grid to deliver electricity. We need full time dependable, instantaneous electricity generating capacity to meet demand; not battery storage band aids. We need utility companies to build new or refurbish old generation plants powered by dependable full time energy sources. Does this mean coal and natural gas….or, perhaps, nuclear plants? YES. Those until a better solution emerges. Wind and solar sources will not do.
We need to get off of the fascination with wind and solar farms. Neither are efficient or cost effective. Neither are dependable full time. Both start deterioration from the day they become operational. Time to rethink.
The Rest of the Story
There was a radio newsman long ago, Paul Harvey, that ended his daily broadcast with a saying: “And now you know the Rest of the Story.” The problem in Kokomo is we don’t know the rest of the story.
One has to wonder who thought it a good idea to bring a huge EV battery plant or two to Kokomo. Was it the Indiana General Assembly or the Indiana Economic Development Corporation or Stellantis and Samsung…. Or who? Who was it that brought a large diameter gas pipeline down Highway 35 from the Logansport area and north to Kokomo to serve two EV battery plants? Who was it?
And who was it that bought up large numbers of private properties at highly elevated prices, many of which were personal residences and most of which were highly fertile agriculture lands? And who was it that benefited financially from these purchases? And where did all the money come from and go?
And who was it that promised as many as 1,400 jobs per battery plant or 2,800 for two plants only to have it turn out that 700 of 1400 or 1400 of 2800 of those jobs would be for imported Koreans who would work for a time, then be recycled back to Korea? The result is the cost per job for US citizens is through the roof.
And who is it that did the planning for the operation of the EV battery plants? What materials would be inputs? Are any toxic and dangerous? What electricity is needed and where is that to come from? And maybe most importantly, what water is needed. It has been reported that over 2.5 million gallons of water per plant will be required. Where is that to come from? The excess availability of both surface and ground water to serve one plant let along two plants appears not to be available. The Indiana American Water Company is already casting about for one or more additional well drilling sites. What effect is to be expected on the water table below us? Has this been analyzed? There are already plumes of contaminated water underground from past industry such as Continental Steel Corp and General Motors operations. EPA remediation is ongoing.
Where is the water for proposed commercial and residential development to come from? We see expansion of all sorts of residential areas, hotels, meeting centers, and stores proposed everywhere around Kokomo.
What products are to be produced from the battery plants? Where are they to be shipped or stored? What waste products will result as well? Are any toxic or poisonous? What is to be come of the 2.5 million gallons of water per day required? Word has it that it is to be processed by our local Waste Water Treatment plant which is primarily designed for treating human waste, not industrial waste water. And how is that water to get from the battery plants to the treatment plant? Word has it that existing sewer lines are not adequate to handle such load on a daily basis. And what toxins or chemicals, if any are in the waste water? How would any be handled?
Why is there proposed a waste recycling plant near the battery plant as a separate company and operation? What waste and what toxic chemicals are to be handled and/or required? What is the final destination of waste? The Kokomo Plan Commission just recommended to the City Council the rezoning of a parcel to high intensity industrial zoning to add to land already zoned that for a waste recycling facility without concern about whether such land was suitable for such use. Word has it that there is exposure to potential ground water contamination from such use of this particular land.
And we know that there recently was turned down a proposed electric battery storage operation to be located east of the Lincoln Road and Goyer Road area due to concerns about safety of such a facility. Word has it the company will be back in six months with a new request.
Finally, a mention of the Engie Emerald Green solar panel farm is called for. The Drainage Board continued a vote for the water drainage plan that was submitted late. More incompetent planning, it seems, for a project that will begin to deteriorate the day it is put into operation. And it turns out Engie revised the proposed grading of 350 acres of fertile top soil to 17 acres after objection from Greg Lake, the county surveyor and stormwater administrator for the Howard County Stormwater District.
Both the approved solar fields and the approved EV battery plants appear to be hysterical moves and totally incompetently planned projects focused around the Biden mandates for so-called passive electricity and electric vehicles. What accompanies both is financial greed and power on the part of the State of Indiana, the Indiana Economic Development Corporation, local officials and others. It is likely President Trump will pick a different direction.
The bottom line is we do not know the “Rest of the Story”. That will unfold in days to come. My prediction is that more and more incompetency will be revealed and more and more greed and seeking of power will come to light. Considering all, there is a deep concern our county may become unlivable. That would be the “Rest of the Story”.
The Garbage Man Cometh
It seems the Kokomo Tribune is trying its best to get Kamala Harris elected. Her promotion is about all I see in the articles, letters, and columns on the Opinion page. But, guess what. It will not work. The Garbage Man Cometh!
We can be called Deplorables, Irredeemables, Nazis, and Garbage but the truth: We are true patriots who oppose what is and has been going on in Washington DC with the Biden/Harris administration and all its cronies for the past four years. No more.
No more open borders. No more support of endless foreign wars. No more spending us into high inflation. No more lawfare against political opponents. No more energy dependence on foreign nations. No more off shoring of our jobs and companies. No more high food costs. And soon to come, no more harmful chemicals in our foods. No more Big Pharma pushing unknown chemicals into our faces and into our arms.
When you have the team of Donald Trump, Tulse Gabbard (former Vice Chair of the Democratic National Committee), Elon Musk, and Robert F Kennedy Jr (a generational Democrat), you have a team that will hold America First. It took great courage for Gabbard and Kennedy to leave the Democrat Party and join forces with the Republican Party and Donald J. Trump. They saw the rot in the Democrat Party and left it behind.
So, now we have the Garbage Man, Donald J Trump, collecting all the garbage folks, the patriots, and heading for Washington, D.C.. The rooting out of the swamp will soon begin.
Frankly, it is inconceivable to me how any person with one functioning brain cell could choose now to vote for Kamala Harris. She has proven herself over and over to be incompetent. The flood over the southern border of millions of illegal aliens is only one factor of many that she has supported and continues to support.
The garbage wave is coming. Harris supporters need to get out their crying towels.
Klamath River: Free Flowing Once Again
The Yurok Tribe
190 Klamath Blvd
Klamath CA 95548
Dear Ones:
Miracles do happen, but in the case of the Klamath River and dam removal, it depended upon the years of dedication to river restoration by the Yurok Tribe. I have to tell you that when I read all about what has been accomplished to give life back to all of the fish species, particularly the salmon, whose existence depends upon a free flowing Klamath River, it brought tears to my eyes.
Fish are special to me. My doctorate at Purdue had sturgeon as my focus for research. Before that were catfish and medaka. Fish, indeed, are incredible creatures from our Creator to be treasured and husbanded.
My wife, Marcia, is a member of the Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians in Michigan. They have a history of deep relationship with the fish of the Great Lakes, as you may well know. Their work and dedication to preserving the lakes and streams and the fisheries associated with them has been rewarding to see as well.
When I read the mission statement of the Yurok Tribe on line, one can hope that someday all will adopt the philosophy of your Tribe. Earth and all therein are, indeed, sacred.
So, I deeply thank you for what you have accomplished. I wish you all the best for the future.
Blessings,
Kent H Blacklidge Ph.D.
Wrong Decision!
Wrong decision! Howard County Circuit Court Judge Lynn Murray either cannot read plain English language or someone got to her when she approved the ENGIE Emerald Green Solar project for eastern Howard County. This project will take 1,800 acres of prime agriculture land — some of the best and richest in the world — and put it under solar panels for decades.
Murray’s decision flies in the face of crystal clear language in the county zoning ordinance itself. Under the Agriculture (AG) District section, the Board of Zoning Appeals is directly addressed. The language states , “Board of Zoning Appeals: allow a special exception use (which specifically includes “power generation facility”) only when it is clearly a benefit to the adjacent properties”. How is that in this instance?
Further, under 7.08 Special Exception language states, “…. will not permanently injure other property or uses in the same district and vicinity….”.
How Murray concluded all of this language, which is very clear, can be violated is seriously in question. A grade school student would understand what is meant by “clearly benefit” and “will not permanently injure”; words in the zoning ordinance.
It is obvious to me that someone got to the Board of Zoning Appeals when they approved the ENGIE Emerald project in the first place. Even Board membership was manipulated. Their approval, too, was in direct contradiction of zoning ordinance language. Did someone get to them, too? I think so. Money talks.
No reasonable person could conclude that adjacent properties will “benefit” and that they will not suffer permanent injury. But, Judge Murray did exactly that. She and the Board of Zoning Appeals should be ashamed of themselves.
It is my hope that the property owners who took this case to court will continue on to the Court of Appeals. Maybe there they will find judges who can read. If Murray’s ruling stands, it becomes even worse given there is another solar project of 1,700 acres right behind it. Again, hundreds of acres of prime agriculture land will be taken out of production for decades and, frankly, probably ruined for much longer.
This is, indeed, solar insanity.
China Agriculture Land Threat
[Kristi Noem is the Governor of South Dakota. This article is adapted and edited from testimony delivered before a recent hearing held by the U.S. House of Representatives’ Committee on Agriculture.]
I come before you today as the 33rd Governor of South Dakota. My home state is known for the gorgeous Black Hills, rolling plains, and, of course, the historic and iconic Mount Rushmore. If you haven’t visited us yet, consider this a personal invitation.
Agriculture is our number one industry, followed by tourism, so protecting our land is incredibly important to our people.
Today, the focus of this committee hearing is “The Danger China Poses to American Agriculture.” Over the years, I have witnessed this hostile communist country work to systematically take over more of America’s vital food supply chain. Decades ago, I watched China start buying our fertilizer companies and making us more dependent on them for this crop care product. Then, they went after ownership of our chemical companies. I watched our government offer citizenship to members of the CCP in exchange for investment and ownership of our food processing systems. Now, they’re buying up our land.
Between 2010 and 2020, the Chinese Communist Party’s holdings of U.S. agricultural land increased by 5,300%. Reports show China owns about 384,000 acres of U.S. ag land valued at about $2 billion. This should be alarming to all of us. The USDA admits this may not even account for all of the land that has been purchased.
Why? Because the federal government does not monitor and track foreign interests in these large transactions. There is little reporting and very few consequences for allowing countries that hate us to buy up our assets.
Just this past summer, my Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources was contacted by Chinese nationals wishing to meet, tour, and have conversations about how we process and grow our food. We declined those meetings, and within days, the State Department contacted us to notify us that those individuals were Chinese spies trying to steal our intellectual property and crop genetics.
Make no mistake, the CCP will do anything to control our food supply. The Chinese Communist Party is not our friend. It is not our partner. It is not our ally. The CCP is our enemy – a rapidly expanding national security threat that cannot be ignored.
Let me be clear. China is buying up our entire food supply chain.
When America can’t feed itself and relies on another country to feed us, it becomes a national security issue. The country that feeds us controls us.
Let me remind you of why we do a Farm Bill. In the past, the Farm Bill has always been a bipartisan issue. I had the opportunity to work on two of them as a member of Congress. A Farm Bill is simply a safety net. America decided years ago that our nation’s security needed a safe and affordable food supply that we grow. Every family in this country should be able to afford to go to a grocery store and buy their family’s necessities.
The Farm Bill ensures that. Farmers who get up every day to make sure there are groceries on those shelves can have one good year and pay their bills and look forward to the next planting season, or have one bad year and have drought, hail, or flooding and lose everything. It is a risky business, and I’ve often said some of the biggest gamblers I know are our family farmers.
The Farm Bill should be designed to help farmers, not environmental extremists. Our farmers don’t want President Biden dictating their agriculture practices to fulfill his extreme climate agenda. As a conservationist committed to protecting the abundance of natural resources in my state, so-called “climate-smart” agriculture dictated by the Biden administration does not help farmers who need help developing conservation, natural resource, and wildlife habitat solutions that best meet their needs at the local level.
It is in our nation’s best interests that those farmers exist because we do not want one entity to eliminate their ability to keep prices low for our families. The Farm Bill manages that risk and is their safety net. I implore you to do your jobs and get it done.
Recent media reports show the largest Chinese holder of American ag land is shipping food and medical supplies to China to be stockpiled by the Chinese military. We all saw when China purchased land in North Dakota that they claimed it was for a corn processing plant. But there wasn’t enough corn around to support that kind of a facility. And it was just a few miles from a U.S. Air Force base.
South Dakota is home to Ellsworth Air Force Base, the B-1 bomber, and the MQ-9 Reaper drone. It will soon be home to our next-generation bombers – the B-21s. This platform will protect our nation for the next 50 years. As governor, I refused to let what happened in North Dakota happen in South Dakota.
For almost two years, I worked with our legislature, our ag community, and our business community to stop China and five other evil foreign Governments from buying ag land in our state near our military assets. I’m happy to report that we’ve banned them – and strengthened reporting requirements to identify and stop illegal purchases in the future.
China doesn’t allow American companies to own their land – they don’t even allow their people to own land. Why would we allow them to purchase our most significant asset?
It’s clear President Biden does not have a plan to protect the American people – not against crime in our major cities, not at the southern border, and not against the threat of China. So, today, I’m here urging Congress to stop the CCP and other nations that hate us from infiltrating our country.
In summary, let me remind you that for decades, China has manipulated their currency, stolen our IP, spied on us, mistreated us in trade practices, is purchasing our nation’s debt, controls our nation’s prescription drug supply chain, is poisoning our children with Fentanyl, unleashed a deadly virus on the world, uses Tik-Tok to spy on and control our nation’s population and is willing to put their people through horrific situations to fulfill the plan they have had for thousands of years to be the dominating world power.
The only thing standing in their way is us. America. If we lose this country, where will we go?
The time is now to ensure that every policy we pass and champion puts America First. Our safety depends on it. Our security depends on it. Our American way of life depends on it.
Silence
“We Indians know about silence. We are not afraid of it. In fact, for us, silence is more powerful than words. Our elders were trained in the ways of silence, and they handed over this knowledge to us. Observe, listen, and then act, they would tell us. That was the manner of living.
With you, it is just the opposite. You learn by talking. You reward the children that talk the most at school. In your parties, you all try to talk at the same time. In your work, you are always having meetings in which everybody interrupts everybody and all talk five, ten or a hundred times. And you call that ‘solving a problem’.
When you are in a room and there is silence, you get nervous. You must fill the space with sounds. So you talk compulsorily, even before you know what you are going to say.
White people love to discuss. They don’t even allow the other person to finish a sentence. They always interrupt. For us Indians, this looks like bad manners or even stupidity. If you start talking, I’m not going to interrupt you. I will listen. Maybe I’ll stop listening if I don’t like what you are saying, but I won’t interrupt you.
When you finish speaking, I’ll make up my mind about what you said, but I will not tell you I don’t agree unless it is important. Otherwise, I’ll just keep quiet and I’ll go away. You have told me all I need to know. There is no more to be said. But this is not enough for the majority of white people.
People should regard their words as seeds. They should sow them, and then allow them to grow in silence. Our elders taught us that the earth is always talking to us, but we should keep silent in order to hear her.
There are many voices besides ours. Many voices…”
-Ella Deloria
[Wisdom from the Original People]
Solar Sanity
There is a chance that solar sanity will ultimately be brought to Howard County. A ruling by Howard County Circuit Judge Lynn Murray for or against the development of a 1,800 acre solar field titled “Emerald” by ENGIE, a French multi-national company, is expected sometime in May.
This comes as a result of several Greentown area residents, who own properties adjacent to the prime agriculture land proposed to be covered with solar panels, taking their case to court. They challenged the legality of the approval of the solar project by the Howard County Board of Zoning Appeals on several grounds.
The ENGIE Emerald project had been denied twice earlier by the BZA. In the interim, one Board member who voted “no” was replaced by a Board member who voted “yes”. This member replacement or maneuver was questionable at the time. The final “yes” vote was a 3-2 yes/no vote; so the Board was split even in its final approval vote. Earlier it had been a 3-2 no/yes vote which denied the project.
The primary case for denial of the special exception for a solar field made by adjacent property residents rests in language found in county zoning ordinance itself. Under the Agriculture (AG) District section the Board of Zoning Appeals is directly addressed. The language states, “Board of Zoning Appeals: allow a special exception use (which specifically includes “power generation facility”) only when it is clearly a benefit to the adjacent properties.”
Further, under 7.08 Special Exception language states, “…. will not permanently injure other property or uses in the same district and vicinity….”
Any reasonable person would readily conclude the presence of a 1,800 acre solar field next door would not be “clearly a benefit” to adjacent properties, but would definitely damage adjacent properties in value and likely in physical ways. Judge Murray, however, need only conclude damage would come in the form of lower value for adjacent properties and not “clearly a benefit”. Who, really, would want to live right next to 1,800 acres of solar panels. The case is really simple as should be the decision by Murray.
Then there is yet another solar field proposal by another company to cover about 1,700 acres more of prime agriculture land. So, the decision by Murray is critical.
And as a former newspaper publisher, there remains a nagging question in my mind. That question is whether any local official or citizen, other than the landowners whose fields would be covered with solar panels, had financial gain from BZA approval of ENGIE: Emerald.
More Poison: Paraquat!
The EPA is at it again. In an agency draft, it again backs the use of this very toxic herbicide, paraquat, claiming it is safe for use across millions of acres of American cropland despite what public health advocates characterize as virtual scientific proof it causes Parkinson’s disease.
By law, the EPA is required to review pesticides every 15 years. It did and approved paraquat again in 2021. The EPA was sued by several agricultural and public health groups in 2021 charging it had ignored broad scientific consensus linking paraquat to Parkinson’s. The EPA agreed to review its approval. They did and here we are again at the same decision as before. Oh, the EPA did agree it will review more science and could change course when issuing a final report next year. In the meanwhile, the poison stays on the market.
The fight over the use of paraquat in the United States has been going on for decades. This chemical poison, a very effective weed killer, is manufactured by Syngenta. Interestingly, nearly 60 countries have banned paraquat use. This includes the UK and EU countries. Another fact…. A state-owned Chinese company bought Syngenta in 2017 but paraquat is banned for use in China.
Scientific research clearly shows paraquat interferes with dopamine production and regulation, and people with Parkinson’s have reduced dopamine levels. Paraquat is also linked to respiratory damage and kidney disease. Ingestion of a single teaspoon is considered deadly.
And finally, those most at risk seem to be the communities and farmworkers in the central California farming area. This is the area of enormous production of crops for the food market in the United States. It appears the EPA could care less about the communities and workers there as long as Syngenta makes a profit. But even worse is that residues from paraquat likely find their way onto the food we all purchase at the grocery store. I have to wonder how many cases of Parkinson’s have resulted.
In looking back at pesticide use which really began after WWII, it is crystal clear we have not made wise decisions. The first big alert was DDT. Then in Viet Nam during the war there, we covered that country with Agent Orange. That was devastating to Viet Nam and to thousands of US military personnel; even to those in the supply chain that got that chemical from the United States to Viet Nam. When will we wise up? But, again the story is that money talks the loudest!