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
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.
Pain
As I sit to write, I am not sure what is going to come out. I just passed my 84th birthday in early December. One begins to think more about time. I have already lived longer than any male ancestor I can find. My maternal grandfather lived to age 81. He was the oldest. Ever other male ancestor died before reaching 80….. many in their late 70’s. So, time for some reflection.
Our beloved country is in one hellava mess. The President of the United States, Joseph Biden, is about as crooked as they come. His son, brother, and the whole Biden family have stolen from many, have taken bribes and graft, have snuggled up to the Communist Chinese, and have betrayed the United States. They all should be in jail or yet better: hanged.
Biden gained the Presidency via a fraudulent election. The Democrat machine was really good at cheating. It has continued in about every election since. I must say in some cases with the help of crooked Republicans and RINOs including one of our home Senators, Todd Young who just voted in favor of a 1.7 trillion Omnibus Bill in Congress. That bill hamstrings the next Congress which House is Republican controlled. In addition, nothing is funded and we continue to send billions to Ukraine while neglecting our Vets and the border.
The 2023 year is going to be a rough one. Inflation continues at unacceptable levels. It is robbing the incomes and savings of the majority of Americans. Gasoline prices are at historical highs when the USA had the opportunity to be the energy dominate leader in the world under President Trump. Biden shut it all down, so we now beg for oil from our friends and our enemies. What a crock of shit.
The border: we have already had millions of illegal aliens come in to the United States. Where they are in our country is really unknown. Biden et.al. simply put them on busses and planes to transport them all over our country; sometimes in the secrecy of night. Frankly, the companies that are doing the transporting are traitors as well: aiding and abetting illegal activity. They need to be in jail along with Biden and his fellow travelers.
I have seen much in my 84 years, but nothing like what is going on in the USA and around the world now. China is on the path to dominate all. We just hit 8 billion people on the planet on the way to 10 or more billion which level the Earth cannot support. And — believe it or not — the planet is warming with the rate of warming increasing due to human activity and now the rapid thaw of permafrost areas which release massive amounts of global warming gasses, methane. The future of the USA and even Earth does not look good without some intervention from on HIGH. We need to pray.
When All Are Gone
When all the trees have been cut down,
When all the animals have been hunted,
When all the waters have been polluted,
When all the air is unsafe to breathe,
Only then will you discover you cannot eat money.
—Cree Prophecy
The Hunters
I will confess, I am pro guns. Think about this….
The world’s largest army …. America’s hunters! I had never thought about this…
A blogger added up the deer license sales in just a handful of states and arrived at a striking conclusion. There were over 600,000 hunters a recent season in the state of Wisconsin. I repeat: over 600,000. Over several months, Wisconsin’s hunters became the eighth largest army in the world. More men under arms than in Iran. More than France and Germany combined.
These men deployed to the woods of a single American state, Wisconsin, to hunt with firearms and no one was killed.
That number pales in comparison to the 750,000 who hunted the woods of Pennsylvania and Michigan’s 700,000 hunters, all of whom returned home safely. Toss in a quarter million hunters in West Virginia and it literally establishes the fact that the hunters of those four states alone would comprise the largest army in the world.
And then add in the total number of hunters in the other 46 states. Its millions more.
The point?
America will forever be safe from foreign invasion with that kind of home-grown firepower. Hunting… it’s not just a way to fill the freezer. It’s a matter of national security.
That is why all enemies, foreign and domestic, want to see us disarmed. Food for thought when next we consider gun control.
Overall it’s true, so if we disregard some assumptions that hunters don’t possess the same skills as soldiers, the question would still remain… what army of 2 million would want to face 30, 40, 50 million armed citizens?????
Thank God for the 2nd Amendment.
[Message found on the Internet]
Where does Carbon Dioxide come from?
[From an Internet Posting. Very interesting.]
Ian Rutherford Plimer is an Australian geologist, professor emeritus of earth sciences at the University of Melbourne, professor of mining geology at the University of Adelaide, and the director of multiple mineral exploration and mining companies. He has published 130 scientific papers, six books and edited the Encyclopedia of Geology.
Born: 12 February 1946
Residence: Australia
Nationality: Australian
Fields: Earth Science , Geology, Mining Engineering
Institutions: University of New England, University of Newcastle, University of Melbourne, University of Adelaide
Alma mater: University of New South Wales, Macquarie University
Thesis: “The pipe deposits of tungsten-molybdenum-bismuth in eastern Australia” (1976)
Notable awards: Eureka Prize (1995, 2002), Centenary Medal (2003), Clarke Medal (2004)
Source: Wikipedia
Where Does the Carbon Dioxide Really Come From?
Professor Ian Plimer could not have said it better! If you’ve read his book you will agree; this is a good summary.
PLIMER: “Okay, here’s the bombshell. The volcanic eruption in Iceland. Since its first spewing of volcanic ash has, in just FOUR DAYS, NEGATED EVERY SINGLE EFFORT you have made in the past five years to control CO2 emissions on our planet – all of you.
Of course, you know about this evil carbon dioxide that we are trying to suppress – its that vital chemical compound that every plant requires to live and grow and to synthesize into oxygen for us humans and all animal life.
I know… it’s very disheartening to realize that all of the carbon emission savings you have accomplished while suffering the inconvenience and expense of driving Prius hybrids, buying fabric grocery bags, sitting up till midnight to finish your kids “The Green Revolution” science project, throwing out all of your non-green cleaning supplies, using only two squares of toilet paper, putting a brick in your toilet tank reservoir, selling your SUV and speedboat, getting hit every day on your bicycle, replacing all of your 50 cent light bulbs with $10.00 light bulbs… well, all of those things you have done have all gone down the tubes in just four days.
The volcanic ash emitted into the Earth’s atmosphere in just four days – yes, FOUR DAYS – by that volcano in Iceland which has totally erased every single effort you have made to reduce the evil beast, carbon. And there are around 200 active volcanoes on the planet spewing out this crud at any one time – EVERY DAY.
I don’t really want to rain on your parade too much, but I should mention that when the volcano Mt. Pinatubo erupted in the Philippines in 1991, it spewed out more greenhouse gases into the atmosphere than the entire human race had emitted in all its years on earth.
Yes, folks, Mt. Pinatubo was active for over one year – think about it.
Of course, I shouldn’t spoil this ‘touchy-feely tree-hugging’ moment and mention the effect of solar and cosmic activity and the well-recognized 800-year global heating and cooling cycle, which keeps happening despite our completely insignificant efforts to affect climate change.
And I do wish I had a silver lining to this volcanic ash cloud, but the fact of the matter is that the bush fire season across the western USA and Australia this year alone will negate your efforts to reduce carbon in our world for the next two to three years. And it happens every year. Just remember that your government just tried to impose a whopping carbon tax on you, on the basis of the bogus ‘human-caused’ climate-change scenario.
Hey, isn’t it interesting how they don’t mention ‘Global Warming’ anymore, but just ”Climate Change” – you know why?
It’s because the planet has COOLED by 0.7 degrees in the past century and these global warming bull**** artists got caught with their pants down.
And, just keep in mind that you might yet be stuck with an Emissions Trading Scheme – that whopping new tax – imposed on you that will achieve absolutely nothing except make you poorer.
It won’t stop any volcanoes from erupting, that’s for sure.
But, hey, relax…give the world a hug and have a nice day!