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.

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!

However Delivered: POISON

Reason had a victory. This past week a US federal court in Arizona banned three weed killers (poisons; biocides) widely used by American agriculture, finding the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency) broke the law in allowing them to be on the market.

Crop spraying


The ruling affects dicamba-based weed killers produced and sold by Bayer, BASF, and Syngenta. Dicamba killers have been blamed for millions of acres of crop damage and harm to endangered species and natural areas across the Midwest and South.

The court concluded the EPA had not followed law in granting approval of dicamba for use on genetically engineered crops, typically GE soy beans and corn, that were resistant to it use, but killed weeds around them. The problem is that dicamba is very volatile! This means it easily goes up into the air and drifts to areas afar causing widespread damage to crops and vegetation not resistant to the pesticide. Result: unintended consequences… death to vegetation, including crops, elsewhere and death to animals and insects (pollinators, for example) dependent on that vegetation.

All of this comes on the heels of massive law suits against Bayer/Monsanto involving the use of Roundup (glyphosate) pesticide. So far those suits have cost Bayer billions in jury verdicts and settlements. The plaintiffs allege Roundup causes non-Hodgkins lymphoma.
And Syngenta is already facing nationwide litigation over its paraquat herbicide which thousands of plaintiffs claim causes Parkinson’s disease.

Apparently enough lessons have yet to be learned following the debacle with DDT. Rachael Carson in her book “Silent Spring” brought that to headlines. Eventually DDT was banned everywhere. I am thinking the whole use of biocides (pesticides, herbicides, insecticides, fungicides, etc) on crops needs to severely restricted. We are in the process of poisoning ourselves and the planet.

Of course, all one has to do is follow the money. The creators of the biocides are the same companies that genetically engineer the crops to resist their effect. This means they sell the biocide resistant seeds to create the resistant crops and then sell the poison to put on it. Pretty good racket if you can get by with it. In the meanwhile, you make people and the planet sick. Ask the bees.

Peoples Osprey

Times change and new opportunities emerge. Substack is new to me, but it sure seems to be a path for me to be able to write what I want when I want. In eons past, I was able to write articles and columns for the Kokomo (IN) Tribune at will. You see, I was part of the family that owned that newspaper. I was either in top management or the CEO/Publisher of this then a 34,000 daily newspaper having about 185 employees and over 300 newspaper carriers. All employees were considered family. Together, we were designated the top newspaper in the USA for penetration (subscribers) of its market for 9 of 10 years running; and second the one odd year. On top of that, we were leaders in new technology in the industry. Times have changed since then…. and not for the good. Many communities now are news deserts without a local newspaper.

I do write a blog and have for many years: kentblacklidge.com. I will continue to post on it, but I have become rather erratic in posting. I know why. I no longer have and have not had the decision authority for decades about what goes into the Kokomo Tribune. Since my family sold the KT, this newspaper has passed through two group owners. It is now owned by a group (CNHI) that editorially is way too far left politically for me. The Managing Editor has published columns I have written from time to time, but I have given up that route. It felt constrained. In recent times, when the KT prints a column with which I disagree strongly, I typically will email the columnist directly. Again, constraint given no one else reads/knows my thoughts and writing directly has resulted in fewer blog posts. Not a good reason, but true.

On a national and state level, I write representatives directly. I intend to continue this but at the same time will post any letters to Substack and my blog. I have things to say even if no one else gives a damn about my opinions.

My interests are wide. I have indicated in Substack I would be particularly interested in politics, government, science, and the environment. These interests are not limited to local issues. They would include local, state, and national matters. And what credentials do I have to write about these areas: four degrees from Purdue University which are a BS Industrial Management, MS Conservation, MS Aquatic toxicology, and a Ph.D. in genetics. Those plus over 20 years in newspaper journalism.

In my opinion, honest and open communications between people is the glue that holds communities and countries together. The major media, print and electronic, in the USA have failed. They largely have become propaganda tools of the political left. It is up to us, individuals, to restore the integrity of news offered to the public. We must. I intend to do my part. The Peoples Osprey on Substack is open.

Kent Blacklidge Ph.D.
(kentblacklidge.com and peoplesosprey.substack.com)

Solar Madness

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.

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

Vital Times

In this time of turmoil, it is sometimes good to write about something positive….. and simple. I have found that subject on the shelf of Kroger’s grocery store in a carton of eggs. Inside the carton with the eggs was a little piece of paper that looks like a miniature newspaper called, “Vital Times”. The headline says, “Friends to Farmers, Help to Hens”.

The article that followed describes Vital Farms. It is a collection of farmers having chickens that produce eggs for market, but with a difference. Rather than stacks of cages and chickens as bioreactors that never see a natural environment, these farmers “give every girl a health, happy outdoor lifestyle and deliver perfectly pasture-raised eggs”.

Vital Times has a farmer support team that meets regularly with their farmers. They check on the ‘girls’ and make sure high standards are being met. They connect with farmers to gather advice and information to help others keep flocks and farms healthy and thriving. In short, they care about animal welfare.

The Mission of Vital Farms is stated as, “Our Mission is to bring ethically produced food to the table by coordinating a collection of family farms to operate with a well-defined set of agriculture practices that accentuates the humane treatment of farm animals as the central tenent.”

Look for the black box with all the writing on it at the store. You will love the eggs, but there is more. They, too, bring butter to the market. Look for it as well. You will not regret it. Feel good about what you eat.

Minks and the Virus

Denmark was the world’s largest supplier of farmed mink. Most was sold to China. It is estimated last year the business generated about $760 million with China being the largest buyer for fur pelts. Now Denmark’s mink industry has been eradicated completely. All mink, up to 17 million of them, have been killed.

Why? Researchers discovered the animals harbored mutations of the novel coronavirus that was now spreading to the human population. Health officials worried about such mutations which could change the gene structure in the virus in ways that could make it less susceptible to vaccines now under development or even cause the virus to become more lethal.

At least 12 Danes are known to be infected with a mutated coronavirus connected to the mink. Health authorities worried that if the problem was not addressed, the mink would build a reservoir of a mutated form that could be passed on to humans; one impervious to a vaccine. This potentially could set off a new wave of infections in Denmark or even the world. The worse-case scenario is that a new pandemic would begin again, starting with Denmark.

Nearby Netherlands has seen coronavirus outbreaks on more than 40 mink farms. The government has caused the culling of 1.5 million animals in that country. The government is bringing forward a ban on mink farming.

The beat goes on. It appears the world has not seen the end of coronavirus infections and death. It may get very worse before better, if ever. The Chinese have unleashed a devil they cannot control. In a larger sense, this is an example of genetic manipulation gone very wrong; or maybe intentionally so.