Wind Farm Splits Town, Families
I think stories like this are going to become increasingly common.
He knows the futuristic towers are pumping clean electricity into the grid, knows they have been largely embraced by his community.But Yancey hates them.
He hates the sight and he hates the sound. He says they disrupt his sleep, invade his house, his consciousness. He can’t stand the gigantic flickering shadows the blades cast at certain points in the day.
But what this brawny 48-year-old farmer’s son hates most about the windmills is that his father, who owns much of the property, signed a deal with the wind company to allow seven turbines on Yancey land.
“I was sold out by my own father,” he sputters.
Since we’re thinking about moving to a rural area, we’ll have to keep projects like this in mind. I’d rather live near a nuclear power plant than acres of these things.
mhtokay:
wa wa wa… then move. good grief.
17 August 2008, 10:46 amCCobb:
So you would rather possibly look at a horrendous nuclear plan than tall wind powered, energy reducing, power machines? Nuclear power plants have more of an effect on the environment and have the possibility of leaking into underwater sources as well as exploding. Like mhtokay said…MOVE. I’ll be happy to live on that land with 7 turbines. That’s an extra $42,000 in my pocket not to mention if I’m a neighbor…I can get a whopping $1000 just for being near them.
17 August 2008, 11:06 ammgrimas:
What a whiner. My favorite part was how he said his father told him to respect the land. In the grand scheme, there is no greater respect for the land than utilizing a renewable resource. I wonder, had they had struck oil on the land, and the payments were different, if he’d be singing a different tune. I doubt he would be whining about oil derricks on the land.
17 August 2008, 11:07 amMOLS:
Um, WOW! This jack-ass is complaining about the sight and noise. Take a look around you sir. There is way more legitimate drama going on in this world than your issue. Some families, including us are wondering how we are going to feed our family and survive in this broken economy right now & you have the nerve to even consider your situation a huge problem. Get over yourself.
17 August 2008, 11:08 amJeff:
Unbelieveable. My favorite part is when he talks about respecting the land while hosting Snowmobiling and Four-wheeler races on said land.
17 August 2008, 11:26 amPatrick Lewis:
So this guy is complaining about a woosh! sound 14 times a minute. I, and most people in the US, live on a street with traffic. I’d love to just hear a woosh. I did the calculation and that is just shy of one cent per woosh and since he’s got seven of them, it’s actually more like a nickel plus 14 times a minute.
Consider that what he is doing is patriotic and filling his pocket. Since he’s an electrician, he also got a job out of it. I find it interesting that he doesn’t mind having polluting ATV’s and Snowmobiles on this land that he’s learned to respect. Really, it’s unbelievable how short sighted people can be.
Let’s also examine how the dude is 47 and has to bitch about how his dad used the land he’s lived on all his life. Then again, let’s not. It’s depressing and far too easy. We’ve no idea of that family dynamic.
We are all going to have to change our way of thinking if we are going to move forward and not bleed our prosperity to Russia, Saudi Arabia, Venezuela, and other nations who HATE us. Somewhere along the way, we retired the notion of sacrifice for our country and our future. We do lots of things to try to save the family farm. The family farm can try to do it’s part as well.
17 August 2008, 11:49 amElGranJoton:
You’d prefer the nuclear plant? At least you’ll have a nice healthy glow, along with 1000’s of years’ supply of nuclear waste. Good luck with that.
17 August 2008, 11:53 amKhatti:
Maybe upstate New York can still make claims to scenery and rustic traditions; but on the prairie—in southern Minnesota—where I live rural life is about hard, frequently mercenary, choices about financial survival. A few years ago the economic vogue was hog-finishing operations—trust me: by comparison those sleek, white towers are works of art! I ran a grain operation with my father for twenty years and there just isn’t that much romance in rows of corn and soybeans.
17 August 2008, 12:01 pmkbeanz:
It’s not the wind power that’s splitting families. It’s the attitude of those who decide to resent it.
Very few stories make me angry like this. I can almost ALWAYS see both sides of an issue. But not this one. Clean sustainable power for many vs. the selfish wants of a few? Change happens, get with the program.
17 August 2008, 12:05 pmVan:
Wind power is only a small part of the solution. There will always be someone opposed to what ever idea is brought forth. Nothing is free and there has to be give and take.
17 August 2008, 12:06 pmThe most important part is to have all the facts.
But wind power doesn’t solve our dependence on fossil fuels,especially oil. We have the answer to get off fossil fuels oil but there is no discussion. Industrial hemp is the answer to getting off foreign oil, all fossil fuel oil, and it’s cheaper. We would never have to be held captive by the oil barons again. But and it’s a big but, there is no discussion, exept by Ron Paul and Ralph Nader.
Let’s have open discussion on all our alternatives.
Frankie Machine:
“This particular weekend is a busy one for Yancey’s inn, which is hosting a huge watercross event — in which snowmobiles roar across the pond, their speed keeping them from sinking. Campers roll in to watch. There are campfires and barbecues and squealing children darting about. The atmosphere is festive and carefree and very noisy as racers’ engines scream and a helicopter whirs overhead giving 10-minute joyrides for $25.”
Really? We’re supposed to take into consideration the opinion of people who race snowmobiles across water? It’s hard for me to understand the plight of people this stupid.
17 August 2008, 12:08 pmatopia:
This story could easily have been restructured with an overwhelmingly positive tone… its obvious that the community in general has benefitted… why does CNN have to focus on one grump?
17 August 2008, 12:17 pmWhen I lived in Vermont, there were a lot of these debates going on. I try to feel sympathy for the people who complain about windmills, but I just don’t. I think it reflects a classic American attitude… in the same way that we don’t want to pay more taxes in order to have more accessible health care and education, we tend to assume that somehow new energy will happen without us personally having to sacrifice.
In the bigger picture, it doesn’t matter what an individual prefers. Nuclear power plants, windmills, solar power, they’re all going to be part of our reality, and do we not realize that someone is always affected? What about people who live in countries that are war torn because of oil? What about coal? Generating energy takes effort. In order to move a bicycle, you have to pedal it. Everything else is a more complicated version of that basic scenario. Those who don’t want to pedal can stand by and watch and complain all they want.
George:
Ah if only we could have our cake and eat it too!
Aside from the obvious energy crisis backdrop, there is another story here. We as Americans need to adjust our expectations about what we “deserve.” (So sorry to have the windmills interfere with the glider flights.) We are so full of luxuries we have come to beleive they are a part of our rights. Actually, John Yancey’s father is the one who really understands. I would guess that for the bulk of his life, money did not come easily and expensive recreation was not considered his birthright. Of course, the CNN article delivers this point in no subtle way at the end of the story.
We as Americans should ask ourselves, ‘what is it that we collectively and individually contribute to the world, that earns us the standard of living we have come to expect?’
It is a hungry world out there. The political and educational barriers that have existed for years are falling. How are we as Americans going to manage in the world of the future? Are we up to the sacrifices? Are we prepared to compete?
17 August 2008, 1:49 pmScott Kirwin:
American prosperity is not based on the exploitation of another people. In fact the prosperity of the poor and middle class may be due to trade with China, and this trade is what is pulling China out of poverty.
The only wind farm I’ve seen is the one outside Palm Springs. I’d be interested in seeing a modern one, and hearing it for myself. I like big machinery, and even appreciate the sights and sounds of refineries. I might have a problem with them.
17 August 2008, 9:45 pm