I’ll admit, I didn’t even read the e-mail on this (From Oct. 2023) Admittedly, I was busy being evicted, finding a new place to live, my father was dying, etc, so yeah, not a priority, and it’s from my crazy senator that makes no sense and stuff. But now I’m paying attention because I fact-checked his e-mail about immigration in another diary and I looked back at the other shit he graced my inbox with.
History buff that I am, this is right up my alley and even more so, it’s Idaho history.
Summary of the issue: A company wants to put in a wind farm called Lava Ridge. Check it out, it has a Wikipedia page. en.wikipedia.org/…
So, it says it there pretty much in the first bit on that page, the objection “The project has faced opposition, in part due to turbines and infrastructure potentially being visible from the site of the former Minidoka internment camp.”
(Bolding mine). So I spent way too much time in the minutia of the reports, but the end result I came up with, is they don’t like the ‘height’ of the turbines. Being close to the National site of Minidoka, is completely irrelevant.
I know that the above phrase might be triggering, but yet, you’ve probably never heard of the Goshen wind farm. Or the Wolverine Creek wind farm. No? ‘cause it was built before wind power was bad, and it doesn’t possibly overshadow...wait, I take that back it does. They are on the foothills between Idaho Falls and Pocatello (Actually Blackfoot), but who actually cares? Oh, and there is another big one totally visible from Massacre Rocks State Park — This did not seem to be a problem for visibility when it was created. just in case you need to check your history and why it’s a landmark, here you go, the Wikipedia page: en.wikipedia.org/… Oh darn, you’ve got the Oregon Trail and parts of the California trail; Goodall’s cutoff plays a part, hum, history, yet not a single lick of it is disturbed by wind turbines in the area. But yet we’re supposed to believe that putting in turbines a mile to five miles away from the Minidoka site is somehow different? Why?
My guess on that? Politics have changed; Minidoka is racially charged; it was a ‘concentration camp’ for Japanese Americans on the West Coast back in WWII times. Oh, didn’t know that? There are documentaries on it. But see here is the thing, no one cared until about 10 or so years ago. And it’s just a tool my stupid state uses to keep ‘smart shit’ from coming in, like renewable energy. They don’t actually care, (Jim Risch in particular). Water much? Here, a link, choke on it: www.risch.senate.gov/… The Trump administration (Insert many bad words on this) basically handed what was working over to a bunch of private people who made it not work at all. — totally another diary, digressing.
Back to the focus — Wind power = good. Renewable = Good. That area? If you’ve ever driven through it? Good place for it thus = good. I researched the other projects both already there (within 30 miles) and proposed, there is no objections YET! And the only notable objections are our senators and representatives and ‘many Idahoans’. I wonder if those ‘many’ aren’t their staffers or just something they pulled out of their assess that looked good on paper. Oh, we’ve got fox news chiming in with no sources: www.foxnews.com/…
See, there is this thing called FEDERAL LANDS! They’ve been FEDERAL for over a hundred years easily. They’ve been managed by the FEDERAL government in all that time. Maybe not the best, but really? You think the state of Idaho can do it better? The five mentioned there? That’s all that is behind this, “Uh, Idaho doesn’t want your interference.” Yeah, that’s what they are saying.
The federal government manages 34.5 million acres of land in Idaho, nearly two-thirds of the 53.5 million acres that make up Idaho's land mass. — www.idl.idaho.gov/...'s%20land%20mass.
See, I can pull thousands of bits of proof that ‘pre-trump’ this wasn’t an issue people cared about. That’s how the Goshen wind farm came about, and the one by Massacre Rock, etc. It was good business for the state. But then Trump comes along, he doesn’t like windmills, they cause cancer and kill birds, or whatever. (They don’t on either occasion, but okay). Yeah, building them isn’t all that ‘green,’ but once they are up, they are. I totally looked into what it takes to build a turbine and its return. Wow, something that involves some fossil fuels to get going, but isn’t belching them out 24-7 365 for years? Huh, I like that. It’s above ground, and if it falls over, they are in places they aren’t going to kill anyone, cool. They aren’t destroying the environment like drilling, and taking up non-renewable resources (Gas/Oil) that require huge amounts of infrastructure to refine and make it safe. What is Idaho afraid of? They’re not, they want it, it’s our damned elected officials speaking on behalf of our measly 1.9 million people (as of 2022).
I am dealing with two properties (One is 45 acres mostly farmed) the other is 1.6 acres. Both are and have been flood irrigated from ditches and canals, and have ‘grandfathered water rights’ on them and both pump water from a well. Oh, big push on both to connect into city water/utilities. I did the math on both places (One is family, one is where I currently rent space) Neither gains by being on city water/utilities. First you’ve got to pay to have them connect you to the pipes (16K on one just for the house not the outbuildings, 9K on the other) and we’re responsible for those pipes from the ‘road’ to the house/dwellings. Oh, but it’s 97$ a month for water, but you can only use so much. Both properties use far more than that; better to stick with the well and irrigation out of the ditch. (Way cheaper). That doesn’t include the cost of them digging the damned hole to put in their shitty pipes, that run through trees that you have to pay to cut down and remove or suffer the consequences later. It’s a racquet in forcing these rural properties to be on ‘city water and sewer’. Yeah, it sucks when the power goes out and your pump can’t move the water, that’s where Solar is totally cool. Oh wait, I can’t have a solar farm on private property to service just my stuff? I have to connect it to your grid and pay you for it? F that! — Yes, that is what I’m dealing with amongst a few hundred other stupid things. I want to drop a dead tree? I have to get a permit. I want to dig a hole for whatever reason I have to get a permit. I want to burn a fire that’s a bit more than just some grass in the ditch? Permit. I want to haul off some of that ‘yard waste’ it’s 25$ minimum per truck load to dump it. (It’s by weight). And what do you do with that yard waste? go dig a hole, and bury it. Cover it up for a few years, and keep it off limits. Why can’t I do that on my property? OH! I have to get a permit. Thanks, but no thanks.
I am digressing and done. More tomorrow after I get back from the shitty assed job I could get.