URGENT CALL FOR PEOPLE TO ATTEND A PUBLIC HEARING AT THE CAPITOL IN MADISON ON WEDNESDAY MARCH 5TH AT 12:30 PM. It is scheduled for room 330 Southwest, but you may want the ASK AT THE INFORMATION DESK FOR THE HEARING ROOM FOR SB-544.
Please come. Your being there will make all the difference. If this bill passes, your local goverment will lose all power to decide where industrial wind farms can be located in your community and it will give this power to the state.
WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS MINUTE: CALL THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE AND YOUR LEGISLATORS TODAY! (Scroll down for telephone contact information at the end of this post)
THREE SIMPLE PHONE CALL CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE! WHEN YOU CALL:
Tell your senator not to rush to pass SB544 this session.
Tell your representative not to rush pass AB899 this session.
(The two bills are identical, one goes before the senate and one goes before the assembly. Click here to download the bill.)
What's this bill about? What should I say when I call?
Tell them you oppose this bill because
a) It takes away the power of your local goverment to say where industrial wind turbines may be placed in our community and gives it to the state.
b) There are known health and safety concerns with industrial wind turbines and this must not be rushed through at the end of this session. It deserves the time and examination by a bi-partisan legislative council study committee.
Why?
This bill takes away your local government's power to have a say about where industrial wind farms can be placed in your community and hands this power to the state via the Public Service Commission. It means the PSC will decide how close a 40 story tall industrial wind turbine can be placed to your home, and where power lines can go in your community.
It allows the state to go with the unsafe setbacks in the Wisconsin draft wind ordinance which uses a set back of 1000 feet. Scientific and medical studies shows that any setback that is less than half a mile from a residence, at minimum, is unsafe.
Let them know they can access this scientific and medical documentation easily by reading the report by the Town Of Union's Large Wind Turbine Study Committee. (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD IT)
An open records request by the committee has shown there was no scientific or medical data used to determine this setback for Wisconsin. The 1000 foot set back recommendation seems to have come from a power company in Florida.
Tell them there are much better renewable energy options for Wisconsin. Ones that won't require our local government to give up power, won't tear up our farmlands, and won't bring misery to our community.
A phone call is a lot easier than you think! Each office has an assistant ready to take your name and write down your concern! It only takes a moment! The turbines in our community will be here for 30 years. Be brave! Fight for your community! Pick up the phone and call-----
Your Governor:
Jim Doyle
608-266-1212
Click here for Governor Doyle's Online E-Mail Form
YOUR SENATORS:
Townships of: ALBANY, BROOKLYN, DECATUR, MAGNOLIA, UNION:
Senate District 27
Senator Jon Erpenbach
608) 266-6670
Sen.erpenbach@legis.wisconsin.gov (click here to email directly)
Townships of: AVON, BRADFORD, CENTER, CLINTON, HARMONY, JANESVILLE, JOHNSTOWN,LA PRAIRIE, LIMA, MILTON, NEWARK, PLYMOUTH, RICHMOND, ROCK, SPRING VALLEY, WHITEWATER:
Senate District Number 15
Senator Judy Robson
(608) 266-2253
Sen.robson@legis.wisconsin.gov (click here to email directly)
YOUR REPRESENTATIVES:
Townships of: ALBANY, BROOKLYN, DECATUR, MAGNOLIA, UNION:
District Number 80
Representative Brett Davis
(608)266-1192
Rep.davis@legis.wisconsin.gov (click here to email directly)
Townships of: CENTER, FULTON, JANESVILLE, PLYMOUTH, PORTER, ROCK, SPRING VALLEY:
Assembly District 43
Representative Kim Hixson
(608) 266-9650
Rep.Hixson@legis.wisconsin.gov (click here to email directly)
IF YOUR TOWNSHIP ISN'T LISTED:
Please Click Here to find out who your legislators are and how to contact them.
A NOTE FROM THE RESEARCH NERD: Why do setbacks from industrial wind turbines matter?
Two turbines have collapsed in Europe just this week. One threw wreckage in every direction. A farmer who lives near by said: 'I drive my tractor and my wife rides horses out there,' he said. 'Just think if we'd been out there when it happened.' (Click here for source)
(Watch Footage of the recent turbine collapse by clicking here)
Why is wind power's unreliability an issue?
Read about what happened on February 26th to the grid in Texas when the wind fell while energy demand grew. Why is it important? It forced the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc. to declare emergency conditions. (Click here to read the story from the Houston Business Journal)
New to the issue?
Need to know more?
The BPRC Research Nerd recommends these websites :
Industrial Wind Action Group (click here to visit)
National Wind Watch (click here to visit)
Here is are two letters from a BPRC members that lays our position pretty well. Please feel free to use them or quote them.
Letter #1
What happens when the state takes control from local government and electricity becomes more important than the health of our residents?
What happens if bill AB899 passes?
It will take away my local government’s power to have any say about where industrial wind turbines can be placed in my community and hand it to the state via the Public Service Commission.
It will allow the PSC to place a 40 story tall turbine as close as 1000 feet from my home. Scientific and medical studies show they must be sited at least half a mile from a home or they are unsafe. An open records request reveals no scientific or medical data was used to determine Wisconsin’s recommended 1000 foot setback. It seems to come from a power company in Florida.
Laws that change the rest of our lives must not be rushed. Local government must not have its power taken away.
We want renewable energy choices that don’t take power from local governments, or tear up our farmlands or bring misery to our community.
Letter #2
“Local ordinances that restrict wind power could make it harder to reach the goal required by state law, for Wisconsin to generate 10% of it’s power from renewable sources …”, is a misleading statement by members of the state’s Task Force on Global Warming. Wind industry lobbyists, like Michael Vickerman, who sits on the panel, use vagaries, intimidation, and green (or greed) speak to push their business agenda.
Wisconsin’s renewable energy options are rich and varied, and do not require the destruction of rural Wisconsin with unsafe 400 foot tall industrial wind turbines.
Solar energy is a safer and more reliable zero emission technology for Wisconsin. Solar panels are safe, quiet, enhance a home’s property value, and help control energy expenses.
Manure digestion and biogas technologies for our agri-businesses, food industries, and municipal waste and compost facilities capture green house gas emissions, and turn an environmental liability into a new renewable energy resource.
Native Wisconsin prairie grasses, urban and rural waste wood resources can be co-fired with coal, in existing coal fired power plants, to offset 10-20% of that plant’s fossil fuel emissions now! Today!
Local ordinances keep people in rural communities safe. The wind industry cares about money, not human safety. That is why they include no human health and safety research in their state draft model wind ordinance.
Do not pass bill AB899 or SB544 this legislative session. This issue needs more consideration and must not be rushed.
Letter #2