A Portuguese utility is proposing to build 100-tower 300-megawatt wind farm near Martinsdale that will include 330-foot towers and a new transmission line to carry the power to population centers such as Las Vegas, Seattle, Denver.

These towers will forever change the scenic value of the Musselshell River Valley. They will have a devastating effect on land values, adversely affect wildlife, create high noise levels and block the beauty of the night sky with red strobe lights.

Wind power is being "sold" as green power. It is not green power. The United States Department of Energy study completed in 2007 indicates wind farms operate at 21 percent of capacity. That simply means other sources of conventional power, such as coal-fired, nuclear or natural gas, must back up the power generated by these turbines.

Operating at 21 percent is totally inefficient and expensive. How many new coal-fired plants will it take to back up this inefficiency? Wind power is expensive and it will be reflected in higher utility bills.

More pollution, higher utility bills, destruction of a beautiful valley, lower land values, noise and adverse effects on humans and wildlife. What price do we want to pay for a "feel good" nonsolution to the energy crunch?

Will we change from the Big Sky Country to The Big Tower Country just so a foreign utility and a couple landowners can line their pockets?