Opinions
Durbin has broad definition of 'local'
I was rather amused by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin's Earth Day comments as reported in the Pantagraph regarding the positive "local'' economic impact of the wind farm east of town. Are not the towers designed and built in Germany, most the construction workers who assembled them from outside McLean County, the electricity transmitted to Chicagoland and the power company who owns the operation from Texas - until recently when Horizon Wind Energy was contracted to be sold to a Portuguese utility?
May 9, 2007
by David Abbey
in The Pantagraph
I was rather amused by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin's Earth Day comments as reported in the Pantagraph regarding the positive ``local'' economic impact of the wind farm east of town.
Are not the towers designed and built in Germany, most the construction workers who assembled them from outside McLean County, the electricity transmitted to Chicagoland and the power company who owns the operation from Texas - until recently when Horizon Wind Energy was contracted to be sold to a Portuguese utility?
It seems, as with the meaning of many words, ``local'' may have a different definition in Washington than in Central Illinois.
The senator is correct that some locals are making money out of the project. The folks who allowed the towers on their farms are reported to be receiving the extraordinary income of about $5,000 per year per tower for placement of a windmill which generates electricity worth millions of dollars each year.
Also, as The Merna Tap was overrun by the wind farm construction guys the last time I visited, the local beer business must be good.
David Abbey
St. Pettersburg, Fla.
The writer is a former resident of Cropsey.
Are not the towers designed and built in Germany, most the construction workers who assembled them from outside McLean County, the electricity transmitted to Chicagoland and the power company who owns the operation from Texas - until recently when Horizon Wind Energy was contracted to be sold to a Portuguese utility?
It seems, as with the meaning of many words, ``local'' may have a different definition in Washington than in Central Illinois.
The senator is correct that some locals are making money out of the project. The folks who allowed the towers on their farms are reported to be receiving the extraordinary income of about $5,000 per year per tower for placement of a windmill which generates electricity worth millions of dollars each year.
Also, as The Merna Tap was overrun by the wind farm construction guys the last time I visited, the local beer business must be good.
David Abbey
St. Pettersburg, Fla.
The writer is a former resident of Cropsey.
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