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Action Alert: Help stop the all-out assault on clean energy in Ohio

Governor Kasich must use line-item veto to rid Ohio's budget of wind farm set back - that can only happen if we act on it now – call today 614-466-3555 or through email.

http://www.governor.ohio.gov/Contact/ContacttheGovernor.aspx

If you thought SB 310 was bad enough, an amendment that would "effectively kill all wind development in the state of Ohio.", said Dayna Baird of the American Wind Energy Association. And it's is on its way to the Ohio Governor’s Desk by Monday.

  1. SC1265 - Specifies that the minimum setback for a wind turbine to be at least 1,125 feet in horizontal distance from the tip of the turbine's nearest blade at 90 degrees to the property line of the nearest adjacent property.
  2. SC0809 OBM - Removes provisions dealing with prior-year baselines for alternative energy benchmarks.

House Bill 483

  • No public discussion, just quietly added to a giant bill.
  • This isn’t about subsidies or mandates. This is purely the use of government regulation to kill one particular employment sector – a move that no supporter of free markets should applaud.
  • Existing setback requirements have shown they are doing what they are intended to do: lead to safe and relatively unobtrusive wind farms. Larger setbacks are not necessary and are merely an attempt to hinder future wind farm construction.
  • Current setback requirements are a minimum of 110% of total turbine height from roads or non-leased property lines (about 550 feet for current turbine models), and 1125 feet + blade length (about 1300 feet) from residences (they were just expanded to 1125 feet from 750 feet last year).
  • If this new legislation passes and we have to set back 1300 feet from every road or non-participating property line, it is game over. It would mean ONE 80 acre parcel owner now blocks development on 479 acres of their neighbors’ property.
  1. Blue Creek’s 152 turbines would be reduced to 12.
  2. Dog Creek’s approximately 50 turbines would be reduced to 7.
  3. Leipsic’s 75 turbines would be reduced to 3.
  4. We can’t be competitive in Ohio’s energy market by leasing tens of thousands of acres of farmland for just a few turbines.
  • Absent a line-item veto of this provision, just with our two planned developments, Ohio would lose out on $500M in capital investment, $5M in local annual benefits, construction jobs, and, of course, tremendous sources of clean, stable-priced electricity.

Read more about the amendment here. [http://timkovach.com/wp/2014/05/21/ohio-gop-takes-another-front-assault-clean-energy/]

And here. [http://www.cleveland.com/opinion/index.ssf/2014/06/kasich_must_veto_anti-windmill.html]

And here. [http://www.toledoblade.com/Featured-Editorial-Home/2014/06/06/Wind-jammer.html]

 

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