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In this week’s issue of the Reader, cartoonist Lynda Barry, who’s a critic of the turbines, and I, an agnostic, examine the dispute over wind farms. Local opposition to wind turbines is so intense in Wisconsin that no new wind park has been approved since March of 2007. The sticking point is setbacks — that is, the distances that turbines are set back from the nearest houses. The wind industry says 1,000 feet is sufficient; local authorities have been demanding setbacks of 1,800 feet to a mile.
Barry wrote me:
And here’s Barry’s Web site, Better Plan, Wisconsin, which has links to videos displaying the sights and sounds caused by turbines. If for some reason you want to watch (or simply listen to) the entire hearing, she’s got the links, and she’s posted the testimony of some of the people who told the joint committee that living near turbines has blighted their lives.
