By Senator Tom Brewer
I don’t want to see Nebraska covered in industrial wind turbines and solar panels. They tear apart rural communities. They kill endangered wildlife, and they make terrible neighbors. Worst of all, I think it is foolish to spend billions of barrowed federal tax revenue our children and grandchildren will have to pay back on electricity generators that cannot stand on their own without massive federal subsidies. These systems have two fatal flaws that will never be overcome. They are intermittent generators. They cannot be made reliable because we cannot control when the sun shines or the wind blows. They also cannot be “scaled” to deliver industrial supplies of electricity. Every megawatt of wind or solar generation in Nebraska has to be backed up by a megawatt of traditional generation (coal, natural gas, nuclear). Out-of-state “renewable” companies are only here to harvest the corrupt federal subsidy.
I care about our natural environment. All the things human beings have to do to maintain our modern way of life should be done in the cleanest possible way. Like wind turbine blades, solar panels cannot be recycled. The large solar farm destroyed by hail near Scottsbluff last year is going to end up in a landfill. All of the heavy metals used in these panels will now have rain water slowly leeching these poisons into our drinking water so a renewable energy company can collect federal income tax credits. This is not the future for Nebraska that I want to see.
The tide is slowly turning. People in counties all over the USA are turning against the renewable scam. Earlier this month the County Commissioners of Knox County Nebraska voted 6-1 to deny a conditional use permit for a massive solar facility. It is important to remember that the next President is very likely going to put an end to the corrupt federal renewable subsidies that are bankrupting our country. Without the subsidy, you will never see another one built.
Chapter 23, section 114 of the Nebraska Revised Statues gives county commissioners the unquestionable power to enact zoning ordinances and regulate “structures” built in their county. Not a single renewable company is incorporated in Nebraska. These out-of-state companies are now pressuring County Commissioners in Nebraska because they can see the writing on the wall. They know the end is near for the federal subsidy so they are trying to build as many projects as they can before the music stops and they don’t have a chair.
Some counties are being threatened with lawsuits if the county board doesn’t approve the renewable project in question. The county attorneys across the state need to remember who their client is. Their role is to represent the county commissioners, and be a zealous advocate on behalf of their client. If your county attorney is afraid of a renewable company, and is not supporting and advocating on the behalf of your county commission, I encourage you to contact the judicial branch of our state government. Please call the Council for Discipline, (402) 471-1040, and report the unethical conduct of your county attorney.
Please contact my office with any comments, questions, or concerns. Email me at tbrewer@leg.ne.gov, mail a letter to Sen. Tom Brewer, Room #1423, P.O. Box 94604, Lincoln, NE 68509, or call us at (402) 471-2628.