Gadfly on wind

Recently, TiffinOhio.net posted a story on a hit piece written by a top-level pro-industry group. It attacked a non-politician local citizen for his work in pointing out to our county commissioners the reasons why the proposed wind projects are not a good fit for Seneca County. Somehow the writer of the piece (who is in the Washington, D.C., area) seems to think he knows what is best for our county from a place that is 400 miles away in distance and a million miles away in ideology. When big companies go to D.C. to beg for and/or demand handouts, they hire people like him to help out. That's fine, everybody needs to make a living. But for him to involve himself in our county politics and pretend that it is for the good of our citizens instead of the good of the conglomerates who are paying him is a total scam on us. Shame on our intelligence if we fall for it. Whichever way this wind issue comes down here, let's make sure it is decided by people who live here and will deal with the consequences for the next number of decades. There seems to be a lot of influence coming from outside the county, and the more that it does, the more we should realize this whole thing is for the benefit of them and not for us. There will be some who benefit from money received for hosting a turbine on their property and there will be many who have to live too close or pick up and move against their will. At less than 45 cents per day per person in the county, from taxes and leases and new long term jobs on both projects combined, the money coming in should not be the determining issue. And the interests of those outside the county who will make much more money on the projects should not be the determining issue either. How this will change our county and how we will live with it and with each other afterwards are what is important. Let us not be blinded to that. Socrates called himself a "gadfly," which goaded local government (which he compared to a slow and dimwitted horse) toward proper action. But, even if calling a concerned citizen a gadfly is the author's backhanded way of giving a compliment, his opinions are not needed here unless he intends to move to Seneca County and live under the machines he is promoting. If the turbines are built, there will be homes available with very close-up views which he will surely enjoy. Jim Feasel, rural Tiffin