I "feel" the citizens that will end up paying for these solar projects through higher electricity rates, higher food prices and lower property values, should submit a signed letter to the newspaper, displaying the TRUTH about solar.
Here is the post I wrote yesterday.:
Since there is a newspaper article coming out from local business minded property owners, that want to have Commercial Solar Projects installed in Agricultural Land, I thought I would post this simple reply that others may want to elaborate on, add to and sign, so that we can have it published in the local paper next week.
Business Minded Land Owners vs Home Owners
The “land owners” that recently posted a letter in the local newspaper, claim they have rights to do what they want with their land.
They are correct, to a certain degree. But lets examine these facts.
On one side, we have the rights of the land owners that are leasing their land. This is a business and as such, they have one goal in mind and it is all about MONEY, MONEY. MONEY.
However, most of them are not farming their own land. All they are doing is letting other farmers do the planting, fertilizing and harvesting of crops.
But they have the legal right to do that and we as their neighbors (home owners) do not object to that as long as someone keeps the weeds along the roads cut down low enough to not endanger the traffic.
Now that someone is offering the business minded property owners, more money then a farmer can, they are willing to “give up the right” to set foot on their own land for the next 30 years, while some “Company” comes in and unloads an unknown amount of rock, miles of underground wire, posts, glass and “Toxic Chemicals,” instead of FOOD.
Now, lets look at the rights of the home owners.
The business owners don’t seem to care that the components in those solar panels have a history of STARTING Fires, that can not only spread to neighboring homes, or the smoke plums that will contain cancer causing agents and can spread for miles.
But the homeowners have a right to their own safety and representatives from local fire departments have already stated they can not and will not try to stop any fires involving fields of solar panels.
The business minded property owners don’t seem to care that while they are collecting more money for their land, we, the neighboring home owners, will be loosing from 20% up to100% of the value of our properties, depending on how close we are to the solar panels and how many sides we are surrounded on. Plus everyone in the state will have to pay higher electricity rates to help pay for the cost of building these solar projects.
These business minded land owners don’t seem to care about the constant extremely loud banging of metal against metal, 8 to 12 hours a day the local home owners will have to endure as the metal posts get hammered into the ground for months at a time, because most of those business minded land owners do not live on the property they are leasing to the solar developers.
While the business minded land owners brag about the fact they have not SOLD their land, have any of them asked why the Intelligent Business Owners that are developing these solar projects are willing to pay out more money in leases then the land is worth?
Have they ever stopped to consider the wealthy corporate executives that are behind these development MAY have other ideas for the land in the future.
For example we have uncovered documented proof that some solar developers will be legally able to take the land away from the farmers and get out of paying all of the taxes the county expected to receive.
If that happens, not only will the business minded landowners suffer, but everyone in the county will suffer from lost tax revenue and lower home values.
So we home owners, hope many of these business minded land owners have looked beyond the smooth talking developers and bothered to get the advice of an attorney that is experienced in dealing with Solar Developments, before they signed their leases.
We home owners also wonder if anyone has informed the business minded land owners that while the developers may lease and fence in 1200 acres of crop land, they may only pay for the 30% of the land they actually use, amounting to about 400 of those acres.
While the business minded land owners are bragging about how much money they expect to get paid, some of their neighboring home owners have been offered a substantial amount of money to NOT COMPLAIN about having solar panels next door and have decided NOT to take that money, because our children's and grandchildren’s health, safety and future is more important then 30 pieces of silver.