Iowa is beautiful, but ... (live, moving, deposit)

[hawkeye2009]

Originally Posted by Newsboy

... those giant windmills everywhere are gawd-awful eyesores! What a shameful atrocity! My Iowa friends say they cost more to build and maintain than they return in actual energy, and the only reason they are there is that the property owners get tax breaks for allowing them. What's the opinion of most Iowans?

I like them

[marska]

all I can say is... Coal Mines are soooo much worse...

[Heckler]

Originally Posted by hawkeye2009

I like them

Not really tax breaks but actual rent. Each fan space pays (I've heard) about $4000 a year. They are an awful sight upon on landscape and they are very bad sources of energy. The subsidies go to the builders/owners of the fans. Like ethanol and other "green" energy it is a waste of time and - you ghot it - energy.

[BigRedIdiot]

No wonder the plains states are so windy what with those giant fans constantly turning.

[orthosophy]

I think its windy because illinois sucks and south dakota blows

[Stavemaster]

Originally Posted by orthosophy

I think its windy because illinois sucks and south dakota blows

The version I always heard was "Why do Iowa's trees bend west? Because Nebraska sucks".

[jeffredo]

They have them all over the country. They're on the ridge lines of the hills going into the Bay Area and I think they look kind of cool.

Originally Posted by orthosophy

I think its windy because illinois sucks and south dakota blows

Version I always heard was "Why is Oklahoma so windy?" (Texas sucks/Kansas blows)

[fd-truth]

in iowa, you pay corporations to build them, and then you pay for the electricity they generate (when they're actually working), so you bend over tice every time you turn the lights on

[mofford]

Heard there was plans for a second nuclear plant to be built in Iowa and thats OK but for one problem. They said there would be a projected rate increase of around 10% to cover costs of construction, so I hope they don't build it until it can be done without bumping up rates.

Wind energy is a better way to go, seeing them scattered here and there looks fine to me. A cluster of them by the dozens or hundreds is a bit of an eyesore, but there are many parts of the state that are very low population, with a flat and boring landscape. North central and NW Iowa comes to mind, as well as the southern counties where the farmland is not that productive and farmers could use the extra income. Think it would be better to keep large wind farms away from major roadways and interstates because some people think they spoil the landscape. There's plenty of remote locations in Iowa for wind farms.

[hugepossum]

I am from Iowa and most of it isn't what I would call beautiful. I think the Driftless Area in NE Iowa is pretty awesome and naturally beautiful, along with a handful of other places. Most of the state has been deforested and the unending fields are a testament to the rape of the Earth by humans.

Of course, we do need food to eat as well.

I like the windmills.