Op-Ed by Glenneda Zuiderveld
The views and opinions expressed by contributors to True Idaho News do not necessarily reflect those of Shadowtrail Media, LLC, its founders, or owners.
In August 2006, the California State Legislature enacted Assembly Bill 32, a sweeping environmental law that required California to upend its economy to build a green energy utopia. In August of 2015, to assist California’s Democrat leadership in their idealistic folly, President Barack Obama issued an executive order “fast-tracking” green energy projects, regardless of their cost or feasibility.
Years later, it’s now Idaho’s turn to bail out California in its Green New Deal nightmare. The proposed Lava Ridge and Salmon Falls wind projects would upend Idaho’s economy, wreck a culturally significant historic monument, and harm the interests of hardworking men and women across several industries — all in the name of generating power for liberal environmentalists in Malibu and San Francisco.
LS Power, a New York-based energy company, wants to construct 400 wind turbines across 75,000 acres of Idaho public lands. Contrary to local media reports, the energy generated from these turbines will not be for Idaho users but residents in California. That’s right: Our lands and our economy will be made to service California — all because California decided to do away with a sensible energy policy.
It is worth congratulating LS Power. They’ve done the one thing no other issue could: Unite the entire Magic Valley community. From historic preservations to hunters, conservationists, dairymen, cattlemen, water users, and the Southcentral Idaho aerospace industry, this project has generated widespread community opposition.
When I ran for State Senate I promised to do three things: Listen to my constituents; obey the commands of God and my conscience; and ferret out corruption, in all its forms. I’m proud to be standing shoulder-to-shoulder with the hardworking men and women of the Magic Valley who demand that Idaho’s land and resources serve Idaho’s people and economy.
To ensure that your rights are protected, and the federal government hears your opposition, I invite you to file a public comment opposing this project. This is an important and necessary step in the process of ensuring the Lava Ridge Wind Project, despite being fast-tracked for approval, takes account of the various community interests it would harm.
Working together we can ensure that our region has a voice. Working together we can ensure that the resources of our region enrich our people — instead of enriching the far-off whimsies of voters who made their top priority a green energy fantasy.
Glenneda Zuiderveld is an Idaho State Senator from District 24.
The views and opinions expressed by contributors to True Idaho News do not necessarily reflect those of Shadowtrail Media, LLC, its founders, or owners.
