My Take: Don't lose the point over solar, wind farms fight
In an April 11 letter from Rick Kull, he accused me and area state representatives as being part of a “power grab” for opposing the Democrats’ 100% clean energy mandate that included legislation to strip local control regarding large solar and wind farms.
The entire letter reeked of cow manure. Think of the logical gymnastics necessary for Kull to be disgusted at the “disinformation” while saying the energy mandate “gives local governments” control regarding projects — but conveniently leaving out the main point that locals have control ONLY IF THEY SAY YES.
If the township doesn’t agree that a solar project is good for their community, the new laws enable unelected bureaucrats on the Michigan Public Service Commission to overrule them and allow the project.
The petition Kull hates seeks to allow Michigan voters to decide who should have the final say regarding these projects — a state commission or the locally elected officials. Nothing more; nothing less.
Kull also said the new mandate would bring “additional tax revenue for our communities” and bring “well-paying union jobs.” That’s disinformation at best.
Power plants, like the Monroe Power Plant, are some of the largest taxpayers in Michigan. They provide thousands of good-paying, long-term jobs. As they are forced to shut their doors, workers will lose their jobs and there will be huge tax losses to these local communities. Large solar farms are unlikely to be built in the same communities and even where that does happen, it will not be enough to cover the lost revenue from the current plant.
Democrats knew these mandates would put people out of work and went as far as creating a new state agency to retrain the people who lost their job as plants closed. I ask Mr. Kull this: With this “new training,” will those people have opportunities for the same great union jobs that they were forced out of by these new energy mandates? I wager to say, no, they won’t be anything close to what they had before.
This is a prime example of the government creating a problem, then asking people to be happy they’re “fixing it.”
I personally wish the petition was a referendum on the entire mandate, but at the very least, it’s good for people to weigh in on restoring local control on something that impacts the lives of everyone in our state.
Sen. Joseph Bellino Jr.
Monroe
This article originally appeared on The Holland Sentinel: My Take: Don't lose the point over solar, wind farms fight
