The May 28 letter to the editor from Leslie Kubinski notes that the proposed Birch Solar Farm will make money for the “London-based company.” True. But don’t forget that it will also allow local landowners to double or triple their income from their land. That’s a good thing.
In addition, revenues to local schools and governments will increase by nearly $3 million a year. For taxpayers, that’s a good thing.
Each year around 22,000 acres in Allen County are used to produce corn for ethanol, not food. That’s a bad thing, if you think farmland should be used exclusively for food. It is even worse when you consider that, annually, an acre of corn ethanol only powers an average internal combustion vehicle for about 9,600 miles. In that same year, that same acre in solar panels would power an average EV for over 710,000 miles. Nothing is perfect, but concerns about “hungry mouths” misses the point that farmers are already farming energy. The solar farm will simply do it 7000% more efficiently, and that’s a good thing.
And it will generate more electricity than used by all the homes in Allen County. Think what that might mean to Ohioans now suffering from power outages and cuts in supply by AEP given the current high demand.
If local landowners did not want this, it could not happen; the “London-based company” doesn’t own the land. This country was founded on the principle that freedom is the ability to make your own decisions about your own economy. Some neighbors and local officials are actively working to take that freedom away, and that’s a bad thing.
Michael Wildermuth
Lima
