---

Dear Editor,
Our state legislators Sen Marklein and Reps. Novak and Trannel recently held listening sessions in the tri county area of southwest Wisconsin. At the Cobb listening session about 30 people spoke against IWT. There were no comments in support of IWT, the worst way to generate electricity.
Industrial wind projects destroy our communities. People do not want to live around them, build new homes, take over family farms and raise their children. This decreases the population and along with it the need for schools, churches,resturants, emergency services, etc.
IWT are dangerous to our health and safety. There has been a rash of wind turbine accidents worldwide. Recently in Dodge County Wisconsin a wind turbine collapsed and left a huge crater and contamination with over 800 gallons of contaminating lubricating fluids. The derelict Wisconsin Public Service Commission and its Wind Siting Committee have not met since 2010 to consider the effects of IWT on our health and safety. Current outdated (over a decade old) siting distances were for turbines one third the size of the ones now being installed west of Montfort!
Tourism will be harmed when the pristine views in our driftless area are violated by these behemoths.
Industrial wind and solar installers worldwide are cancelling or withdrawing from projects because the cost of materials has skyrocketed along with supply chain problems. The companies want our USA government to increase the subsidies (paid for by your tax dollars) to bail them out of financial trouble for these economically unsustainable ITW. One large worldwide installer lost almost one billion dollars in the fourth quarter of 2022.
Because energy production from IWT is unreliable and intermittent, backup conventional electric generation must be maintained at all times.. The little bit of energy produce by IWT may not be enough to cover the expense to maintain this back up! This is a lose, lose situation.
We need to learn from the experiences of the many countries where the renewable push has proven to be a dangerous and dismal failure. In Germany where their IWT have failed, the use of coal to generate power has increased from 6% in 2015 to over one third 36.3% today. Germany imports 40% of its electric power from Poland (coal generated) and France (nuclear generated). In one German state IWTs newly installed in 2021 are being deconstructed to expand a coal mining operation. We need to learn from the mistakes of others and not repeat the same folly.
I ask our legislators Sen. Marklein and Reps. Novak and Trannel to pass legislation to declare an immediate MORATORIUM on all current and future IWT construction. If the governor vetoes it, then that veto can be overridden. We need legislation in print.
I am also calling on our legislators to pass legislation that will DECONSTRUCT all IWT that are now installed and operating in our beautiful state of Wisconsin.
George Schwarzmann
Belmont Township Wisconsin