01/19/2024
LANDOWNERS SPEAK OUT ON NEW LEGISLATION "Renewable Energy”
“Farming is a tough business. My family has owned the farm since 1880, and we would like to continue to operate it as a farm. Unfortunately, the land lease payments will not be able to cover the taxes and maintenance in the very near future. We signed a wind lease because we believe in renewable energy and that it would be a big boost in income, allowing us to keep the property as a farm.” –Dick Farnsworth, Pine Township, landowner
“As a science educator and a farmer’s wife, I knew that leasing our land for renewable energy would not only allow our family farm to continue for years to come, but also provide a better future for my daughter. Many farmers in my community support wind and solar energy projects for these reasons.” –Ashlyn Newell, Maple Valley Township
“As much as I support local control as a concept, we need to have a fair process where landowners have their rights respected and their opinions heard. That’s why I support this legislation. We need the state to step in and protect the rights of farmers for renewable energy in the same way our rights are protected by the Right to Farm Act. The township can’t ban me from operating a dairy farm; they shouldn’t be able to ban my neighbor from participating in a wind farm either.” –John Black, Winfield Township
“The legislation you’re considering is important for the state’s renewable energy goals, yes, but it is also important to us because it protects our property rights. Farmers should not be told by outside groups what they can and cannot do on their own land. I am for keeping control even more local than the township. Let the local farmer control his or her land without interference.” –Jed Welder, Sidney Township
“I believe that anyone who wants to participate in the responsible siting of solar and wind projects should be able to do so. They shouldn’t be denied that fundamental right because somebody doesn’t like the view, and that’s really what opposition to these projects is about: a change in the view.” –Steven Poulsen, Maple Valley Township
“People in our township were spun into a frenzy because they were lied to by people who didn’t want their view to change. The problem is they don’t own their view. Their view is farmland that families like mine have tended, preserved, and paid taxes on for generations. They should not get to decide what we grow or what we harvest. And that includes harvesting the sun for electricity.” –Clara Ostrander, Milan Township, Monroe County, MI
“For the local zoning process to be effective and fair, it must rely on a reasonable, well thought out, and well written ordinance. Unfortunately, in many communities, including my own, the process has proven anything but fair. Instead, opponents of renewable energy have worked to find the most restrictive and exclusionary ordinances that exist and to copy and paste their provisions and force them into place in our townships. Anything short of an outright ban on wind and solar is not acceptable to them. And if local officials are unwilling to go along with these restrictive and, potentially, illegal ordinances, they are harassed and intimated until they resign or are recalled.” –Don Smucker, Stanton
