That wind turbine project near where I live that I have been blogging about has just about become a reality. The county board gave the go ahead recently to allow about 40 of them to be constructed in the southwest corner of the county. Two other adjoining counties will apparently allow more in their jurisdictions making more than 100 turbines noisily clicking and clacking away nearby; killing off birds in migratory patterns (including endangered whooping cranes) meaning more carcasses for coyotes, foxes, skunks, and badgers meaning more of those critters around; casting giant shadows over gardens that need sunlight; creating disrupting sun glares with the rising and setting sun; and ruining views of farmland, picturesque barns and silos.

I’m not sure if all that will become a reality … but those are the concerns being raised by, of all people, environmentalists who you’d think would appreciate an alternative source of power rather than denuding the ground for coal, which in turn has to be burned in costly and polluting plants made even more costly if plant owners have to better control emissions.

In fact, the biggest supporters of the project are the labor unions hoping for construction jobs when work starts this spring, and farmers who are going to rent or sell their land to make more money than any garden could produce.

It all goes to show that environmental issues are not at all that clear cut, and it is not easy to label who are the “good guys” or the “bad guys.”