The article begins:  “Quaint little Union, spitting distance from northeast Oregon’s spectacular Eagle Cap Wilderness, hasn’t changed much since horseback desperadoes tried to rob the town bank in 1900.”

Well, that’s all going to end if it’s up to Horizon Wind Energy of Houston, Texas – owned by EDP Renováveis of Portugal, one of the biggest wind energy producers on the planet and, of course the State of Oregon, who has final say in the deal.

Yeah!  Oregon doesn’t trust locals to make decisions for themselves.  Like so many states that don’t mind collecting local taxes, they don’t really believe much in home rule.  You see, the project doesn’t need the city’s or county’s approval. Like all proposed wind farms of 105 megawatts or more, Antelope is being evaluated by the state-level Energy Facility Siting Council.

But back to the greatest potential theft since the other “desperadoes” some 110 years ago, the Portuguese Cowboys from Houston have decided that, “building a wind project across 47,000 acres on the slopes that overlook two sides of town. Plans for the Antelope Ridge Wind Power Project call for 182 turbines, some within 1 1/2 miles of the town center” producing nothing of value would be an excellent way to bilk the US taxpayers out of more subsidies and have the rate payer pick up the tab for the boondoggle.  And, with blades fully upright, towers would be as tall as 520 feet — 24 feet shy of Oregon’s tallest building, the Wells Fargo tower in Portland.  Might be about the same height as the profit dollars to be stacked up in the wind developer’s vault in Portugal if this goes through.

The photo below is the starting point for this misguided adventure that our friends at the Blue Mountain Alliance has vowed to fight.  We support their efforts and will be watching this closely.  You can do so at their web site, linked here for your convenience.

Read the entire informative article from the Oregonian here:  Wind farm faces Oregon fight: Union joins the resistance to turbines