If you haven’t visited Stop Black Rock Wind Farm web site, do so. It seems a number of concerned local residents have formed a group with intent to hold a large corporation’s feet to the fire. They will be challenging State and Local Government Agencies to fairly evaluate the project, which is planned for Grant and Mineral counties WV, before giving permission to construct the huge turbines smack dab in the middle of homes and adding to the migratory flyway wind turbine gauntlet. It’s fair to say the task these folks have taken on is a formidable one, but I certainly wish them well.

You see, they are already being labeled “flat-earthers” and “tin foil hat” wearing whiners who can’t see the grand plan. As with other such past projects the political skids are greased. The taxes and jobs playbook is already dusted off and officials are salivating over the benefits. It will be an uphill battle for these folks and they must remember that the name calling usually comes from those with few answers.

A problem this group will face is getting to the bottom of facts, a problem I faced several years ago with the Pinnacle project, located just north of the proposed project in Mineral/Grant Counties, WV.

It can be very confusing and getting folks to answer for their claims is a real uphill battle. I remember back in 2011 after the Pinnacle project was complete, I admitted defeat and took the positive position of utilizing the actual performance of the Pinnacle project to determine if the claims made by the developer/owner/local representatives were achieved. I placed an open letter on this blog and even sent it as a letter to the Editor of the local newspaper. It must have been a lousy idea because no one responded. No one!

But I have high hopes that the assessments of the promises made for Pinnacle’s benefits were ongoing from the start, and tucked away on a thumb drive just waiting for the folks at Stop Black Rock Wind Farm to ask. After all, claims were made by David Friend and hired experts which the Public Service Commission was asked to accept without evidence to confirm. I suspect similar claims will be made regarding the Black Rock project and it would be good to have information to evaluate, now that there is actual local evidence accrued.

I wish these folks well and offer my old writings at this site for their use if found helpful. After stopping at their site and reading up on the Black Rock project, old memories of grand promises and issue sidestepping are coming back. Perhaps I’ll find a couple of other issues to write about. But, it has been a while.

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