David D. Begley
January 2, 2023
I was saddened – but not surprised – to read the January 1, 2023 Midlands Voices piece by Mike Johanns. The former Governor of Nebraska, United States Senator and Secretary of Agriculture hasn’t lived in Nebraska for nearly twenty years. Like so many politicians, he chose to stay in D.C. and peddle influence. The goodwill he earned from Nebraskans is now being put to use in service of Big Wind and Big Solar.
Johanns works at The Center for Infrastructure and Economic Development; a lobbying outfit for solar and wind. The solar and wind industries are where the big money is right now. With the passage of the so-called Inflation Reduction Act, $380 billion in federal tax credits are available to the right people. Federal tax credits reduce a person’s federal tax liability dollar-for-dollar. But the worst of it is that we all pay for a rich person’s reduction of his tax bill with this special legislation. Considering that the U.S. debt is $31 trillion, it is the height of irresponsibility to spend billions more on Keynesian ditch digging and filling schemes.
Former Iowa Governor Terry Branstad works with Mike Johanns. Branstad’s last political job was as U.S. Ambassador to China. While in China, Ambassador Branstad surely learned how Chinese mining and manufacturing are essential to the solar industry. Branstad also knows how Chinese slaves are extensively used by the solar industry. Think about that for a second. In the year 2023, two Americans from historical non-slave states are working to perpetuate slavery in China. Abe Lincoln would spin in his grave if he knew two Republicans were on the wrong side of history and human rights.
On the Center’s webpage, it lists its mission as being to help local communities “stay centered on their core community identities.” If Mike Johanns was still in touch with Nebraska, he would know that after the Saunders County Board approved OPPD’s solar project near Yutan that one of the supervisors was recalled from office. A recall election is rare in Nebraska and it only proved how much the people in Saunders County strongly objected to the solar project.
In my experience in Saunders and Cass counties, Nebraskans do not want industrial solar developments. And they have very good reasons not to. In the first place, property values in the area of the development decline. While a few lucky farm owners get above-market rents, their neighbors all suffer.
But more importantly, Nebraskans intuitively know that wind and solar are unreliable and expensive. We saw forced blackouts in December in Tennessee and the Carolinas because the grid already has too much wind and solar. A winter blackout is a deadly thing and this net zero carbon foolishness is the proximate cause.
The Left and their shills constantly claim that solar and wind are “cost-effective.” That’s demonstrably false. The Minnesota-based Center for the American Experiment has calculated the true cost of net zero carbon for Minnesota and Wisconsin. Electric power rates will triple if the net zero carbon buildout continues in those states. Germany already has electric rates three times as much of the US average and that takes into account that the German government spends 7% of GDP subsidizing electricity.
There is hope to stop this craziness. In 2023, the Cass County Board of Supervisors will be voting on OPPD’s 3,000 acre and 320 MW solar project. The Supervisors are in touch with the voters as they are their friends and neighbors. The Supervisors haven’t received any campaign contributions from Big Wind, Big Solar, Wall Street or the Chinese. Food production is what we do in Nebraska. I’m confident that Nebraska will remain the Cornhusker State and not become the Chinese solar panel state.
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