Tue, Sept 20, 2016

The last time I drove across the Midwest was 1980 as I was headed to Arizona to pile it high and deep.  But drove is misleading as I rode across on my motorcycle.  Remember it like yesterday.

A lot has changed over the years but the scenery is pretty much the same.  Beautiful farms, lots of corn and soybeans and an unending line of semi’s.

And then there are the windmills.  A lot of them.

They’re concentrated in southern MN and Iowa which has me thinking about tax policy.  No way these things get built without tax credits.  And since we didn’t see a single one in Nebraska, I suspect they’re legislature wasn’t biting when the industry came calling.

One thing fortuitous about windmills is that they generate their power during the day when energy demand is highest. Same for solar.

Anyone who’s experienced rolling blackouts will tell you that the more power generated during the day, the better.