Living in northwest Iowa – which is one of the biggest wind energy producing states in the US! – there has been resistance against wind turbines at the local level for my entire life. It's not at all uncommon to see yard signs with slogans like "Say no to turbines" and "Preserve our scenic countryside"¹.
These have always been present – I remember seeing them even as a kid, but they were just symbolic protest² and you'd only see them out on farms that had turbines in view. What's different now is that you'll see these signs in towns, and the people who have these signs in their yard are also winning county supervisor/councilor seats that they use to regulate wind to death. Temporary "pauses" are put on permit requests that get tabled while they "study" new rules endlessly; road and shadow setbacks are being increased; turbine height caps are introduced at levels that prevent the current machines from being upgraded; noise limits, lighting mandates, even county-wide caps on turbine numbers.
I think the trend is still positive in favor of wind in Iowa, but at the local level, there is a concerted effort to bog it down in red tape and kill it.
¹ Never mind that the scenic countryside is actually just amber waves of industrial corn and hog manure lagoons.
² As much as I can recall, I wasn't exactly in tune with local politics as a child.
These have always been present – I remember seeing them even as a kid, but they were just symbolic protest² and you'd only see them out on farms that had turbines in view. What's different now is that you'll see these signs in towns, and the people who have these signs in their yard are also winning county supervisor/councilor seats that they use to regulate wind to death. Temporary "pauses" are put on permit requests that get tabled while they "study" new rules endlessly; road and shadow setbacks are being increased; turbine height caps are introduced at levels that prevent the current machines from being upgraded; noise limits, lighting mandates, even county-wide caps on turbine numbers.
I think the trend is still positive in favor of wind in Iowa, but at the local level, there is a concerted effort to bog it down in red tape and kill it.
¹ Never mind that the scenic countryside is actually just amber waves of industrial corn and hog manure lagoons.
² As much as I can recall, I wasn't exactly in tune with local politics as a child.