Posted on by Californiacontrarian

NIMBY

As I was scrolling through different articles, I came across something which could be a hint of things to come. This piece was about Pontiac, Illinois, a small town of about 11,000 about 60 miles southwest of Chicago. As I am sure that all are aware, Illinois is an extremely blue state, but when the rubber hit the road, the citizens of Pontiac said “No, NIMBY” (Not In My Back Yard) to an immense solar farm in their town.

From CFACT:

“In a stunning setback for solar, the City of Pontiac, Illinois has scuttled plans to construct a solar energy project that would transform a vacant lot in town into a shiny solar desert.

At an emotional Feb. 13 hearing before the City of Pontiac Planning and Zoning Board, city official denied the application of Bundleflower Solar LLC to rezone the property so that as many as 5,568 photovoltaic solar panels could be installed there. A few days later, Bundleflower Solar withdrew its application altogether, putting an end to a project that had garnered fierce opposition from the city’s residents.

To add insult to injury, the owner of the 49-acre property, where the thousands of solar panels were to be installed, changed his mind and came out in opposition to the project.

The dramatic turnaround shows what can happen when citizens are well informed about how harmful solar (and wind) projects are, and then mobilize to stop deep-pocketed renewable-energy developers from ruining their communities.

“Zoning board hearings are usually won by people who show up, and the solar project’s few local supporters were steamrolled by Bundleflower Solar’s well-informed opponents.

Based on information supplied by CFACT, residents pointed out that solar power is intermittent and cannot supply electricity 24/7. They knew that the thousands of solar panels would produce zero power at night, zero power on cloudy and rainy days, and zero power when covered with snow during northern Illinois’s long, cold winters. As a sign of how unserious the project was, the developer didn’t even plan to install backup batteries to provide electricity when the sun was absent. Those batteries, of course, have their own environmental problems and are another reason communities should avoid solar and wind projects that include them.”

When the residents of a small town in a blue state can say NIMBY when they recognize the absurdity of going green as far as their electricity is concerned, I can only view this as a good sign. To me it means, that all of Illinois is not brain dead!

5/23/23

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