Can't blame ranchers for wind farm

One of the ugliest, and least productive, solutions to the "clean" energy problem is wind power. You can plaster the planet with wind farms, and they would not be capable of providing the electricity the world's population demands.

Wind farms are inefficient, with a very low return of energy for the dollars invested and the damage to the environment. They are only "clean" in the sense that they don't emit smoke or leave tailings. They kill birds who fly into the blades, are noisy and despoil whatever scenery is around them.

Nonetheless, for ranchers and farmers who live in isolated rural areas, they can be an economic godsend. As long as some "greenies" somewhere are willing to put up the investment capital and pay land rent to them, the state of agriculture today is such that farmers and ranchers have to take the money and run.

The crash in commodities futures prices on the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade, only underscores the risky nature of farming and ranching. In addition to the fickle markets for their products, they still have to deal with the vagaries of weather, drought, weeds and pests--to say nothing of environmentalists. It is a tough way to make a living, and to have a steady source of income from wind power flashed to them looks like the Hope Diamond.

So it is that a group of ranchers in six counties in extreme northeastern Colorado have signed up with a Wind Power outfit for a large generating farm. It is a dank, windy area that is always risky for farming or cattle grazing--who can blame them for cashing in?

We can only hope the environmentalists will look so kindly when a truly efficient and environmentally-friendly solution to the clean energy problem comes forth--when one of these areas wants to host the building of a nuclear power plant. That will be a sight to see!