To the editor:

Recently, I spent some time in western Kansas and was saddened to see the reaction of the folks out there who were robbed of all the opportunities that would have accompanied the coal-fired power plant. They were deprived of much needed good jobs, affordable electricity and a brighter future for everyone.

Here in eastern Kansas, a few miles from Lawrence, we have a coal-fired plant that safely provides those benefits. And it does so without the horrors that are hysterically predicted by “environmentalists.”

I am equally saddened to see the sorry, unreliable, expensive substitute – a “wind farm” – being installed just west of Salina. A recent full-page ad in the Journal-World dishonestly portrayed children playing under a wind turbine. Fact is, the noise created by these gigantic turbines will make the land uninhabitable for nearly all forms of life, including people and birds. No responsible parent would allow their loved ones to live or play around these monsters.

These giants consume tons of concrete and steel, thousands of acres of land, and are a blight on the beautiful Kansas landscape. And, the net gain in energy, when you factor in the energy required to produce them, is minimal.

The hills west of Salina no longer capture the eye and stimulate the imagination. Instead, I will avert my eyes, put on my ear protection, and drive hurriedly past to minimize the sadness that will inevitably follow. This is a sad time in Kansas.

Tom Bates

Lawrence