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UnderstandSolar is a free service that links you to top-rated solar installers in your region for personalized solar estimates. Tesla now offers price matching, so it\u2019s important to shop for the best quotes.\u00a0Click here to learn more and get your quotes<\/a>. \u2014 *ad<\/em>.<\/p>\n Thompson, who is chair of the utilities committee and compared climate change science to Nazi propaganda<\/a> at the Kansas Independent Oil & Gas Association\u2019s convention in August, has introduced SB 279<\/a>, \u201cEstablishing the wind generation permit and property protection act and imposing certain requirements on the siting of wind turbines.\u201d <\/p>\n The bill would require wind and solar farms to be built on land zoned for industrial use. But here\u2019s the problem with that proposal in Kansas: Half of the state\u2019s 105 counties are unzoned, so clean energy advocates say the bill could effectively bring wind energy growth to a halt. And counties that want clean energy that have chosen not to be zoned would then be forced to be zoned as industrial. <\/p>\n So this bill could have a very negative impact in Kansas, as it ranks No. 2 in the US for wind power. \u201cIn 2020, wind energy accounted for 43% of Kansas\u2019s electricity net generation, which was the second-highest share of wind power for any state after Iowa,\u201d according to the US Energy Information Administration<\/a>.<\/p>\n Kimberly Svaty, a public policy consultant for the Kansas Power Alliance, which represents the state\u2019s clean energy industry, said [via the Kansas City Star<\/a><\/em>]:<\/p>\n It would be sending a message\u2026that, well perhaps Oklahoma, or Missouri, or Nebraska, or Texas, or Iowa would be a better and more stable state in which to invest dollars.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n The Kansas City Star<\/em> adds:<\/p>\n [Wind] is the least expensive energy source in Kansas and has created 22,000 direct and indirect jobs<\/a> in the state, according to an 2020 economic impact report by the Kansas City-based Polsinelli law firm.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n So what\u2019s Thompson\u2019s beef with renewables? He explains it in his own words in an April 2, 2021, opinion piece in the Topeka Capital-Journal<\/em>. You can read his two cents by clicking this link<\/a>, in which he throws everything he\u2019s got at wind power, from rural residents\u2019 rights to turbine blade landfill<\/a>, but here\u2019s an excerpt:<\/p>\n One only needs to take a drive through most of Kansas to understand the excesses caused by an unchecked industry propped up by government. The staggering number of wind turbines (over 40 fields in total) has destroyed much of the beautiful Kansas landscape. Wildlife is being chased away, and birds, bats,\u00a0and even beneficial insects are being wiped out. Stray voltage has negative impacts on dairy cattle.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n Once you cut through all the reasons given for why solar and wind shouldn\u2019t be allowed, it always, always comes down to a couple of things for anti-clean energy folks. One, they have a connection to fossil fuels \u2013 and it\u2019s fossil fuels that are destroying the planet \u2013 or two, they just don\u2019t want to look at them. (Because fossil fuel plants are so picturesque.) In Thompson\u2019s case, it\u2019s all of the above and more. It\u2019s a whole lotta NIMBYism. So we\u2019ll just leave this right here for Senator Thompson:<\/p>\n Read more:<\/strong> Wind is now the largest source of electricity in Iowa and Kansas<\/a><\/p>\n
\nKansas wind sector under threat<\/h2>\n
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Electrek\u2019s Take<\/h2>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/i.redd.it\/34ibe036tsf81.jpg\" "\\"Kansas")