Hello everyone. I would like to inform  everyone about a situation in the state that will have a huge impact on Atchison County and NW Missouri.
There is a small group of people in DeKalb County that don’t like wind farms. They have gotten legislation introduced into the Missouri House of Representatives that would put a moratorium on any new wind development for a year while a study is done. On the surface this doesn’t sound bad, but a moratorium like this would send a message to wind development companies that Missouri is not a safe place to invest their time and money. They will leave and go to states that welcome wind.
The wind industry has brought more economic development to NW Missouri in the last few years than we have ever seen. Jobs have been created, money has been pumped into the community during the construction process, and taxes go to the schools and county. On just the 137 new turbines in the Tarkio school district, $650,000 in new property taxes will come to the district every year without having to raise property taxes. If you have a business, have kids or grandkids in school, or pay taxes this affects you.
On Wednesday, a group of people from Atchison County went to testify before the House Special Committee on Innovation and Technology about this. This is the committee that will make the decision on whether this moves on or not. If it makes it out of committee that will tell wind companies that they are not welcome and they will leave.
There are several new wind farms in development in both Atchison and Nodaway counties. If this goes through, we will miss out on that economic development just because a few people 100 miles away don’t like wind energy.
I’m asking everyone to email the members of the House Special Committee on Innovation and Technology and tell them that wind energy has been good for NW Missouri and that you OPPOSE House Bill 2634, a moratorium on wind development. Just go to the Missouri House of Representatives website and go to committees and you will find all the members’ email addresses. If the citizens of NW Missouri don’t make our voices heard, the other side will. The members of the committee need to be educated that economic development in rural Missouri is a good thing and we don’t need to chase it away.
I received a message from Representative Allen Andrews on Monday and the bill is still moving forward, but the language of a moratorium on wind farms has been removed. It is still important that we are aware of what is happening in Jefferson City.

Thank you
Steve Klute
Atchison County Citizen