Clinton County Petition |

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Let's Support Property Rights in Clinton County.

If farmers want to lease some land to solar or wind to support their families, that's their choice. Not in My Backyard (NIMBY) activists have no right to take that away.

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We support property rights in our county and the right for farmers and private property landowners to decide for themselves whether to lease part of their land for renewable energy. Farmers and other landowners can decide what’s best for their land. We support their right to decide if renewable energy will help keep their farms viable, support their families and provide economic benefits to their communities.

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Let's Support Property Rights in Buchanan County

If farmers want to lease some land to solar or wind to support their families, that's their choice. NIMBYs have no right taking that away.

Petition Text:

Why Farmers Decide to Lease Land to Wind or Solar Farms

Reliable source of income for decades

Income secure from bad weather or drought. Renewable energy projects paid $73.4 million to Iowa farmers, ranchers and landowners in 2022.

Diversify their income

Today Iowa’s farmers decide to grow crops for a variety of purposes, including corn for ethanol and soybeans for soybean oil, to replace machine grease. Solar or wind farming is another option.

Farmland Preserved

Renewable energy companies must return the land to its original state at the end of the project. Farmland owners can return their land to crop farming after decommissioning if they choose.

Wind and Solar Energy are Delivering Economic Benefits to Iowa Counties – What about Clinton County?

Renewable energy leads to lower electricity costs for Iowans

Counties with wind farms see an increase in income and property values

Iowa’s prices compared to the U.S. average declined as Iowa increased its share of electricity from wind.

Iowa’s electricity price at $0.092 per KWH was 82% of the U.S. average in 2021.

Iowa’s farmers and landowners can expect to earn $86.2 million from wind and solar projects through 2025

That’s $50.3 million related to wind and $35.9 related to solar.

Wind investment and construction supported an average of 8,961 jobs each year in Iowa since 1992.

Total wages were $9.7 billion, and $3.7 billion in self-employment income.

Between 2020 and 2025 solar investment and construction is expected to support 3,238 jobs each year.

Expected Each Year 2020-2025

0 Jobs

Counties with wind experience more growth than counties without wind

From 2010-2021, the tax base in wind counties grew at an annual rate of 4.61%, compared to non-wind counties at a 3.51% rate.

The annual rate of growth in wind counties was 31.1% greater than in non-wind counties.

Greater Annual Growth Rate

0 %

Source: Iowa Conservative Energy Forum

Frequently Asked Questions

Benefit to Farmers

Many farmers who lease a portion of their land to renewable energy companies are provided with financial security. This allows them to continue to farm the rest of their land and keep the land in their families.

Soil preservation

Proper soil management during the project contributes to agricultural sustainability. Farmers can resume planting crops after decommissioning if they choose.

No taxpayer money needed

The construction of wind and solar farms is not funded by the government or taxpayers, but rather private companies making an investment in renewables. No local tax dollars will be used to build these projects.

Solar Panels are Solid

Solar panels are solid and sealed and cannot be penetrated by rainwater. In the same way the screens on the smartphones we carry with us all the time do not leak, solar panels do not leach.

Protecting the land

Solar developers make plans to control erosion and runoff by adding vegetation around the panels, as well as beautify the site with natural buffers. They also set aside money to restore the land to the same or better condition it was in before, after the solar farm lease ends, so farmers can resume crop farming, if they wish.

Wind Turbines and Wildlife

According to the Clean Energy Association: “Wind power is far less harmful to wildlife than traditional energy sources it displaces, including to birds and their critical habitats. Overall, wind causes less than 0.01% of all human-related bird deaths. Other causes include buildings (550 million), power lines (130 million), cars (80 million), pesticide poisoning, (67 million), and radio and cell towers (6.8 million).”

Solar Panel Manufacture

We support increasing the American production of solar panels. Once a panel is in place it produces energy from the sun shining on American soil and does not depend on ongoing and continuous supply of fuel from foreign sources, which is not true of other types of energy. Adding more solar now helps reduce American reliance on continuous imports of foreign energy now, moving us further towards our goal of energy independence.