Both Duane Arnold Solar and the Coggon Solar farms, combined, would use less than 1% of Linn County farmland. That farmland is voluntarily leased to the projects by farmers, who are best suited to decide what is best for their land and families. 

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. 

As the Sierra Club states: Solar power “has no carbon emissions and NO other harmful toxic emissions, including mercury, lead and cadmium.”

Power from both proposed Linn County solar farms will help power local Linn County residents. Coggon solar farm will flow to the Linn County Rural Electric Cooperative, and power from the Duane Arnold solar farm will serve Alliant customers in Iowa.

At the end of the project the companies must remove all the panels and equipment and return the land to its original state. 

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

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.

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).”

Some opponents of renewable energy use a misrepresentation 2018 Harvard study to make false claims that wind turbines cause warming. The study has been found to have problems with the models and assumptions used. Yet even taking the study at face-value, it merely states that wind turbines move existing warm air around, just like a window fan in your home. And the study itself says: “Wind beats fossil fuels under any reasonable measure of long-term environmental impacts per unit of energy generated.”

In Iowa, wind energy has helped reduce more than 36 million metric tons of CO2 emitted into our air, provide 8,000+ jobs per year on average and millions of dollars of reliable income for our farmers. Learn more facts about the advantages to wind power in Iowa here: https://www.brightfutureiowa.com/wind-power-facts/