On oil derricks and windmills

Transitions are hard. When oil derricks first graced the western landscape, towering over homes, these were greeted with mixed emotions, depending on who profited and whose landscape was blighted.

Today we face conflicts as windfarms elicit similar emotions. The “No Wind Farms” signs posted around the Palouse are counterproductive, though. Communities must have a meaningful voice in issues of land use, wildlife impacts, cultural values and aesthetics when a windfarm is proposed, but costly delay only prolongs the inevitable.

There’s a concern that windmills kill birds. The reality is that mode...