Debate around projects like the proposed Sloopy Solar Energy Center in Clark County is understandable. People care deeply about protecting farmland and preserving rural character. But alongside those concerns, it’s important to recognize the very real and guaranteed benefits that responsibly built solar projects provide to communities.
Energy prices are at the highest levels they’ve been in years, and we are all feeling that strain on our monthly bills. The fastest and most cost-effective way to add new generation is through utility-scale solar. Projects like Sloopy Solar can be brought online far more quickly than new coal, natural gas, or nuclear facilities, which take years to permit and build. Solar offers a timely solution when relief is urgently needed.
Ohio regularly consumes more electricity than it generates, relying on energy from outside the state’s borders to keep the lights on. In practical terms, the power generated by projects like Sloopy Solar is very unlikely to “leave” Ohio. It’s needed right here to meet demand while improving energy security and reliability for Ohioans.
Through a Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) agreement, Sloopy Solar would also deliver nearly $57 million in guaranteed benefits to Clark County over the life of the project, almost $34 million of that directly to schools.
Developers, including Invenergy, have learned from past projects and build in measures to mitigate construction disruptions. Further, the state imposes requirements and safeguards before a project can be approved. The land itself is leased, not lost. Once the project reaches the end of its life, it can be returned to agricultural use.
We don’t have to choose between farming and solar. We can have both, and in doing so, strengthen schools, ease the burden of high energy costs, and prepare Clark County for a stronger future.
- Shayna Fritz, Executive Director, Ohio Conservative Energy Forum
Credit: NYT
Credit: NYT
Korea celebrated its 75th anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War this year. Did you hear about that? No? That’s because nothing was said on any news outlets. The government especially didn’t say anything about it. That’s what makes the Korean War the “Forgotten War”.
The U.S. Army decided in 1954 to put troops on the ground patrolling the DMZ. Patrols lasted from 1954 to 1991. The Cold War was in place, which inevitably made the DMZ the most dangerous place in the world to do patrols. Hundreds of soldiers were attacked, wounded and traumatized and even killed by North Koreans by doing their duty on the “Z”. Yet we as DMZ veterans did our jobs regardless of the immense danger we encountered.
However, of all the awards and recognition other conflicts evoked through the years, DMZ veterans were never recognized for our bravery under adverse conditions. Therefore, I wanted to get the word out that our government denied the forgotten DMZ warriors our due recognition on receiving Combat patches, Combat Infantry Badges, or hazardous duty pay respectively. U.S. citizens didn’t know about our conflicts with the North Koreans because it was mostly classified. Agent Orange was also being used in Korea during the Vietnam war, and those soldiers are denied help through the VA cause there’s no record of there being any kind of conflict at the time in service.
Congress and Senate are up for voting for military issues, one is the NDAA. We need a push to get recognition on at least receiving combat patches, so please write your congressperson and/or your senator.
- Chandler F. Delametter
If “older drivers” in Ohio need stricter oversight, it is certainly not proven by Ray Marcano’s meaningless collection of statistics in his Aug. 31 column.
For the first eight months of this year, the Ohio State Highway Patrol (OSHP) has recorded 158,062 total vehicle crashes of all types. Drivers over the age of 55 were involved in 55,785 of them (35 percent). What is not recorded is who was at fault.
One measure of fault is the claims records against the policies of insured motorists. According to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, drivers aged 65-69 account for the lowest rates of insurance claims for collision and property damage liability. Although the claims rates increase after age 70, even drivers in the 85+ category have much lower claims rates and are involved in far fewer accidents per 1,000 people than the younger drivers with whom Ray compares them (11.23 crashes per 1,000 people versus 51.23 for the 16-19 year age group).
These data indicate that older drivers as a group are not a driving force (no pun intended) behind vehicle crashes in Ohio. Rather than imposing onerous and unnecessary new requirements on them, it would be better to focus on preventing the harm caused by at-fault drivers of all ages. Last year, the OSHP recorded over 2,000 drug-related crashes, over 8,000 distracted driving crashes, over 10,000 OVI crashes, over 27,000 speed-related crashes, and over 38,000 crashes where a driver failed to yield, including nearly 13,000 crashes where the driver ran a red light or stop sign. This is where stricter enforcement of Ray’s assertion that “driving isn’t a right; it’s a privilege” would make Ohio’s highways safer for everyone.
- Timothy Cook, Centerville
Credit: JIM NOELKER
Credit: JIM NOELKER
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