Pitchforks, spray paint, and no one will have any electricity.

A friend of mine pointed out something the other day that’s more and more poignant as the days roll by.  In many instances lately, we seem to have a deepening trend of rule by the mob holding sway, as opposed to the rule of law winning the day.

In one case recently, after getting close to the finish line and months of outreach to the involved communities, a wind project was pulled off the docket at the Public Utilities Commission:

One week after a community meeting drew 300 people to the Avon gym and revealed how deeply they were split, the backers of the Prevailing Winds project asked to withdraw their application for a state permit on Aug. 30.

Chris Nelson, chairman of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission, described the request as “unexpected.” The filing came shortly before the commission began its regularly scheduled meeting on Aug. 30.

and…

The project called for constructing up to 100 wind towers north of Avon in Bon Homme and Charles Mix counties. It would have produced an estimated 200 megawatts or more of electricity. State law requires PUC approval for wind project that generate more than 100 megawatts.

and…

“Unfortunately, misinformation has been circulated about the project. Keeping the interests of the community and the project in mind, Prevailing Winds has withdrawn the application to allow Prevailing Winds to better inform the community on the wind project and allow Prevailing Winds to revisit its options regarding the project.”

Read it here.

The withdrawal of the wind farm project came as a surprise, and came about as a mob of people in the area objected to the footprint of the large scale wind project.

Related in this tale are the far more egregious actions of what’s happening in North Dakota right now as mobs are vandalizing equipment and attacking pipeline workers as they attempt to stop a pipeline that’s met all the regulatory burdens… that none of the protesters took part in:

Over the weekend protesters aiming to obstruct the Dakota Access Pipeline staged a violent riot, breaking down a fence and attacking a group of security personnel who used mace and guard dogs to defend themselves.

In the wake of the riot, the tribe sought to explain the violence suggesting it was justified because the pipeline company (according to the protesters, anyway) was destroying historic artifacts

and…

In other words, Archambault’s message is peace, unless the pipeline does something the protesters don’t like.

It’s always a bit chilling when people begin to rationalize violence as a means to their ends.

Read that here at sayanythingblog.com.

Probably the biggest difference between the two projects is that the one opposed by those more conservative protested with words and prepared to take part in hearings. The one opposed by the liberal radicals attacked people and vandalized equipment.

It’s all well and good for those on both the right and left to act to stop energy transmission. But, when it’s all said and done, don’t we need both?

If you want new technologies to supplant existing ones (as in wind to take over from oil), you actually need to develop and expand the use of those technologies, so they can start to decrease in cost, and make their development affordable.

If you want to keep lights on, cars running, farmers farming, homes warm in the winter, and do it all at affordable energy prices, then trespassing violent protests of pipelines that have already completed the regulatory hearing process is just utter lunacy, and an affront to the rule of law.

When you get down to it, it’s in each sides’ vested interest in the battle over new energy versus old energy to support the expansion of the other’s capabilities & research. Their interests are tied together.

Or we could all say forget it. And light our homes with torches that we once carried aloft to the protests.

9 thoughts on “Pitchforks, spray paint, and no one will have any electricity.”

  1. Well said PP. Mob rule seems supported by Obama and Co. One would think once they took power and became the Establishment, they’d see it differently. Alas…

  2. Maybe it’s time to enforce the laws of the good ole USA; I know that’s a novel idea for this administration and these and other violent protesters. And in the case of energy, it seems that many people would prefer we live like the Amish – no electricity, no gas powered vehicles or equipment, just back to the land and mother nature. Personally, I’m sick of these protests. If they turn violent, lock them up and lose the key for awhile!

  3. To be succinct …. These Texans had no permit to move dirt on the land in question, thus the restraining order was issued. When Dakota Access is found guilty of destroying graves and historically vital cultural artifacts in an attempt to eliminate/mitigate evidence set to be used against the pipeline in court the penalties will be severe, maybe even cessation of operations all together. Mr. Powers, what would you do if bulldozers without a valid permit were to charge headlong through a Catholic cemetery where your ancestors were buried? Well, “We The People” stopped them until federal courts could adjudicate, sir.

  4. Views From “We The People’s” Red Warrior Battle Front as preparations are being made to S.A.W. (stay all winter).
    Davidica Littlespottedhorse
    8hrs ago
    ~ Media and local law enforcement are spinning more lies in a desperate attempt to turn the South and North Dakota public against Native water protectors. Really? These two states have hated Natives since before they became states. It’s nothing new to us that these two states have thousands of racist people just loving the chance to spew racist shiz on social media. We Natives know it’s not going to change in the near future. The fact is, we Natives don’t focus on that. We have… more important things to worry about than hate filled posts. The fact is WHEN we win, even sick racist people hating on us(for whatever reason racist people hate us) are going to be able to drink clean water. The children they are raising to be racist towards Natives will be able to drink clean water. The racist community they live in will be able to drink clean water. We aren’t standing up for water because we’re Native. We’re doing it because it’s the right thing to do. In the end contaminated water doesn’t care what race you are. It will poison the racist people hating us just as much as the Natives they are hating on. #waterislife #nodapl #stayfocused #redwarriorcamp #lakotapride

  5. I hear the guy spreading the BS on this is Bill Van Gerpen.

    Embarrassing that Frank Kloucek is more of a Republican than a current “Republican” senator.

  6. What was the Boston Tea Party if not destruction of private property by a mob? It seems to me this country has a long history of mob actions that get stuff done, and it’s not the conservatives who get true change started.

  7. To speak to the wind issue, consider the point of view of those living within sight of the turbines but not gaining any benefit from them, Would you like a wind farm across the street from your house and you receive no compensation for it. Further, our good governor and legislature in the last session enacted laws that would in time take the taxes generated by local wind farms and give them to a pot to be redistributed to other school districts that don’t have wind. So those who don’t put up with the windmills still get to reap the benefits. Doesn’t sound real fair to me.

  8. Roger that bill was the final one in the 2008 session “Centrally Assessing” large projects taxes. I was against it before I was for it but at that time I was just a lowly citizen of NC McPherson Co. adjusting to the new Red Blinking Light skyline of Tatanka Wind Towers East of Long Lake.
    Actually until someone comes up with a light weight power source to propel heavy Ag equipment petroleum is the only fuel with which we can harvest food from the Earth. That said Congress should be considering a “Date” by which all homes must be heated by electricity and work on mainlining wind power into every grid if this Green Energy plan has a prayer of succeeding. Save the Petro for farming folks.

  9. http://www.kfyrtv.com/content/news/ND-State-Historic-Preservation-Office-says-no-historical-sites-found-along-Dakota-Access-Pipeline-route-during-review-392673971.html

    Wednesday, the agency which granted the Dakota Access Pipeline permits says there are no sites along the current route according to their surveys.

    “They identified 509 different cultural resources along the route and, through various means of avoiding them, changing the route slightly or coming up with a mitigation effort, signed off by the SHPO, those issues, all of those resources were addressed,” says Julie Fedorchak Public Service Commissioner.

    So, from I can find is there were over 150 public meetings, over 13 months and no one from any of the tribes come forward to address these sites. It wasn’t until equipment was moving did anyone get upset?

    So public meetings were held, concerns addressed, and permits issued. What is wrong with this process?

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