Kansas State Senator Mike Thompson Disputes Solar Farm Reporting

Sent by way of KICK-ASS TKC TIPSTERS . . . 

We noticed a great deal of JoCo back-channel discussion of recent solar farm debate.

Thankfully . . .

This e-mail blast offers us something more to consider in how "community debates" are reported by way of local media.

Here's a peek . . . 

RE: Residents divided on Johnson County solar farm / tanning salon

Josh Svaty, and his wife, Kimberly, who are mentioned in this article are lobbyists for wind and solar in Topeka. For the SM Post to quote them is like having Dr. Kevorkian provide you with grief counseling.  First of all, the idea that solar power can generate enough energy for all the homes they mention is total fantasy-land. Solar panels have a capacity factor of  only about 10% meaning that they produce about 1/10th of the rated power. So if they say they produce 100 megawatts...they actually only produce about 10. At best, the more expensive panels occasionally hit 20%...but remember...they do nothing in the dark.  Battery storage is another farce. Remember...batteries DO NOT generate electricity!! People tend to think we can rely on battery storage.  Why would we want to...when we can produce all the power we need with other reliable sources and take up a tiny fraction of the land footprint these solar farms engulf.

If Federal subsidies for solar power were not the highest of all sources of electrical generation...by far...the only thing we would use solar power for would be those little cheap calculators we get in the mail as a prize for looking at junk mail.

Mike Thompson
Shawnee, Kansas 

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You decide . . .

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