Wind Bag Sen. Glenn Grothman will try to Kill Wind Energy and Job Creation in Wisconsin.

When you consider that fact that some of the biggest wind energy states are solid red politically, it's hard to figure out why Wisconsin Republicans, like Senator Frank Lasee and Glenn Grothman, are so dead set against it and the jobs they'll create.

Sheboygan Press: State Sen. Glenn Grothman said Monday that he plans to introduce a bill in January that would freeze renewable energy requirements for Wisconsin utilities at 2012 levels in an effort to stop wind farm development throughout the state. The announcement comes as a developer is looking to build a wind farm in the West Bend Republican’s senate district in southwestern Sheboygan County … It would consist of four wind turbines that together could generate up to 12 megawatts of electricity, or enough for about 4,000 average residential homes.

Grothman … claims that wind projects have raised electricity costs, lowered property values and may be causing health problems for residents. “Whenever these things go up, it’s the same thing,” Grothman said, “Nobody wants them around.”

Even though Grothman is like a open sore, oozing right wing puss for all the state to see, most Republicans would prefer keeping their starkly backward real agenda secret. Not with media whore Grothman.

Grothman really wants to hold the state back, allowing Wisconsin to fall behind neighboring states who have already embraced the new economy and jobs.   

Wisconsin’s renewable energy requirement requires 10 percent of the state’s energy to come from renewable resources by 2015 … Illinois and Minnesota have the most aggressive renewable standards in the country, requiring 25 percent of all power to come from renewable sources.

Grothman calls Wisconsin’s renewable standard “a mistake” … Freezing renewable requirements at current levels would effectively end green energy development in the state and help keep electricity rates lower, according to Grothman. “I don’t know why we could continue down a path that makes your electricity rates higher.”

True, Grothman has no clue about the ill effects of pollution, the chance to create new jobs and the eventual cost reductions that come with established technologies.

Officials with RENEW Wisconsin said Grothman’s proposal would be “profoundly detrimental” … “It would send a big message to the wind industry that Wisconsin is not open for renewable energy business,” said Michael Vickerman, program and policy director with RENEW Wisconsin. Vickerman also said state health agencies in Massachusetts and Oregon have concluded there’s no evidence that wind turbines cause health problems for residents … Vickerman said that wind energy has had a minimal impact on utility bills.

The Town of Sherman wind farm has drawn opposition … residents formed the local opposition group Sheboygan County Communities for Responsible Energy.

Using “big government” against new business development and job creation, “small government” phony Glenn Grothman proves once again the only part of the party platform that really matters is “power.”   

Grothman has encouraged town officials to impose bonds and fees and stretch out the approval process as long as possible in hopes that the state Legislature revisits rules that govern wind farm development sometime next year, saying there’s a good chance that such efforts could keep the project from moving forward.