Sustainability Works in Rural Mid-West Town

Imagine A whole town living off the grid. This is the Sci Fi stuff you see on TV. Maybe an episode from Eureka or something. Think again!
There is a small mid-west town in NW Missouri doing just that. Welcome to Rockport MO. This little town in wired to 4 wind turbines in the area. The excess is sold back to the electric company. No fossil fuels no nuclear waste . . . just wind power. The local farmers get income from the leases and local workers maintaining the towers and turbines make a living in small town America. It is a win-win situation.

Jim Crawford of the University of Missouri extension office says,

“We’re farming the wind, which is something that we have up here,” Crawford said. “The payback on a per-acre basis is generally quite good when compared to a lot of other crops, and it’s as simple as getting a cup of coffee and watching the blades spin…Anybody who is currently using Rock Port utilities can expect no increase in rates for the next 15 to 20 years…”

Take a look for yourself. The title to this post is a link to another article about this phenomena.