Gone with the wind

Area lawmakers and government officials are protesing the decision by Gov. Brownback to include most of Cowley County inside a no-wind farm section of the Flint Hills. This ends plans by BP to build a large wind farm in northeast Cowley County.

From the sounds of ithopes of reviving the project are slim to none. BP even says they were folding the project before the wind farm ban, although there's some belief that Brownback worked behind the scenes to prevent anybody from buying the energy it would produce.

After construction, a wind farm wouldn't be a big economic generator for this area, but it does provide carbon free energy and would pump money into county coffers through licensing fees.

We need all the economic development we can get. If Brownback's vision of the Flint Hills becoming a major tourist destination and horseback riding capital of the world comes to past, then perhaps the concern is muted. But I kind of doubt that, too.