The Rapid City Post is a new newspaper, of all things. I’m pretty sure the HomeSlice Group owns it. They’re a radio (at least) conglomerate that’s based here. They seem fine.
They published an opinion piece with the very long title/headline of Opinion: Choosing Facts Over Fear Ahead of the 2026 Legislative Session.
It’s dreadful, but that’s not the point. The point is that it’s also a pean to the financial wonders of renewable energy. It is presented without counterpoint. It is written by Rodger Horr, the South Dakota Renewable Energy Association Executive Director. I’m entirely confident that he has no axe to grind or conflict of interest. I have no idea if anything in there is untrue, but I’m quite certain that it is extremely biased.
For example, supposedly solar energy benefits farmers. Exactly how that works is not explained, but it certainly doesn’t seem reasonable. A windmill or an oil well on a farmer’s land benefits him from the lease – and takes up very little tillable acreage. A solar farm requires MUCH more land and takes it out of production – and why would anyone lease it (as opposed to buy it)?
Another example (edited for brevity)
…the aftermath of these decisions: … a denial of property rights for farmers and landowners…
How exactly? If a farmer or landowner wants to put up solar panels or a windmill, what’s stopping them? If a farmer or landowner wants the taxpayer to pay for said solar panels or windmill, they are not being denied their rights; they are being denied other people’s money, to which they have no right. I have no idea what he’s talking about, but that is the problem. Simply stating one’s opinion without evidence is meaningless. When one is clearly on a particular side of the argument, “meaningless” turns into “almost certainly misleading”
And of course, it’s for the children. Spare me. Every time a politician invokes schools or children, they should be immediately tarred and feathered. It’s always misdirection.
I feel my trust issues are entirely warranted.
BTW: The TIF vote failed with 66% against. Turnout for an off-schedule, single-issue election was actually pretty good at 22%.
Marked Up 