OF COURSE NOT!
Leave it to the Missouri Times to publish a bogus editorial claiming that GBE could be solely responsible for Missouri "avoiding a catastrophic recession."
Hold your nose (and maybe a barf bag) while reading this pack of prevarications. It's GBE spokespuppet Lee Barker, back again to try to convince Missouri how great GBE is going to be. C'mon, Lee, who are you trying to convince? GBE has been bumping around Missouri for at least a decade now. There are no minds left to change. Glossing over the repugnance of the project only serves to set more opposition to the project. Is the purpose of this diatribe an attempt to make the guilty feel better about themselves? I really don't think the guilty care. They know they did wrong, but they did it anyhow because they wanted to please an out-of-state corporation who wants to make a whole bunch of money off the backs of Missouri citizens.
Where to start?
Hold your nose (and maybe a barf bag) while reading this pack of prevarications. It's GBE spokespuppet Lee Barker, back again to try to convince Missouri how great GBE is going to be. C'mon, Lee, who are you trying to convince? GBE has been bumping around Missouri for at least a decade now. There are no minds left to change. Glossing over the repugnance of the project only serves to set more opposition to the project. Is the purpose of this diatribe an attempt to make the guilty feel better about themselves? I really don't think the guilty care. They know they did wrong, but they did it anyhow because they wanted to please an out-of-state corporation who wants to make a whole bunch of money off the backs of Missouri citizens.
Where to start?
The developer of this clean energy infrastructure project has begun sending letters to landowners about the financial compensation they’re entitled to. Soon, rural Missourians will start to receive some of the more than $20 million that this project will pay to landowners over its life.
However, contributing landowners aren’t the only Missourians who stand to benefit from the Grain Belt Express Transmission Line.
Yeah, we know... and landowners simply don't care. The "letters" are going right into the trash. Nobody is going to receive anything because they're not signing easement agreements. Tell me, Lee, how do you know how much GBE is going to pay landowners? Did Invenergy share that information with you? That would be untoward, don't you think? Invenergy hasn't negotiated anything with anyone yet, but yet Lee knows how much this is going to cost the company. $20M divided between 700 landowners -- but Invenergy stands to make billions BILLIONS on this project over its lifetime. Does this seem fair to you? I also noticed that Invenergy is trying to get landowners to select to receive their "compensation" over decades, instead of when their land is taken using eminent domain. Why would anyone do that? There's a whole lot to digest in an Invenergy "letter" and it's best to discuss it with your attorney and tax advisor before taking any action (other than using it for animal bedding).
Lee seems confused about the difference between compensation and benefit. He uses both words. They mean entirely different things. Compensation is something, typically money, awarded to someone as a recompense for loss, injury, or suffering. Compensation is an attempt to make a victim whole. Benefit, on the other hand means an advantage or profit gained from something. The landowners are gaining nothing in this deal. Eminent domain merely requires "just compensation", it doesn't require "benefit." There is no benefit for "contributing landowners." Contributing? Yes, these landowners are contributing a portion of their wealth, peace of mind, and sense of place to a for-profit corporation in Chicago, and they're being forced to do it against their will. I wonder how much of Lee's 401(K) he "contributed" to Invenergy's profits? I'm going out on a limb here to guess none. Lee doesn't contribute anything, but he thinks others should.
Lee seems confused about the difference between compensation and benefit. He uses both words. They mean entirely different things. Compensation is something, typically money, awarded to someone as a recompense for loss, injury, or suffering. Compensation is an attempt to make a victim whole. Benefit, on the other hand means an advantage or profit gained from something. The landowners are gaining nothing in this deal. Eminent domain merely requires "just compensation", it doesn't require "benefit." There is no benefit for "contributing landowners." Contributing? Yes, these landowners are contributing a portion of their wealth, peace of mind, and sense of place to a for-profit corporation in Chicago, and they're being forced to do it against their will. I wonder how much of Lee's 401(K) he "contributed" to Invenergy's profits? I'm going out on a limb here to guess none. Lee doesn't contribute anything, but he thinks others should.
Local energy suppliers will have the opportunity to use the more affordable electricity and pass the savings onto their customers. This will lower utility bills by more than $12 million every single year.
Oh, please. The savings aren't guaranteed and there is no requirement that any municipal utility "pass the savings" onto customers. Your city utility could use the entire savings to host a ritzy shindig celebrating Michael Polsky and you'd get nothing. Or maybe the woke mob can commission a statute to their new leader? Tell me about the savings after they happen. What guarantee is there that Invenergy won't pull out of the MJMEUC contract entirely? Better check that contract again...
The Grain Belt Express will also put a serious dent in the staggering unemployment rate by hiring 1,500 Missourians to work on the transmission line. While most infrastructure projects demand massive tax breaks in return for this level of job creation, the Grain Belt Express hasn’t asked for a single state incentive. In fact, it will inject more than $7 million into local communities through taxes.
1,500 jobs are going to pull Missouri out of a sure recession? Doubtful, even if 1,500 Missourians were offered jobs building the transmission line, which they won't. So far, landowners have seen a handful of land agents from out of state. The highly specialized labor required to build a project like GBE is also going to be imported. Jobs for Missouri aren't a part of GBE.
Of course GBE has asked for a state incentive! It's asked for the solemn power to take private property for its own use in order to make a profit. Much bigger than a minor tax break... and speaking of taxes... really.... $7M? That's chump change! How much will Missouri communities have to spend fixing roadways destroyed during construction?
Of course GBE has asked for a state incentive! It's asked for the solemn power to take private property for its own use in order to make a profit. Much bigger than a minor tax break... and speaking of taxes... really.... $7M? That's chump change! How much will Missouri communities have to spend fixing roadways destroyed during construction?
Economic stimulation on this scale is quite rare, but it should come as no surprise. Under new ownership by U.S.-based Invenergy, the Grain Belt Express has become much more than a means of transferring clean, renewable energy across the state. It also includes a plan to bring broadband internet to communities in need.
Today, over 40 percent of counties in Missouri are without improved health care, education, business, communication, and entertainment because they lack broadband. Grain Belt Express aims to bridge the so-called “digital divide.”
Well, maybe the local communities can use their $7M windfall (spread among 8 counties, mind you) to actually make GBE's broadband accessible? Putting a wire on a pole doesn't create broadband by magic. You make Missouri sound like a straight-up slum, Lee! These poor communities don't have health care, education, businesses, communication or entertainment and only Invenergy can come to their rescue? Pure hogwash!
Hey, maybe you could use your "letter" to wash your hogs, or other fattened pigs wandering around your communities spreading manure?
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