The Amish are a peaceful people. They rarely get involved in worldly things like electric transmission permitting battles. They don't get involved in legal matters, even to protect their own financial interests.
But now Amish communities in three Missouri counties have submitted a petition containing 85 signatures to the Missouri Public Service Commission. A large group of Amish also came out to the first MO PSC public hearing earlier this month, with smaller groups at the following hearings.
According to Jennifer Gatrel of BlockGBE, "They are extremely concerned. They truly believe that power lines are dangerous. Their cousins in Wisconsin suffered tremendously when their dairy cows were negatively impacted. The line would go about a mile from their school. It is truly a matter of religious freedom."
The Amish have an interesting approach to electricity. They refuse to use the public electric grid and instead use limited amounts of electric power generated on-site. The Amish believe that reliance on others to generate and deliver power to them would tie them too closely to the world and symbolize a physical connection to it and reliance upon it.
But, Grain Belt expects the Amish to "do their part" by voluntarily hosting a transmission line they will never find useful, in order to provide for the needs of big cities in other states, who want to make their conscience a little "greener."
But now Amish communities in three Missouri counties have submitted a petition containing 85 signatures to the Missouri Public Service Commission. A large group of Amish also came out to the first MO PSC public hearing earlier this month, with smaller groups at the following hearings.
According to Jennifer Gatrel of BlockGBE, "They are extremely concerned. They truly believe that power lines are dangerous. Their cousins in Wisconsin suffered tremendously when their dairy cows were negatively impacted. The line would go about a mile from their school. It is truly a matter of religious freedom."
The Amish have an interesting approach to electricity. They refuse to use the public electric grid and instead use limited amounts of electric power generated on-site. The Amish believe that reliance on others to generate and deliver power to them would tie them too closely to the world and symbolize a physical connection to it and reliance upon it.
But, Grain Belt expects the Amish to "do their part" by voluntarily hosting a transmission line they will never find useful, in order to provide for the needs of big cities in other states, who want to make their conscience a little "greener."
Can't help but wonder... Were the Amish farms targeted when siting Grain Belt Express due to their presumed unwillingness to fight back? The fact that so many of them have signed the petition is a major break in Amish precedent.
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