Francis Thicke takes lessons from liars
by Letter to the Editor · July 20, 2010

Evidently news was scarce in West Liberty last week, because the Index was reduced to running political campaign claptrap on its front page. Mr. Thicke, would-be candidate for the office of Iowa Secretary of Agriculture, got to tout his book and share his cockamamie ideas with readers for free.

Mr. Thicke has evidently taken a lessen from the current office-holding liars who subscribe to the theory that lies repeated often enough will eventually be taken as truth by sheeple.

Mr. Thicke, quoting from his forthcoming book says, “Now, 20 percent of our electricity comes from the wind.” Bullpucky!

Http://www.americaspower.org/The-Facts/ states that Iowa got 5.8 percent of its electricity from renewables of all kinds as well as June 2009. Other websites agree. Mr. Thicke’s claim beggars truth.

Having demonstrated the ability to prevaricate, let us examine some more of Mr. Thicke’s bilge.

He wants individual farmers to install windmills and create little profit centers. The payout on those things approaches lifetime if the farmer is young enough. When the inevitable breakdown occurs, the payout term goes infinite.

Mr. Thicke is calling for small-scale biofuel generation. Evidently, he thinks a little still out behind the barn can compete with the likes of ADM. Fantasy! I hope he can explain why numerous small-scale and co-op biofuel producers in Iowa have and are going bankrupt.

Mr. Thicke wants to make biofuels out of switch grass and the like. He says that will, “protect the soil from erosion and nutrient loss.” To state that plant fodder can be reaped and run through a biofuel plant without stripping the land of nutrients bespeaks cluelessness.

Mr. Thicke says that, “agriculture is becoming less and less profitable for farmers.” I’ve been listening to that lament for 70 years. Over that time, I have observed that smart, ambitious, hard working farmers have and are doing quite nicely. They succeed by, among other things, not wasting time and money trying to generate their own power or brew their own fuel. And, they do not lose focus and go organic.

Sincerely,

Willard Salemink

West Branch