Who owns the wind? We do, Wyoming says, and it's taxing those who use it

Los Angeles Times ^ | 14 August 2016 | William Yardley

[Texas Songwriter]

If the wyoming wind crosses the colorado-wyominfg line and causes damage to colorado property is wyoming liable for damages......or if the wind exacerbates a fire does colorado hold wyoming liable?

[AFreeBird]

They must want less wind.

[antidisestablishment]

I can tell you the color of the wind is brown in the Middle East.

[Organic Panic]

PLay the game like the environmentalists. They ALWAYS win. The environmentalists will always find a way and their tolbox of tricks need to be used against them. Some desert rat that ONLY lives in sand dunes down wind of a wind farm will be impacted by a change in wind patterns. Already people are seeing the light in wind farms because of endangered birds getting chopped up.

[az_gila]

Taxing rainwater is very common, especially in urban areas. Its usually termed a ‘storm sewer fee’ or something like that. I’d say around 90 percent of the people who pay this have no idea...its usually an add on to the water bill.

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Yes, but being in the middle of our monsoon season I see that as a fee to create/maintain drainage ditches and clean out the washes for summer storms...:^)

[lacrew]

The fee is usually based on the amount of paved or roofed surface on a property...often calculated precisely for large commercial properties and done by flat rate for small residential lots, based on an average paved/roofed area.

Like many taxes, it makes sense on its face. You pave a car dealership, and the city is going to have to build and maintain a storm sewer to handle the rapid runoff...and why not tax the car dealership more than an owner of a vacant lot.

But also like many taxes, it becomes abused.

1) In order to lure large businesses, part of a city’s incentive package often includes an exemption from this tax, so property owners are not taxed equally at all.

2) The ‘storm water’ fund is often raided to make up for budget shortfalls.

3) The ‘stormwater fund’ is often raided for ‘green’ projects - while you might think you’re paying for ditches and culverts, the city may be paying for ‘bio-swales’ or ‘public education’.

Now, in an interesting wrinkle, cities in Colorado may tax people for rain...but state law says the people don’t own the rain that hits their property - so if you attempt to store rainwater in a tank and use it for irrigation, you’ve stolen that water from the state. Can’t win for losing.

[Ozark Tom]

A California without water will be hard pressed to put the screws to anybody. They should be pondering grid instability with the projected percentage build-out of solar and wind.

[Ozark Tom]

Oregon claims the rain falling from the sky.

[Ozark Tom]

http://yournewswire.com/man-gets-prison-sentence-for-collecting-rainwater-on-his-own-property/

[Ozark Tom]

The Changing Story of Cnut and the Waves.

http://www.medievalists.net/2015/05/24/the-changing-story-of-cnut-and-the-waves/

[Ozark Tom]

The butterfly flapping it’s wings effect comes into play!

[az_gila]

Our little AZ town just has a flat monthly rate for every water user.

[az_gila]

http://yournewswire.com/man-gets-prison-sentence-for-collecting-rainwater-on-his-own-property/

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That’s Oregon....:^)

Even liberal Tucson encourages rainwater harvesting and will give you rebates for your system -

https://www.tucsonaz.gov/water/rwh-rebate

[B4Ranch]

I wondered how many responses I’d have to read before I found someone who read the article. Do people have any idea how stupid they appear when they reply to a headline?

[tbpiper]

The government would also be liable for any damage done by their out of control wind.

[US_MilitaryRules]

Well! All the windmills are white!

[MortMan]

Wouldn’t that make Wyoming liable for any wind-caused damage?

[Eisenhower Republican]

OTOH, I can sympathize with Wyoming. They are dying because of environmental restrictions jammed down everyone’s throat because of the envirofreaks in California

I live in Wyoming. The windmills are an eyesore and have dubious economic value. They create next to nothing in the way of jobs here. The only reason they exist is to satisfy regulations in CA where most of the power generated in Wyoming is sold. I get the feeling people are tired of being treated like a colony by CA. Having come here from CO, I understand.

Also, I think you hinted that WY previously relied heavily on oil revenues and secondary revenues from coal mining to fund their gov't and schools. For obvious reasons, those revenues are way down right now and they're looking for ways to fill holes in the budget.

[American in Israel]

So Texas is now going to sue Wyoming for damages?

[BlueDragon]

I Talk To The Wind King Crimson, from Court Of The Crimson King (released Oct., 1969)

Dailymotion link above -- since it seems like youtube blocks duplication of studio recording versions of this one from Court of the Crimson King allowing other recorded and live performance version only, exampled by; Steve Hackett - Ian McDonald - John Wetton \\ I Talk To The Wind, Ian McDonald being the original flutist.

It's a pleasant composition, was the second track, coming right after the shockingly cacophonous [wiki-link] 21st Century Schizoid Man