Letters to the editor – Jan. 16, 2025

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Prayer can change the world

 To the Editor:

 In my early career, I was blessed to have good supervisors and managers. They were good mentors and I benefited greatly from their experiences and the knowledge they passed on, as well as their friendship. Years later, when I joined a new company, I found it challenging to deal with a particularly difficult boss. I had to accept his direction as legitimate and suffer in silence but not passively. I sought a higher authority.

 I noticed a nearby church that offered adoration of the Blessed Sacrament during lunchtime on Wednesdays. I decided to use part of my lunch hour each week to pray for my boss. Week after week, month after month I went to the holy hour and prayed for my boss. Frankly, his ways did not improve but after a few months he received a good job in another company and left. I rejoiced and thanked God!

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Continuing my lunchtime prayer habit, I decided to pray for my immediate supervisor, with whom I got along very well. After a few months, he was promoted and I inherited the stapler, his desk and his job title!

I was quite fascinated at how God was bringing about structural changes in our company. What next? I was running out of bosses but there was one left, also a good chap, so I started to pray for him. A few months later, I left! Another opportunity opened up for me overseas.

Really, we have no formula to apply to how God works, especially if we have no fixed agenda in our prayer for others. We simply watch him work things out for us and for those around us.

 We cannot get along with everyone, nor usurp legitimate authority but we can change the world with prayer!

Steve Clark,
Manilla, Philippines

 

Wind and solar decommissioning guidance 

To the Editor:

 As demand for renewable energy generation continues to grow, many local decision makers are responding by creating ordinances that govern how projects will be built, managed and decommissioned.

The Center for Rural Affairs has released a new wind and solar decommissioning resource to its Clean Energy Siting Library, a database intended to assist local zoning officials and decision makers in crafting ordinances.

While most renewable energy projects are expected to have a lifetime between 25-40 years, communities that host projects may have concerns over what happens to the infrastructure at the end of operation.

“As counties look to enact standards for renewable energy, planning for decommissioning is an important component,” said Cora Hoffer, senior policy associate with the Center for Rural Affairs. “Decommissioning plans can help spell out expectations around timelines for decommissioning, identify roles and responsibilities, and include detailed cost estimates.”

Once wind and solar projects reach the end of their operational lifespan, project owners may seek to decommission the system. Several alternatives to decommissioning are available. It is often possible to extend an energy system’s performance period through repowering, refurbishment and reuse.

“These options can offer counties cost savings and ongoing revenue opportunities as well as the benefit of maintaining current land use and utilizing existing infrastructure at the site,” said Hoffer.

The new decommissioning resource aims to be short, digestible, and easy to use. It combines research and recommendations from reports on wind and solar energy guidance that the center published previously.

To read and download a copy of the Center’s “Decommissioning Wind and Solar Energy Systems Fact Sheet,” visit the Clean Energy Siting Library at www.cfra.org/cleanenergysiting.

The Center for Rural Affairs
Lyons, Nebraska

(Editor’s note: The Center for Rural Affairs is a private, nonprofit organization working to strengthen small businesses, family farms and ranches and rural communities.)


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