Borders and Power Solutions

This is just me maundering a bit about a topic that came up in convo earlier this evening; the US border with Mexico.
The southern US border is about 1,989 miles long. I don't know how wide it is. That info seems well-buried among other facts and fictions.

But if it's even 100 yards wide on the US side, that's a LOT of undeveloped acreage between cities. Seems to me that empty space could be used in some manner that would make the US some money.

Wind and solar installations require a lot of acreage. Those companies could inexpensively lease border sections and install their generators on that unused land. The power generated could be sold in both the US and in Mexico.

Security wouldn't be an issue in those sectors. The companies would make rounds to check their installations and there'd be camera eyes on their projects at all times. There'd probably even be some live-in guards.
Electricity in Mexico isn't as available, cheap, and dependable as it is here. Mexicans would become happily dependent on quality cross-border US electricity. They'd also rat out any who'd harm that power system in a heartbeat, just as they protect their overloaded (and often illegal) connections in Mexico City and elsewhere.

There could still be a wall eventually, but with so many watchers in so many places, successfully sneaking across the border would likely become a lot more difficult.

I'm sure there are people who'd automatically object to this idea, if only on a 'NIMBY' basis, but unless the objectors can offer truly better and cheaper ways to entice the installation of hordes of border sentries, they really ought to sit down and shut up.

Would the windmills occasionally become targets for idiots with rifles? Sure. Armor the motor housings the way we bathtub-armor the cockpits of A-10 aircraft. No problem.

Would the solar installations also come under fire? Probably, until enough vandals didn't make it home after an attempt. (I'd shoot them just to thin the bad-guy herd a bit, but that's probably not what would actually happen to the ones who surrendered peacefully.)
Chances are that chain gangs would make a comeback in some places. Litter patrols, for miles on end. Shovel brigades. Road crews clearing brush. Those sorts of things.

Anyway... Pres. Trump, congrats on getting that job, even if it is just a thankless temp position.

If you happen to get a copy of this missive, please give it some thought.
You could make the border issue become a fat profit instead of a huge loss.

Regards,
Ed
Ed Howdershelt - Abintra Press
Science Fiction & Semi-Fiction
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