Industrial Wind’s Assault on Wyoming Ranches and the Fed’s Rate Dilemma

On August 26, 2025, Kim Monson opened with the Colorado special legislative session’s $330 million tax increase before welcoming Wyoming rancher Wendy Volk to discuss a massive industrial wind project threatening her family’s sixth-generation ranch. In the second hour, mortgage specialist Lorne Levy and RE/MAX realtor Karen Levine joined Kim in studio to analyze Federal Reserve policy, housing market dynamics, and the erosion of private property rights under Colorado’s landlord regulations.

Industrial Wind Threatens Wyoming’s Laramie Range

Start listening at 32:53 – Hour 1

Wendy Volk, a Cheyenne realtor married into a fifth-generation Wyoming ranching family, sounds the alarm on the Laramie Range Wind Project. The proposed 56,000-acre industrial wind farm by Repsol would place 170 turbines just 26 miles northwest of Cheyenne, sandwiched between two sections of her family’s ranch. The project threatens one of Wyoming’s most intact wildlife habitats, home to crucial winter range for mule deer and pronghorn.

Wyoming Game and Fish has expressed concern about the impact on raptors, bats, and migratory birds along Horse Creek’s sensitive riparian corridor. Volk detailed how the three-year construction project would increase daily traffic on the two-lane state highway from 2,600 to 3,800 vehicles, including 275 semi trucks hauling turbine components. The company aims to break ground before 2027 to capture federal tax incentives before they expire.

“I do think that, as I mentioned before, renewable energy is going to have a role here in the Rocky Mountain region, but we have to do it responsibly. We need to bring our best and brightest minds and research and data together to do this responsibly so that it’s not at the cost of our wonderful Wyoming and Colorado land, wildlife, and heritage.”

Wendy Volk, Wyoming Rancher and Realtor

Pharmaceutical Industry Accountability

Start listening at 61:35 – Hour 2

Jon Boesen of Boesen Law explains how his firm has pursued pharmaceutical companies for over two decades when they fail to disclose dangerous side effects. The pattern repeats: companies release products, bury concerning test results, profit massively, then face litigation years later when the truth emerges through discovery.

Currently, Boesen Law is pursuing manufacturers of GLP-1 weight loss drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Trulicity. Weekly, new information surfaces about side effects these companies allegedly knew about but failed to disclose. The cases are evolving into the next major mass tort litigation.

“If they know something is bad, if they know something has a potential deadly side effect or a life-threatening or life-altering because of the injuries it can cause, they have an obligation to share that information with the people that they’re selling their product to.”

Jon Boesen, Boesen Law

Federal Reserve Drama and Mortgage Market Realities

Start listening at 59:11 – Hour 2

Mortgage specialist Lorne Levy breaks down the day’s breaking news: President Trump firing Federal Reserve Governor Lisa Cook over alleged mortgage fraud. The firing centers on accusations that Cook claimed two properties as primary residences to secure favorable financing rates, a serious allegation that will likely end up in court immediately.

Levy cautions listeners that even if the Fed cuts rates in September, mortgage rates may not follow. Unlike car loans and credit cards tied to the prime rate, mortgages follow the 10-year Treasury. Cutting rates into a healthy economy with near-full employment could actually spike inflation and push mortgage rates higher, not lower.

“We don’t usually have a Fed that’s cutting rates unless we have something going on, like high unemployment or a sputtering economy that they’re afraid is going to go into a recession.”

Lorne Levy, Polygon Financial Group

Private Property Rights Under Siege

Start listening at 98:03 – Hour 2

RE/MAX realtor Karen Levine warns that Colorado’s landlord regulations are driving investors out of the rental market. When tenants default, property owners now face 90 to 120 days minimum to reclaim their property, all while continuing to make mortgage payments, pay property taxes, and receive no income.

Levine argues government should exit housing policy, pointing to mandates like required solar installations, recycling requirements, and greenhouse roofs in Denver that drive up costs for consumers. The result: people leaving Colorado because housing has become unaffordable, not just from interest rates but from accumulated policy burdens.

“What I get frustrated with is private property rights were torn apart at the state legislation this last year.”

Karen Levine, RE/MAX Alliance