facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts Windaction http://www.windaction.org/articles/c108+116?theme=atom Xarayar 2006-06-12T02:16:27Z .21712 2009-06-23T10:55:36Z 2009-06-23T10:55:36Z

A National Park Service official says a wind project proposed for a Skamania County site just outside the Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area would intrude on the experiences of people traveling two national historic trails. Both the Lewis and Clark National Historic Trail and the Oregon Pioneer Historic Trail pass through the Gorge, and both also pass within five miles of where turbines would rise at the Whistling Ridge Wind Project, said Rory D. Westberg, the Park Service's deputy regional director for planning and resource management.

.21327 2009-05-22T13:06:41Z 2009-05-22T13:06:41Z

A potential wind farm envisioned straddling a ridgeline near Larch Mountain in east Clark County has been put on hold. The state Department of Natural Resources, anticipating a boom in wind energy development spilling across the west side of the Cascades, wants more information before it considers leasing western state forests to wind farmers.

.21247 2009-05-17T21:25:42Z 2009-05-17T21:25:42Z

Frustration emerged on the face of Yakama elder Johnson Meninick as he walked along a dirt access road in the Windy Flats wind farm project just south of town. The road, intended to make way for another series of wind turbines in the 88-turbine project, follows a ridge overlooking the Columbia River Gorge and is flanked by dozens of rock cairns -- historical footprints of his ancestors -- and colorful wildflowers and rare medicinal plants.

.17459 2008-08-17T17:38:21Z 2008-08-17T17:38:21Z

Picture 400 super-size windmills spinning in a steady, stiff ocean breeze just beyond the horizon off the Washington coast, generating enough electricity to supply the needs of Seattle and Tacoma. Now picture thousands of similar windmills off California, New England, the mid-Atlantic, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. Even as Congress is embroiled in a sharp debate over whether to allow increased offshore oil and gas drilling, others are seriously working to develop a green source of energy along the outer continental shelf.

.16108 2008-05-30T18:50:48Z 2008-05-30T18:50:48Z

A proposed wind farm development Washington is creating some controversy. While the plan is still in the very early stages, the designers envision placing wind turbines on a ridge near Larch Mountain, east of Battle Ground. ...A proposed wind farm development Washington is creating some controversy. While the plan is still in the very early stages, the designers envision placing wind turbines on a ridge near Larch Mountain, east of Battle Ground.

.12501 2007-11-04T14:48:24Z 2007-11-04T14:48:24Z

The wide open spaces and natural terrain and wildlife of Southeastern Washington are fading, and some residents would like the encroaching effects of urbanization toned down, such as a proposed project that would place 35 to 50 turbines on Rattlesnake Mountain. More than 30 people showed up Saturday at the Richland Community Center for a meeting to oppose a proposed windmill farm at the base of the mountain. ...Rick Leaumont, chairman of the Audubon Society's conservation committee, agreed that urgency in protesting the project is necessary because about 238 bird species have been documented in the area, and would be effected by the windmills. "Wildlife needs some kind of solitude, a place that is theirs," Leaumont said. "Any location on the mountain would be a problem."

.12465 2007-11-01T13:06:09Z 2007-11-01T13:06:09Z

Debate over putting wind turbines on Rattlesnake Mountain appears to be maturing faster than plans for the project itself. ...Guettner said Rattlesnake Mountain may be an ideal spot for wind turbines, but not one the public is likely to accept. "I feel like there's a supermajority of people who feel the way I do," he said. "I think it's time we marshal these people." ...Rick Leaumont, Audubon's conservation committee chairman, said about 238 bird species have been documented in the area. He said they are regularly coming and going to and from the monument, often crossing the mountain. "Any location on the mountain would be a problem," he said. "It's like an airport."

.772 2005-12-03T17:01:20Z 2005-12-03T17:01:20Z

The state Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council has agreed to grant $1.3 million to a trust for the purchase of land near the Wild Horse Wind Power project in Kittitas County. The money would be used to preserve habitat for elk and sage grouse.

.973 2003-12-01T05:00:00Z 2003-12-01T05:00:00Z

This document [DEIS] has not provided any demonstrable public need for the insignificant amount of power this facility is capable of producing. No valid, compelling local (or even statewide) economic reasons were offered to potentially offset the overwhelming negative impacts that will result if built. This DEIS is abundant in quantity, but extremely lacking in quality of scientific analysis and entirely deficient in analysis in certain areas. Various mitigations offered are unacceptable or unworkable. The following are areas of analysis that were either deficient or not performed at all:............

.21745 2009-06-25T22:30:26Z 2009-06-25T22:30:26Z

Tonight the Umatilla County Planning Commission meets to discuss whether to adopt an amendment to the county's comprehensive plan that would ban giant wind turbines. ...The Blue Mountains are a resource shared by folks who live in Southeastern Washington and Northeastern Oregon. Anything that changes that resource is cause for concern, which is why we believe the "No Turbine Zone" amendment is worth considering.

.17709 2008-08-29T04:17:59Z 2008-08-29T04:17:59Z

Wind power has been proposed in letters to the editor as a good option to LNG, but there is no silver bullet solution to our energy needs, as far as I can see. Because wind power depends on the wind, it is an unreliable source of electrical power. Wind power must be backed up by a more reliable conventional power source. That power source is LNG. As wind power develops out, more LNG power plants will be built to back up wind power. Wind power cannot replace LNG; it will, instead, make LNG more necessary.

.14573 2008-03-09T13:58:00Z 2008-03-09T13:58:00Z

It would be a lot easier to choose up sides in the Columbia Gorge wind farm disputes if the capitalists wanted to dig open pit mines or put up oil derricks and extract resources from the land and then truck or pipe them away for decades to come, risking erosion, spills or explosions. If that were the case, it would be easier to spew venom and spread fear about money-grubbing, land-raping operations planned along the border of the nation's first national scenic area. ...[T]he scenic area was created almost 22 years ago, and by now its protection ought to be a sacred duty and universal desire. We should be beyond the point of nibbling around the edges of the law and violating its spirit. Erecting giant towers, seven of which would be partly visible from parts of the gorge floor, seems a violation of that spirit.

.12919 2007-11-18T23:51:13Z 2007-11-18T23:51:13Z

Eight years ago, when my wife and I bought a 28-acre farm on the serene and beautiful Tucannon River near Dayton, we had no idea we were in the crosshairs of wind tower developers. Later, despite being told we would not see the towers, we now look out our dining room window at 43 wind turbines. About 14 miles northeast of Dayton, where Highway 12 crosses the Tucannon River, you start to see the desecration that the wind projects have wrought.