facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts Windaction http://www.windaction.org/articles/c43+61?theme=atom Xarayar 2006-06-12T02:16:27Z .38381 2013-05-17T22:41:38Z 2013-05-17T22:41:38Z

After years of complaints about noise and health effects, on May 21, 2013 residents of Falmouth, MA will vote on whether or not to tear down both of the town's wind turbines.

.36941 2013-01-04T17:41:37Z 2013-01-04T17:41:37Z

Rep. Andre Jacque, R-De Pere, called on the PSC to halt wind turbine construction "to keep this nightmare from spreading." Sen. Frank Lasee, R-De Pere, said in a statement the agency should "immediately establish new set-back requirements that protect the health and wellness of Wisconsin residents who are forced to live too close to these 500-foot-tall" industrial wind turbines.

.36503 2012-11-10T12:37:47Z 2012-11-10T12:37:47Z

A recently released study of industrial wind turbines in Northern Maine has found they can cause sleep disturbances that result in physical and mental health issues in humans living as far as 4,500 feet away. The study, published in the September-October issue of Noise and Health, is the first of its kind to be scientifically vetted and approved through the peer-review process.

.36444 2012-11-04T13:50:06Z 2012-11-04T13:50:06Z

"Participants living near industrial wind turbines had worse sleep, as evidenced by significantly greater mean PSQI and ESS scores," the researchers, Michael Nissenbaum, Jeffery Aramini and Chris Hanning, found. "There were clear and significant dose-response relationships, with the effect diminishing with increasing log-distance from turbines."

.35985 2012-09-09T18:50:57Z 2012-09-09T18:50:57Z

A provocative investigation claims thousands of people are falling sick because they live near them. The symptoms they claim to have suffered may vary – including dizziness; increased blood pressure and depression – but the theme remains the same.

.30665 2011-01-06T13:27:52Z 2011-01-06T13:27:52Z

A small group of researchers is looking into whether the symptoms of wind turbine noise could be more physical than mental. Leading this area is Alec Salt, who's been experimenting with the hearing of guinea pigs for about 10 years. The journal Hearing Research in August published Salt's paper showing that the human ear might have more acute sensitivities to low-frequency sound.

.29706 2010-10-30T13:24:10Z 2010-10-30T13:24:10Z

Applicants and regulators should have foreseen the negative noise response from neighbors living near wind turbine sites. By their not adequately understanding the sound character generated by wind turbines, appropriate corrections to prevent annoyance were not included in the noise predictions. Wind turbine noise has a unique and visceral sound character, which may be perceived as being twice as loud as measured.

.28909 2010-08-26T14:00:09Z 2010-08-26T14:00:09Z

As more wind projects are developed closer to communities in densely populated areas, a number of homeowners within close range are complaining about noise. This often raises the question: "When does wind become an unacceptable source of noise pollution?"

.28563 2010-08-01T20:42:30Z 2010-08-01T20:42:30Z

Residents in small towns are fighting proposed projects, raising concerns about threats to birds and big game, as well as about the way the giant towers and their blinking lights spoil some of the West's most alluring views. Here, just west of where the Columbia bends north into Washington, some people are fighting turbines that are already up and running. In a region where people often have to holler to be heard over the roar of the wind across the barren hills, they say it is the windmills that make too much noise.

.28692 2010-07-01T00:00:00Z 2010-07-01T00:00:00Z

Although wind turbines are more often found in Europe than in the United States, they're rapidly becoming more popular here as a "green" energy source. Most people consider that a good thing, except the rotors of wind turbines also generate noise, particularly in the infrasound range, that some people claim makes them feel sick.

.26234 2010-03-01T00:00:00Z 2010-03-01T00:00:00Z

Wind energy is blowing hot right now. Nationwide, wind farms are bringing in renewable energy and jobs, such as in Montana, as detailed in "Propelling Growth." Overall, wind turbines in the United States generated 52 billion kilowatt hours in 2008 ...The number of wind turbines in the U.S. nearly doubled between 2006 and 2008, according to the DOE. But it isn't all good, according to Dr. Nina Pierpont, who has studied families living near wind turbines.

.25531 2010-02-09T06:31:40Z 2010-02-09T06:31:40Z

Despite all the talk of green jobs, the overwhelming majority of stimulus money spent on wind power has gone to foreign companies, according to a new report by the Investigative Reporting Workshop at the American University's School of Communication in Washington, D.C. Nearly $2 billion in money from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act has been spent on wind power.

.25526 2010-01-29T06:47:37Z 2010-01-29T06:47:37Z

In Vinalhaven, a small island community off the coast of central Maine, the recent installation of three massive wind towers was hailed by residents and developers as the answer to the island's energy woes, but as soon as the turbines started turning this past November, some local residents began to regret what they now feel was a "devil's bargain."

.24634 2009-12-16T18:36:36Z 2009-12-16T18:36:36Z

Noise and vibration from giant wind turbines may be annoying but pose no risk to human health, an industry-funded study has found. The study was financed by the Canadian and American wind energy associations ...Critics - who maintain the electricity-generating turbines disrupt the sleep and even the heart rhythms of those who live near them - aren't convinced. They dismiss the study as worthless, industry-financed spin.

.24631 2009-12-16T16:39:00Z 2009-12-16T16:39:00Z

.22468 2009-08-03T13:14:59Z 2009-08-03T13:14:59Z

Dr Nina Pierpoint has warned that living too close to wind turbines can cause heart disease, tinnitus, vertigo, panic attacks, migraines and sleep deprivation in groundbreaking research due to be published later this year. ...To date, the Government and wind companies have denied any health risks associated with powerful noise and vibration produced by wind turbines.

.22428 2009-07-30T18:45:53Z 2009-07-30T18:45:53Z

The statuesque and towering windmill represents one of Barack Obama's grandiose hopes for renewable energy in our future. But windmills also have a troubling feature: They can be bad for your health. Dr. Nina Pierpont has conducted substantial research on what she calls "wind turbine syndrome," the clinical name she has given to the "constellation of symptoms experienced by many (though not all) who live near industrial wind turbines."

.21491 2009-06-08T06:47:00Z 2009-06-08T06:47:00Z

The condition has been given a name: "Wind Turbine Syndrome", coined by Dr. Nina Pierpont, the subject of her recently published 150-page book. Wind Concerns Ontario is a coalition of 32 individual anti-wind citizens' groups that have joined together from across the province of Ontario; they have named Wind Turbine Syndrome as one of their key focus areas.

.21210 2009-05-14T16:32:04Z 2009-05-14T16:32:04Z

To the champions of wind power, the resistance is benighted and intolerable. "In a state that prides itself on its progressive renewable standards," says Eric Callisto, chairperson of Wisconsin's Public Service Commission, "getting our wind resources stymied at the local level is not acceptable." But to wind power critics, those restrictive local ordinances are enlightened and appropriate. Cartoonist Lynda Barry, a fixture in the Reader for years and now a Wisconsin resident, says she used to support wind power but believes its partisans have shut their eyes and ears to its victims, to people suffering physical ailments caused by living near the turbines.

.20845 2009-04-21T19:32:22Z 2009-04-21T19:32:22Z

As wind-power generation has ramped up, so have concerns about the health effects of living near wind farms. Although major environmental groups such as Greenpeace and the National Resources Defense Council have voiced strong support for wind power, opposition from a few grassroots anti-wind power groups potentially could hinder development in populated areas.