http://www.windaction.org/ facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts en-us Windaction hourly 1 http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.windaction.org/articles/18606 Tue, 28 Oct 2008 12:56:37 GMT More than 100 broken windmills dot the landscape in California near Palm Springs as does the growing litter of broken blades. Evidence of leaking fluids, a trash pile of wasted parts, and broken turbines. http://www.windaction.org/articles/18606 http://www.windaction.org/articles/8209 Fri, 02 Mar 2007 12:54:22 GMT Some environmentalists oppose wind farms, such as this one in the Mojave Desert in California, because they consider the projects to be eyesores planted on near-pristine landscapes. http://www.windaction.org/articles/8209 http://www.windaction.org/articles/16044 Wed, 01 Nov 2006 00:00:00 GMT A wind farm towers over residential properties in the desert. http://www.windaction.org/articles/16044 http://www.windaction.org/articles/2628 Fri, 21 Apr 2006 16:39:25 GMT Norbert Woerns recently took this photo of the Mojave Wind installation as he was driving down a freeway in Southern California toward the Joshua Tree National Park. http://www.windaction.org/articles/2628 http://www.windaction.org/articles/12175 Sun, 14 Sep 2003 22:22:09 GMT This image was captured by the Ikonos satellite on September 14, 2003. Turbine access roads branch out from numerous “handles”. The blades of the turbines cast black shadows on the ground. http://www.windaction.org/articles/12175 http://www.windaction.org/articles/24086 Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:54:02 GMT A remote corner of East County is shaping up as a battleground between companies pushing wind farms as clean and cheap power generators and activists who view them as a blight on the landscape. It has put environmentalists in the position of opposing renewable energy because, they say, it's in the wrong place. Drawing the most attention is a plan by the Spanish conglomerate Iberdrola to build about 100 skyscraper-sized towers in and near the McCain Valley, a federal conservation area abutting Anza-Borrego Desert State Park. http://www.windaction.org/articles/24086 http://www.windaction.org/articles/24089 Fri, 13 Nov 2009 19:00:31 GMT The battle over a new wind farm in Tehachapi is now heading to the Kern County Board of Supervisors. Kern County planning commissioners approved the Alta-Oak Creek Mojave wind project late Thursday night after hearing both sides of the debate. After hours of emotional testimony from Tehachapi residents, the planning commissioners approved a 9,000 acre wind farm in the small mountain town. It could be the largest wind energy project in California, but it has Tehachapi residents' heads spinning. http://www.windaction.org/articles/24089 http://www.windaction.org/articles/24092 Wed, 11 Nov 2009 19:14:39 GMT Hundreds of Tehachapi residents are trying to ban a wind farm from blowing into their part of town, but Kern County may not have legal grounds to stop the San Diego company that wants to build it. The nearly 700 Tehachapi residents have signed a petition against giant wind generators, but it's not because they're anti-environment. It's quite the opposite. They just don't want the wind farms blowing in their back yards. "If you picture a football field spinning in the air, that's how big they will be," Kassandra McQuillen explained. http://www.windaction.org/articles/24092 http://www.windaction.org/articles/23674 Sat, 17 Oct 2009 12:32:09 GMT The proposed construction of massive wind and solar energy projects on public land in the California desert would hasten destruction and further fragment land that is home to 17% of state's rarest plants, botanists said Saturday. "Most of the solar and wind projects currently under review are in the wrong places," said Greg Suba, conservation program director for the California Native Plant Society. http://www.windaction.org/articles/23674 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21255 Sat, 16 May 2009 02:39:10 GMT Nearly 350 people attended a meeting Thursday in Cottonwood regarding the Transmission Agency of Northern California's proposal to build 600 miles of power lines across the state. Steve Kerns, a biologist who helps develop environmental impact reports for wildland resource managers, spoke to a gymnasium so full that some were forced to stand or sit on the floor. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21255 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21164 Mon, 11 May 2009 05:22:34 GMT Shasta County residents fighting the power line plan make up just one pocket of resistance. A Yolo County environmental group and the Colusa County Board of Supervisors have expressed concerns about the planning process. Faced with opposition and mountains of questions, the Transmission Agency of Northern California, often referred to as TANC, extended public comment for the project's environmental study until May 31. Some critics suggest a more radical route: Restart the process from scratch. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21164 http://www.windaction.org/articles/21038 Sun, 03 May 2009 13:38:39 GMT LAKE HUGHES - Plans for the installation of 70 wind turbines on a ridge northwest of Lake Hughes and construction of power lines to connect them with an already-controversial proposed power line in Leona Valley have been submitted to Los Angeles County regional planners. But residents of the Lakes communities aren't too happy about it. "We as a community are not getting a lot of oversight protection on these projects," said Jim Walker, president of the Lakes Town Council. http://www.windaction.org/articles/21038 http://www.windaction.org/articles/20812 Sun, 19 Apr 2009 11:54:57 GMT A "wind farm" that would take advantage of the gusts that have been blowing through the Central Coast at 30 to 50 mph is moving right along despite a lawsuit filed against the county's approval of the project. Construction won't begin for at least a year, but in the meantime officials of the developer say they are working to meet all the requirements imposed by the county with the intention of protecting the environment surrounding the "clean energy" project. http://www.windaction.org/articles/20812 http://www.windaction.org/articles/20637 Sun, 05 Apr 2009 23:37:45 GMT Harnessing the sun and the winds will be looked at Monday by the Mohave County Supervisors. The supervisors will look to hold a special workshop in the coming months dealing with renewable energy projects in Mohave County. No workshop has been scheduled, but, upon recommendation of the county planning and zoning board, one is highly likely. http://www.windaction.org/articles/20637 http://www.windaction.org/articles/20457 Tue, 24 Mar 2009 20:10:48 GMT To his chagrin, some of Mr. Myers's fellow environmentalists are helping power companies pinpoint the best sites for solar-power technology. The goal of his former allies is to combat climate change by harnessing the desert's solar-rich terrain, reducing the region's reliance on carbon-emitting fuels. Mr. Myers is indignant. "How can you say you're going to blade off hundreds of thousands of acres of earth to preserve the Earth?" he said. As the Obama administration puts development of geothermal, wind and solar power on a fast track, the environmental movement finds itself torn between fighting climate change and a passion for saving special places. http://www.windaction.org/articles/20457 http://www.windaction.org/articles/20181 Wed, 25 Feb 2009 04:03:44 GMT Miller, who is president of Friends of Big Morongo Canyon Preserve, told the attendees that Los Angeles citizens are opposing the Los Angeles Department of Water and Power's Green Path project, especially as it could be a threat to Joshua Tree National Park. One plan to foil the energy path is to legally declare Big Morongo Canyon Preserve as a protected wilderness attached to Joshua Tree National Park, where no power lines are allowed. That would disrupt the contiguous transmission towers in one Green Path North alternative proposed by the Los Angeles power company. http://www.windaction.org/articles/20181 http://www.windaction.org/articles/19921 Wed, 11 Feb 2009 11:37:33 GMT Santa Barbara County's first renewable wind-energy project, which proponents say could provide enough electricity to serve up to 50,000 homes, was given hands-down approval Tuesday by the county Board of Supervisors. The supervisors agreed that the benefits of having a wind farm southwest of Lompoc far outweighed the unavoidable environmental impacts it will bring. ..."I look at these monsters and I don't like them, but they're part of making wind energy, and I guess they're needed," said 5th District Supervisor Joe Centeno. http://www.windaction.org/articles/19921 http://www.windaction.org/articles/19917 Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:00:00 GMT Should wind turbines hundreds of feet tall -higher than the existing Kumeyaay wind farm turbines- be allowed in the rural McCain Valley/Boulevard region in East County? Does the nation's critical need for "green" energy outweigh the concerns of residents seeking to preserve the rural character of their backcountry communities? With new industrial-scale wind farms proposed across America, East County Magazine's Gayle Early set out on a quest to explore these issues in depth for our three-part series on wind energy. http://www.windaction.org/articles/19917 http://www.windaction.org/articles/19332 Tue, 23 Dec 2008 17:08:23 GMT In March 2007, April Sall, the conservationist overseeing the Pipes Canyon Preserve in the San Bernardino County desert, got a call from an employee at the federal Bureau of Land Management. The caller wondered if Sall knew of a plan to run 85 miles of electrical transmission lines through the Morongo Basin, on the edge of Joshua Tree National Park, and through parts of the 20,000-acre private preserve northeast of Yucca Valley. http://www.windaction.org/articles/19332 http://www.windaction.org/articles/19263 Mon, 22 Dec 2008 14:11:01 GMT The Palm Springs Planning Commission approved about 50 windmills on Wednesday. ...The turbines would be about 3,000 feet from the Mountain Gate housing community and 2,000 feet from where College of the Desert's west valley campus is planned. http://www.windaction.org/articles/19263