Residents of Benson say they are not opposed to having a wind farm in their community but would prefer them to be at least a mile and half outside the village limits. At a meeting of Woodford County's Conservation, Planning and Zoning Committee on Tuesday, a Village Board representative presented a letter asking the county to insert a 1.5-mile setback radius surrounding Benson to the wind farm permit.

The wind farm debate that has raged across America has landed on Chicago's doorstep. Folks in quiet, rural DeKalb County are raising a ruckus at the possibility of 400-foot turbines next to their orchards, honeybees and livestock. About 700 people gathered in a high school gymnasium at 9 a.m. on a recent Saturday for a public hearing on the proposed wind farm. By the time the project developer had fielded every question and concern, it was 4 a.m. Sunday.

DeKalb County Board Member Mike Haines addressed the Genoa City Council last week asking for feedback on two issues: a133-unit windmill operation proposed by NextEra Energy Resources, and a solution to the county's need for more landfill space. ..."All the tough decisions are when there's no right or wrong answer," Haines said. "There will be good people on both sides of the issue."

Beth Einsele of Shabbona doesn't have one nice thing to say about windmill farms. They're dinosaurs, the Realtor said about the rows of typically white whooshing turbines. They're offensive to home buyers. They're dangerous. They don't produce anything. ...Not surprisingly, Einsele is among those opposing a 151 turbine wind farm proposed for ...DeKalb and Lee counties. The project is proposed by Florida Power & Light Energy Illinois Wind LLC.

Bill Durdan has farmed northeast of Grand Ridge for 43 years and often relied on crop dusters. Now, however, he has been told his proximity to wind turbine towers will prevent him from receiving that service. The cost to him could be lost crops and lost revenue, he told the La Salle County Zoning Board of Appeals Tuesday evening. ...Kim Schertz of Hudson, who works in her husband's crop dusting business, said the problem is pilots simply can not safely pull up and make the necessary turns in a wind farm area. "These guys are good, but they're not kamikazes."

A grassroots group has sued to stop development of the Streator Cayuga Ridge South Wind Farm in Livingston County. "We are concerned not only for our interests, but we are concerned with the interest of safety and health of the county's population," said one of the plaintiffs, Cheryl Tate of Blackstone. People Protecting Cayuga Ridge and 12 individuals are listed on the lawsuit aimed at preventing construction of a $1.5 billion, 155-turbine project spread across 15,000 acres between the communities of Odell and Emington.

Cheryl Wagner, a URW member and a vocal opponent throughout the process, says she can only speak in general terms. Wagner said a proposal was given to Horizon, which the energy company is currently reviewing. The proposal was drawn up by Porter and agreed upon by URW. Neither Wagner nor Porter would disclose what was in the proposal, but an appeal may hinge upon whether or not it is accepted. "Horizon said they really want to do this (project)," said Wagner. "But, they're not willing to give a property value guarantee."

A dozen people voiced objections to a proposed wind farm Wednesday, including a Delavan man who says his house will be surrounded by 15 wind towers if the project is approved. "I can look out of every window in my home and see a wind tower," said Rod Egli of the Rail Splitter Wind Farm proposed by Houston-based Horizon Wind Energy LLC. "This will definitely light my backyard up with flashing red lights," he said, adding that three of the towers would be placed about 2,500 feet away from his house. Egli was one of 12 people, mostly from Delavan, who spoke out against the wind farm during a Tazewell County Zoning Board of Appeals meeting Wednesday night.

"It just seems like this is a perfect place for a wind farm, in big, open spaces," Town of Chilton resident Sandy Popp said. "In this project, there aren't many nonparticipating land owners, and I think that makes a huge difference. In our county, there will be hundreds of people who will not be participating who will be relatively close."

There is no mistaking where Bill Welty stands - the signs at the end of his driveway say it all - "No Wind Farms." The placards at the edge of Welty's Chana Road property, just south of state Route 64 in rural Ogle County, also feature a turbine circled in red, a line slashing through the middle. When he and his wife, Judy, moved from suburban Chicago three years ago to retire on Judy's parents' family farm, they came to enjoy their 230 acres of unspoiled prairie landscape. Now, with two separate wind-energy companies eyeing the county's rolling ridge lines, they face the prospect of 50 to 100 wind towers sprouting up all around them - ugly, noisy, bad-for-your health wind towers, Welty says.

Michael Miller used his actuarial skills to criticize the math behind a favorable report on the White Oak Wind Energy Center near Carlock, and Bob Burger tried to show how the proposed development would “engulf” his view. Miller, a former Carlock mayor, called the 100-turbine wind farm proposed by Chicago-based Invenergy Wind LLC a “mistake for Carlock’s future.” He and Burger were the first objectors called Monday during the McLean County Zoning Board of Appeals hearing on the proposal. The hearing on Invenergy’s request for a special-use permit that would allow for the turbines in McLean County began Jan. 17 and is expected to continue at 6 p.m. today at the Government Center, 115 E. Washington St. “I do not find anything attractive about a 400-foot-tall forest of power plants,” Burger said.

Tom Hewson takes a very comprehensive look at the development issues associated with the proposed Baileyville Wind Farm in Illinois.

The recent acknowledgment by the National Geographic Society that the Berkshires are one of the earth's 10 greatest tourist destinations (Berkshire Eagle Nov. 19) is a significant distinction. It highlights that our primary attraction is an intact natural landscape. ...Today the commonwealth's secretary of energy and environmental affairs has authored proposed legislation which has the potential of seeing over 700 wind turbines built on the Berkshire's commanding ridgelines.

Research indicates the best site for a wind turbine to be a windy spot in the middle of nowhere. Winnebago County is in no such location, nor is the name of my hometown Middle-of-Nowhere, Illinois! If an ordinance is to be written, and I acknowledge that this is necessary, let that ordinance be an innovative and original document. As is now presented, this ordinance is a cookie-cutter document provided by Navitas for the specific purpose of advancing that company's goals.

Should the wind-farms get built, the residential development potential on the land surrounding it, will be destroyed, and its "development premium" will disappear. This is because, no one in their right mind, would invest a quarter of a million dollars to build a residence, on land which is engulfed by 40 story towers, when they could just as easily go elsewhere, and avoid this grief, and the potential re-sale loss that might occur on their investment. So why should a wind-farm permit be granted to these interlopers, when the communities and surrounding landowners will suffer so greatly? It shouldn't!