facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts Windaction http://www.windaction.org/articles/c88?theme=atom Xarayar 2006-06-12T02:16:27Z .24058 2009-11-12T12:17:14Z 2009-11-12T12:17:14Z

Legislators declined this summer to clear the way for North Carolina to tap the power of mountain winds. Next year, they could decide whether to allow a single, experimental ridgetop wind farm. Rep. Phil Frye said at a Wednesday wind-energy forum that he plans to propose allowing the state to issue one permit for building rows of wind turbines on a ridge - which he hopes would happen at a site overlooking his hometown of Spruce Pine.

.23729 2009-10-21T05:25:09Z 2009-10-21T05:25:09Z

Construction of a demonstration wind energy project in Pamlico Sound could begin as early as next year, according to state officials who met with Outer Banks residents to discuss offshore wind energy Friday. ...[Gov. Beverly] Perdue told the audience that the state could position itself as a leader in "green energy," developing innovative ways that would help the environment and also create jobs. "Make no mistake though, every governor in America is thinking about this. North Carolina has to do as much as we can do safely or we will fail," she said.

.23500 2009-10-07T23:46:32Z 2009-10-07T23:46:32Z

Governor Beverly Perdue, Senate President Pro Tempore Marc Basnight, and Representative Tim Spear hosted the meeting at Cape Hatteras Secondary School. "If water levels are rising as predicted and we take no action, we will have made a terrible mistake for the people who come after us," Basnight said in opening remarks to a crowd of more than 250 people assembled in the school auditorium.

.23309 2009-09-25T20:31:05Z 2009-09-25T20:31:05Z

The leader of the state Senate said Friday that he won't fight wind farms proposed offshore from an area he represents, although he's aware that residents are concerned about the possible effects on tourism. "Change does not come easy to me or to the people of this island," Senate leader Marc Basnight, D-Dare, told a public meeting on Hatteras Island.

.23021 2009-09-06T15:52:05Z 2009-09-06T15:52:05Z

For more than a year, a tiny Chapel Hill company has been laying plans for a project that would catapult North Carolina into a national leadership role in offshore wind energy development. Outer Banks Ocean Energy Corp. is eyeing federal waters about 25 miles offshore to chase a dream of harnessing pollution-free electricity generated by some of the nation's best wind resources. An offshore wind farm has yet to be built in this country, and the hurdles are formidable.

.22809 2009-08-23T06:52:45Z 2009-08-23T06:52:45Z

After measuring wind value and eliminating conflicts with bird migratory patterns, fish habitat and military air space, a new state coastal wind study says the best spot for utility-scale wind energy is in the sound off Buxton. The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill feasibility study, requested last year by state Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Manteo, found that most other state waters are unsuitable for wind-energy development.

.22708 2009-08-16T16:00:27Z 2009-08-16T16:00:27Z

Will wind-generated power save the environment or sacrifice it? The answer depends on who you ask ..."Your senators are very brave in what they're doing," said Lisa Linowes of New Hampshire-based Wind Action. "The legislature already concluded when it adopted the Ridge ordinance that your mountains have cultural significance to the state. When asked now to consider whether that value is worth more - or less - than wind generated electrons on the grid, your mountain senators are doing what most politicians in the U.S. have not done. They're putting a cold eye to the options and deciding wind is not worth the sacrifice, at least for now."

.22573 2009-08-07T21:32:25Z 2009-08-07T21:32:25Z

The North Carolina Senate voted overwhelmingly to ban large turbines from the state's ridgelines. The North Carolina State Senate has voted overwhelmingly to ban large wind turbines from the state's scenic western ridgelines. The 42-1 vote on Thursday represents the strongest stand against wind turbines taken by lawmakers in any state.

.22562 2009-08-07T11:20:59Z 2009-08-07T11:20:59Z

The N.C. Senate voted yesterday to ban the commercial generation of wind energy on North Carolina's western mountain ridges. Supporters of the ban argued that the construction of large wind turbines in the mountains would ruin the mountains' natural beauty. Environmentalists say that the state should be encouraging wind power, not limiting it.

.22546 2009-08-06T23:10:02Z 2009-08-06T23:10:02Z

North Carolina senators have approved banning wind turbines from Appalachian ridges, balancing potential for green energy against unspoiled mountain vistas. The Senate voted 42-1 on Thursday to establish regulations for where wind turbines can be built. It next heads to the state House, where it may not come up until next spring.

.22533 2009-08-06T16:01:21Z 2009-08-06T16:01:21Z

Rows of wind turbines are unlikely to be spinning atop mountain ridges anytime soon. A Senate committee on Wednesday rejected a proposal that would have paved the way for large-scale wind energy production in the mountains. Large wind turbines are banned under the state's interpretation of a law restricting ridge development. The Agriculture Committee advanced a proposal that would keep it that way, changing the ridge law to cement the ban.

.22520 2009-08-05T17:20:11Z 2009-08-05T17:20:11Z

Officials have interpreted the state's mountain ridge development law as banning large wind turbines on the ridges. The Senate Agriculture Committee this morning rejected a proposal that would have reversed that ban. Instead, a bill moving through the Senate will continue to call for cementing the ban.

.22432 2009-07-30T22:17:07Z 2009-07-30T22:17:07Z

The answer to North Carolina's green energy challenge is blowing in the wind-swept mesas of Texas. With the first deadlines fast approaching for North Carolina's renewable energy targets, power companies in this state are snapping up green certificates from out-of-state wind farms. The certificates don't buy electricity, but pay for credits needed to meet state targets.

.22244 2009-07-20T23:12:00Z 2009-07-20T23:12:00Z

State senators are now considering a bill that -- as it's currently written -- would effectively ban any large-scale generation of wind power in the mountains. The bill appeared to be headed for passage in the Senate last week because it had the support of several key Democrats from the mountains. Allowing large wind turbines would "destroy our crown jewel," said Sen. Martin Nesbitt, D-Buncombe. But Sen. Steve Goss, D-Watauga, broke with the other western legislators, saying that the ban goes too far.

.22195 2009-07-17T19:37:54Z 2009-07-17T19:37:54Z

The Senate's Finance Committee had approved a version of the bill that included rules for permits to build wind farms in the N.C. mountains on Tuesday. But in floor debate Wednesday afternoon, Rep. Steve Goss, D-Watauga, attempted to amend the bill to allow more wind development in the high country.

.22170 2009-07-16T22:05:47Z 2009-07-16T22:05:47Z

State senators came to no conclusion today about whether to keep windmills from lining mountain ridges. ...After Democrats huddled privately, the bill was sent back to the Senate Agriculture Committee for more work.

.22168 2009-07-16T21:44:32Z 2009-07-16T21:44:32Z

Local and global environmental worries ran into each other Wednesday on the floor of the state Senate. "It's a competing environmental issue," state Sen. Joe Sam Queen told fellow senators, "developing alternative wind energy and preserving the beauty of the mountains." Senate Democrats from Western North Carolina sparred over whether windmills should be allowed to line ridge tops.

.22128 2009-07-15T14:19:20Z 2009-07-15T14:19:20Z

A proposed change to North Carolina's ridge protection law unveiled Tuesday would prevent large-scale wind energy production in the mountains. At the urging of some mountain senators, the state Senate Finance Committee added the restrictions to a bill moving through the General Assembly that will shape where windmills are allowed to be built statewide.

.22111 2009-07-14T20:19:14Z 2009-07-14T20:19:14Z

Senate lawmakers this afternoon brought the state a step closer to a total ban on commercial wind development on North Caorlina's mountain tops with an overwhelming vote in the Senate Finance Committee of the General Assembly. Panel members agreed to restrict wind power development to residential uses on towers limited to 100 feet tall. That restriction prohibits commercial wind farms, which link multiple turbines that can exceed 300 feet.

.22090 2009-07-13T17:00:25Z 2009-07-13T17:00:25Z

The prospects for harnessing the winds whipping across a mountain ridge in Mitchell County depend on which way the wind blows in the General Assembly. Some lawmakers want to create a permit process for wind farms in the mountains, while others want to ban such clusters of windmills from ridges. Officials say they are poised to lure a wind-energy company and its green jobs to Spruce Pine if legislators open the door.