The debate was put into a proper perspective by the Times-Tribune newspaper in Scranton., which wrote: “America’s future as a world power and leading economy will be determined largely by its ability to meet the increasing demand for energy, while weaning itself from foreign oil and protecting the environment.

Our state leaders are promulgating a false choice between wind and coal. While wind is renewable and cleaner than coal, wind will never replace coal — wind is too unreliable.

The Pennsylvania Game Commission today signed cooperative, voluntary agreements with 12 companies to avoid, minimize and potentially mitigate any adverse impacts the development of wind energy may have on the state's wildlife resources.

With a company ready to buy its wind power for the next two decades, PPM Energy LLC on Monday announced plans to begin construction on a 23-turbine wind development in the summer. About a third of the proposed 1.5-megawatt wind turbines in the Casselman Wind Power Project are to be built on reclaimed surface-mining areas. The project encompasses nearly 2,000 acres near Rockwood and Meyersdale – though the “footprint” of used land should be less than 40 acres.

Also, as I draft this response, I have just received confirmation that the Public meeting and Public Hearing for NPDES Permit No. PA 105560700 1; Proposed Shaffer Mountain Wind Farm, Ogle and Shade townships, Somerset County and Napier Township, Bedford County will be held on Tuesday, Aug. 28, at the Shade-Central City High School. I'll be there - will you? In closing, in regards to your mentioning Newton's third law of motion, I would add this - "Desperate people do desperate things" and so it goes with the industrialization of Shaffer Mountain. Desperation on your and Gamesa's part, Tim Vought! We will "Save The Mountain!"

Fayette County's zoning hearing board on Monday issued a split decision on an Oregon company's request for special exceptions for 22 wind turbines, granting 14 of the requests while rejecting eight others. ...The board then denied setback variances and special exceptions that had been requested for eight of the towers, meaning 14 of the towers have all of the required approvals for construction. The company will have to ensure those 14 comply with a number of conditions imposed by the board, including a measure that could shut them down temporarily if the blades kill too many bats.

The basic problem with the 1836 law in the modern era is that it unfairly imposes the consequences of one person’s actions on others who had no role in them. Greene and Wolfe didn’t cause Noblit’s problem, and they should not have to pay for his decision back in 1972 to buy a landlocked parcel without first securing a right-of-way to the property. And while he may be planning to take timber, the fact that he is seeking a right of way large enough for a two-lane road suggests he may be looking beyond that to putting something of greater and more enduring impact on the mountaintop.

High atop Armenia Mountain, near this Bradford County borough and close to the Tioga County line, the first of nearly 70 giant wind turbines is rising into the sky. According to Matt Riel, general manager of operations and maintenance with AES Armenia Mt. Wind, as of Tuesday three turbines had been erected and four others have been partially built.

During the agenda meeting, Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Vincent A. Vicites voted to place a motion on Thursday's agenda to approve an agreement between PPM Atlantic Renewable Energy Corp./Iberdrola Renewables, the county and property owners that petitioned the court to be included in the case. Commissioner Angela M. Zimmerlink voted against the action, saying she doesn't believe the commissioners have the authority to approve changes to the proposed project. Zapotosky said the agreement eliminates one of the proposed sites and also does not include any mention of a scholarship fund funded by PPM and administered by the county that was part of a prior agreement.

Three Pennsylvania men have filed a federal lawsuit against a Spanish wind turbine manufacturer, saying that they were illegally replaced by younger workers. The three also claim the company gave Spanish workers preferential treatment. ...Their federal lawsuit filed in Johnstown says the men were all replaced by younger employees and that two of the three replacements were also Spaniards.

International power company Iberdrola Renewable Energies and Wisconsin-based Alliant Energy EPC are building the windmills on a mountaintop off Route 42. Seven of the turbines will be in Conyngham Township, said supervisor Chairman James Tarlecki. The rest, as he understands it, are to extend about 10 miles east and connect to the area where 13 turbines were built on 1,038 acres of land north of Mahanoy City, Schuylkill County, last year. That project is called Locust Ridge Wind Farm, and, fittingly, the new project will be called Locust Ridge II.

Proponents of the Little Equinox Mountain wind facility say it will create jobs, create tax dollars, and enhance tourism. Your readers in Manchester, Vt. might be interested to know how that argument played out when FPL Energy similarly invaded our community in 2004

The galvanizing force behind several community development projects stemmed from the process of creating the first comprehensive plan in 40 years, county commissioners said. The commissioners adopted a comprehensive plan Monday immediately after a final public hearing that drew little public comment..... Some of the early accomplishments generated by the plan include Somerset County wind farm regulations, the Hotel Tax Tourism Grant Program, the Somerset County Leadership Program, an education workforce initiative, the Somerset County Job Fair, the Somerset Lake Park Feasibility Study, the Quemahoning Water Supply Project and the Laurel Highlands Business Park, said Commissioner James Marker.

About 30 wind turbines will be coming to the hills over Dunlo after Adams Township supervisors approved the Krayn Wind Corp.'s request for the Highland Wind Farm. The approval Tuesday at the supervisors' regular meeting followed a final public hearing on Krayn's conditional use application under the township's zoning ordinance. ...The quiet meeting was in contrast to the first Sept. 17 hearing - when a line of residents spoke of their concerns about the wind farm. Most expressed concerns about reduced values for their property near the proposed turbines, but Barbin noted the supervisors only can apply the existing regulations on the project.

McIntyre Township supervisor Albert E. Boyer Wednesday told the county zoning hearing board that he supports the proposed construction by Vermont-based Catamount Energy Corp. of 47 wind turbines in northern Lycoming County.

The state Fish & Boat Commission has been responsible for ensuring that wind energy development does not harm water or aquatic life since corporations began erecting turbines in Pennsylvania. But with the wind energy industry growing quickly - and showing no signs of letting up - Fish and Boat commissioners have decided to put the agency's regulatory policy in writing. The commissioners made the decision at their most recent meeting. They are accepting comments about the policy from the public. ..."Anytime there's encroachment on a ridgeline, you're dealing with headwater issues," Lichvar said. "If you have a problem where it begins, then you have a problem where it ends."

Once an unusual site – a tourist destination – windmills and wind farms are sprouting up, or soon will make a presence, on seemingly every high mountaintop in our region. And understandably, not everyone is happy. Certainly, some Somerset County residents still are angry years after windmills “invaded” their hillsides.

Airtricity Inc., a renewable energy company, is planning a 52.5-MW wind farm in Somerset County, Pa., with an in-service date of second quarter 2009. The company is working on getting permits, addressing geotechnical issues, and monitoring wind flow in developing the Stonycreek Wind Farm, said Doug Colbeck, Airtricity's vice president for Northeast development. The wind facility will use General Electric Co. SLE 1.5-MW turbines with a hub height of 80 meters and a rotor diameter of 77 meters, Colbeck said. "We've met with all the townships and agencies" that will be giving permission to build the wind farm, "and we'll continue to work with them to avoid permitting problems," Colbeck said. The wind farm will be located across three townships - Shade, Stonycreek and Allegheny - each with different zoning ordinances for siting such facilities. Airtricity has not yet filed zoning applications with the townships.