This Final Generic Environmental Impact Statement (FGEIS) has been prepared for the Ecogen, LLC (Ecogen) Prattsburgh/Italy Wind Farm Project (Project) on the behalf of the Lead Agency, the Steuben County Industrial Development Agency (SCIDA). The FGEIS is prepared pursuant to the New York State Environmental Quality Review Act (SEQR), Environmental Conservation Law, Article 8, 6NYCRR Part 617, and its implementing regulations.

A Landscape Classification System report, maps and GIS files is now available as an aide to "environmentally responsible siting of utility-scale wind projects in Virgina." The report and associated materials was a collaborative product of Dan Boone, Judy Dunscomb, Rick Webb and Christina Wulf, who worked on this project on behalf of The Nature Conservancy, Virginia Society of Ornithology and Virginia Forest Watch.

Rick Webb and Dan Boone have created a website - www.VAwind.org - to disseminate this report and related information. They "are guided by the Precautionary Principal, wherein if we have reasonable suspicion of harm, accompanied by scientific uncertainty, then we all have a duty to take action to prevent harm." They "remain hopeful that the wind industry will embrace the principle of precaution and stand as a role-model for other industries by taking strong and proactive steps to prevent environmental harm" and "intend to continue work on the Landscape Classification System and to promote effective assessment of environmental issues related to wind energy development."

The Windham Regional Commission asked the District Environmental Commission if the proposed commercial wind energy development on Glebe Mountain requires an an Act 250 amendment as well as a permit under Section 248 (30 V.S.A Section 248). Act 250 is designed to protect Vermont's ridgelines above 2500'. Section 248 authorizes the Public Service Board to issue 'Certificates of Public Good' for electricity generating projects. The District Environmental Commission concluded that construction of the wind measurement towers and the proposed wind energy project represent material and substantial changes to existing Act 250 permits and thus require an amendment.

This submission deals only with the potential impact on the natural environment and in particular birds and bats.

In a paper recently published on line on September 28,2005 in "Contemporary Aesthetics", Jon Boone responds to Yuriko Saito's "Machines in the Ocean: The Aesthetics of Wind Farms" by arguing that Saito's search for the right aesthetic justification for windplants sited in the ocean (as well as on shore) is predicated on a false assumption, i.e. that industrial wind power is both benign and effective.

Jon Boone is a intervenor in a Maryland Public Service Commission windpower case (No. 9008). On September 16, 2005, he formally submitted his direct testimony in this case. His testimony and attachments cover the gamut of issues surrounding the wind industry.

Jon Boone's response, published in The Caledonian Record in August 2005, to those who challenged the authenticity of his DVD "Life Under a Windplant".

BBC Research & Consulting's 2005 report for the National Wind Coordinating Committee that studies 9 wind plant sitings in an effort to identify circumstances that distinguish welcomed projects from projects that were not accepted by communities.

To help guide our own internal policy on wind energy, VNRC has developed a list of criteria that we feel is appropriate to consider for wind energy development. These criteria are not exclusive to state owned land, but rather focus on developing a vision for siting wind energy infrastructure in Vermont. We have included specific considerations for State lands as well. The goal is to integrate the need to develop new in-state sources of renewable energy with protection of existing environmental values and public policy goals.

So, before we proclaim victory against our profligate use of fossil fuels in the last 50 years, politicians and environmental groups might ponder the huge costs in dollars and environmental damage before 20-storey windmills festoon our coastlines, our sea lanes and our beautiful Quebec hills.