Lisa Linowes, executive director of Windaction.org, presented these slides at the 2009 Midwest Energy Conference in Chicago (March 4-5). The focus of the presentation is on the costs and impacts of building an extensive transmission system to deliver wind and renewables from the central part of the United States to points east and west.

The complete report available in sections.

This indepth 142-page report looks at many dimensions of wind power including its contribution to sustainable energy; New Zealand developments to date; international trends; impacts on landscapes and communities; legal and policy frameworks; and case studies from Auckland, Wellington, and Manawatu.

The ridgelines, once developed, are likely to remain developed as can so well be seen by the justification for the East Mountain and Little Mt. Equinox proposals: because the roads are already there. Roads are the principal harbingers of development. Once put in, and at great cost, it will be argued, even after the turbines are no long needed, that they be used for something else. We are talking about exchanging something priceless that should go to our children and grandchildren for the short term gain of something that can be had by other means. It is a matter of relative value and to me and many others, the ridgelines are priceless. It think most Vermonters, once they open their eyes to what is about to happen and realize the value of what they are about to lose, will agree.

Eric Rosenbloom, a resident of Vermont's Northeast Kingdom, addresses why wind power does not live up to advocates' claims, why its impact on the environment and people's lives is far from benign and how money invested in wind energy could be better spent.

Jon Boone addresses wind power for the Mid-Atlantic region.

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.

The development of commercial wind power that is currently fashionable is potentially misguided, ineffective and neither environmentally nor socially benign; but it is the right of citizens of rural areas to enjoy both clean and safe energy generation and an unspoiled countryside.