But we must go one step further in order to fully and properly put in place essential safeguards necessary for the protection of rural communities everywhere in New York State. We need a moratorium on wind development projects now.

The Rensselaerville Wind Power Committee was tasked with making recommendations for Non-Commercial Wind Power and large scale Industrial Wind Power. The report prepared by the Committee can be accessed by clicking on either link at the bottom of this page. The table of contents of the report is provided below.

Hundreds of thousands of acres spanning 34 states in the US have already been impacted by industrial wind power development. As we speak, thousands of giant turbines grind away, and TOGETHER they'll take the next 25 years to generate electricity that may last for a total of 19 days.

In summary, it appears that extensive federal level review of the three Noble projects is still in the early stages. It would not be appropriate for the town boards, as the lead agencies, to issue building permits without certifying that the appropriate federal review processes have been completed and the required permits obtained, nor for Noble to proceed with construction without required federal permits.

It is not at all clear from the DEIS that state or federal law will be upheld in the Ellenburg Project with regard to wetlands. Because of the vagueness and apparent project dominance of decisions being made with regard to wetlands, on-site NYSDEC and federal (USACE) oversight will be critical to modify turbine placement decisions during the project planning phase, to oversee them (to prevent changes) during the construction phase, and to oversee other mitigation measures.