Volunteer firefighters are at greater risk with raised-bed crops taking over the south-west, local farmers have warned. And the problem will be exacerbated if massive wind turbines are approved across the district, hindering aerial attacks on blazes. "We live in a very fire-prone region," Berrybank farmer Cathy Keating said. ...Access to the fire front would also be hindered due to the wind towers. "The likes of Elvis (the huge fire-fighting helicopter) will not come into the area."

A series of ordinances regulating wind turbines in Raisin Township was described by township attorney David Lacasse as being a fair and balanced set of regulations. The township board approved the ordinances by unanimous voice votes Monday. "It gives reasonable regulation with the safety of residents being foremost," Lacasse said. "It's not as restrictive as some, but it achieves a real good balance."

In the study, scientists raised cut-in speeds on 12 out of 23 turbines at Iberdrola's 34.5MW Casselman Wind Project in Pennsylvania. ...Ed Arnett of BWEC and Bat Conservation International said that if the curtailment were applied to the entire farm, it would result in a 0.3% loss in annual output using the 5 m/s cut-in speed.

Coal River Mountain in Raleigh County may soon become the center of an energy battle that pits fossil fuels against non-fossil renewable sources. At issue is this: Should we develop coal resources now if that will destroy wind resources that can be harnessed forever? North Carolina-based community organizers Appalachian Voices decided to raise this question. The group contracted national wind development consultants WindLogics to analyze some likely wind resources in southern West Virginia.

A Raleigh couple, Nelson and Dianna Paul, are seeking permission from the Public Utilities Commission to build North Carolina's first large-scale wind mills on coastal property they own. ...The utilities commission did not vote on the proposal today, and may not take action for a couple of months. Many residents of the coastal community of Bettie, where the Pauls own property, oppose the windmills, which would stand nearly 500 feet tall.

Jackson threw out the bulk of Ralls’s lawsuit against the Obama administration, which focused on whether the president exceeded his power by ordering the company, an affiliate of China’s Sany Group Co., to sell the wind farm assets. “The statute expressly authorizes the president to do what he deems necessary to accomplish or implement the prohibition."

Ralls is asking U.S. District Judge Amy Berman Jackson to declare the Ralls-Terna transaction invalid and block Terna from selling collateral because of Obama's order. The Ralls lawsuit challenging Obama's power to block the Oregon wind project also is before Jackson.

The Ridgeville recall effort began in May after some residents complained the current board was not representing them. They held a meeting at the town hall and selected Luethe, Krueger and Giraud as their candidates. The effort stems from controversy in the area over plans for an industrial “wind farm” that would place 35-story-high wind turbines along the ridge.

TexDOT says the Ralph Fair Road bridge over Interstate 10 is hopelessly damaged and will have to be demolished and replaced, a job which is expected to take several months. The bridge has been closed since late June after a truck hauling a propeller wing for a wind power turbine in west Texas slammed into one of the bridge abutments. Engineers say it will be impossible to repair the bridge.

The director of the Scottish Ramblers’ Association has criticised proposals for two windfarms in north east Fife. A planning application has been submitted for a five-turbine windfarm in Auchtermuchty, while a larger 13-turbine project is planned for Ceres — both by German-based firm EnergieKontor. Local opposition has been widespread for both, citing the same grievances as the Ramblers — that they are proposed in the wrong place and would diminish the area’s landscape.

The Ramblers' Association is set to announce its opposition to the construction of onshore wind farms across the country. The move is a major blow for the government, which is struggling to maintain its pledge to increase the amount of electricity generated by renewable energy sources. The decision to try to block large wind farms in Britain follows the association's role in persuading the Scottish Executive to stop construction of a group of turbines in Perthshire on the grounds that the development would damage the environment.

Walkers fear too many wind farms will be built in exceptionally beautiful areas of countryside, in particular parts of Yorkshire, the Ramblers Association has said. It said ramblers will see a trebling in the number of large-scale wind farms in the countryside in the next three years. In a response to the Department for Business's draft Renewable Energy Strategy, the association complained onshore wind farms would be erected at the expense of developing other renewables.

Ramblers have condemned a decision by Peak District bosses to approve a wind turbine on National Trust land. The Derbyshire Ramblers' Association say the decision to allow the turbine on White Edge on the Park's eastern moors is "astonishing" and would seriously detract from the character of the landscape. Officers had recommended the application should be refused because it wouldn't fit in with the landscape - but councillors felt the demand for renewable energy was just too important. ..."It is even more astonishing that the Park's Planning Committee should vote for the application to be approved. We would describe it as a betrayal of all the National Park is intended to stand for."

Ramblers are to stage a protest at Scottish Power's annual general meeting over plans for a wind farm project.

The Ramblers’ Association today called for an urgent reform of the subsidy which supports renewable energy developments on the UK, including a massive reduction in the funding given to large scale land based windfarms. The call comes after the RA’s Chief Executive, Christine Elliott, examined the impact of new windfarm developments in the Scottish Highlands.

Mr Ramsay defended his change of attitude to the Mt Gellibrand wind farm as a result of increased knowledge about the health and visual impacts of wind farms. "We didn't know a lot about wind farming eight years ago," Mr Ramsay said. "We were all pretty raw about it. It was all pretty new."

More than 60 people turned out Wednesday evening in Devils Lake to hear Jeff Metzger, president of Just Wind, LLC., explain its philosophy and to begin gauging local interest in a potential wind farm in the county. ...The company currently is developing large-scale wind farms in Logan and Emmons counties.

Xcel Energy and the Tri-State Generation and Transmission Association have filed with the commission for a certificate of public convenience and necessity for the lines, which the companies say will increase the reliability of the grid in the valley and increase their ability to export electricity generated from wind and solar farms in Southern Colorado. ...An administrative law judge will hold a pre-hearing conference Friday in Denver to consider the intervention requests. The utilities commission has until Jan. 26 to decide on the applications by Xcel and Tri-State.

Below is a letter that clarifies the Molokai Properties Limited's (MPL) position on wind turbines on their property. The letter, dated June 28,2010, is written by Peter Nicholas, Executive Director of MPL, addressed to Colette Machado, President of the Molokai Land Trust. Kekoa Kaluhiwa, First Wind director of external affairs has "nothing additional to say."

Rose Bacon, member of the Governor's Energy Task Force and a rancher who owns property in the Flint Hills, spoke about the vulnerability of communities facing proposals from international companies that want to build commercial wind farms in rural areas. She pointed to the lack of “teeth” in regulations, and the attractive tax write-offs granted to wind energy companies, and the inexperience of local officials in dealing with such monstrous deals, depicting a state-wide scenario akin to the “wildcatter days in the oil business.”