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San Diego County Supervisors sued over flawed Wind Energy Ordinance
June 18, 2013 by Donna Tisdale in The Protect Our Communities Foundation (POC) & Backcountry against dumps (BAD)
June 18, 2013 by Donna Tisdale in The Protect Our Communities Foundation (POC) & Backcountry against dumps (BAD)
San Diego County Supervisors are being sued over their May 15th approval of the technically and legally flawed Wind Energy Ordinance & Plan Amendment-that benefits wealthy industrial wind and solar developers, San Diego Gas & Electric, Sempra, and absentee land-owners at the expense of rural east county residents and valued resources.
A six-turbine expansion to the wind farm at Waterloo in the Clare Valley has been approved.
The Clare and Gilbert Valleys Council's development assessment panel met on Friday to make a decision on Energy Australia's proposal.
Also filed under [
General|
Australia / New Zealand]
InfraVest also stepped up security by having dozens of security guards on site at all time, where they trail, film, question and prevent visitors, residents and students from going to the beach and embankment and approaching the construction site. Their behavior is illegal, as they have no law enforcement authority.
Companies claim a Coalition government will undermine the development of wind farms across the south-west if it introduces stricter controls on noise levels.
Revelations this week that an Abbott-led government would force companies to release noise levels online have again raised questions for the renewable energy industry.
Also filed under [
Noise|
Australia / New Zealand]
"These beaches belong to history. It's from here that the liberation of the world began. If you allow the comparison, I don't think the Germans would permit the construction of a wind park next to the ruins of a concentration camp. These are sacred areas," said Karel Scheerlinck, a Belgian who lives in the town.
Windfarm industry fears consequences of Coalition turbine noise policy
June 10, 2013 by Lenore Taylor in The Guardian
June 10, 2013 by Lenore Taylor in The Guardian
The yet-to-be-released resources policy is set to require all windfarms to provide "real-time" noise monitoring, with the findings immediately publicly available, so nearby residents concerned about the alleged health impact of windfarms can compare the results with strict state government noise controls. The Coalition resources spokesman, Ian Macfarlane, will also try to introduce the measures before the election with a private members bill.
Hydro Tasmania will soon know the answer to the $2 billion question dividing a Tasmanian island community.
Do the 1600 residents of King Island, in Bass Strait, want their isolated community to become the biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere?
Also filed under [
General|
Australia / New Zealand]
Medical Research Council bows out of anti-wind farm activist ethics complaint
June 7, 2013 by Amber Jamieson in Crikey
June 7, 2013 by Amber Jamieson in Crikey
Back in April Crikey revealed that the council was looking into a complaint against Sarah Laurie, the CEO of the small-but-powerful anti-wind farm Waubra Foundation, after an anonymous document claimed Laurie had breached ethical codes of research conduct. ...Professor Warwick Anderson, the chief executive of the NHMRC, released a statement yesterday explaining that since Laurie and Waubra do not receive federal funding, the NHMRC had no authority to investigate the claims.
Also filed under [
General|
Australia / New Zealand]
Wind farms are a 'complete scam', claims the Environment Secretary who says turbines are causing 'huge unhappiness'
June 7, 2013 by Matt Chorley in Daily Mail
June 7, 2013 by Matt Chorley in Daily Mail
The Conservatives have taken a tougher line on wind farms in recent months, and this week unveiled plans to give communities a powerful ‘veto' over controversial new onshore developments.
Schemes will have to gain local residents' consent before a planning application can even be made, effectively handing them the power to prevent turbines being erected.
End of hated wind farms that ruin our countryside amid growing backlash over green energy
June 6, 2013 by Macer Hall in The Daily Express
June 6, 2013 by Macer Hall in The Daily Express
Eric Pickles's Department for Communities and Local Government will announce that planning laws are to be amended so that "consultation with local communities" is compulsory before wind farm developers can even formally apply for planning permission
It means local authorities will get powers to block possible developments early in the planning process.
Senior Conservatives claim the move will effectively end the spread of the controversial turbines which have been blamed for blighting picturesque landscapes.
Ministers will announce that residents will have to be consulted over new wind farms with applications barred if there is significant opposition. Councils are currently prevented from even considering applications for larger turbines.
Alex Attwood said the reason a final decision had not yet been issued on the long standing proposal to erect a single 60 metre turbine close to Lough Patrick indicated that concerns about the land's religious significance were being factored in.
Southern hemisphere's largest wind farm hinges on King Island community support
June 3, 2013 in ABC News
June 3, 2013 in ABC News
"Big wind farm infrastructure is probably inappropriate for King Island, considering the size of our island... they're going to take up about 40 per cent of that land area," he said.
"We have to be able to work together and live together, there's only 1,500 of us."
Also filed under [
Impact on People|
Australia / New Zealand]
Groups ask county to oppose fast-tracking; Critics say plan gives locals no input in locations of wind, solar projects
June 2, 2013 by Jim E. Winburn in Daily Press
June 2, 2013 by Jim E. Winburn in Daily Press
The Lucerne Valley Economic Development Association and other groups argue that the fast-tracking of wind and solar energy plants will prevent local groups and residents from directing these projects to the least invasive locations.
He said he also experienced feeling some vibration from the turbine as he slept on the ground.
Mr Parnell said that at one stage the wind was blowing from due north, and with 'at least 20 wind turbines upwind' of him, he believed he had experienced a 'full dose' of the effects.
He pitched his tent between the turbine array and the township of Waterloo.
Wind energy producers are in a twist after being forced to demonstrate they are operating within noise limits every time they seek to surrender renewable energy certificates.
As of the start of June, all large-scale power stations accredited under the renewable energy target will have to submit a "standing notice" of ongoing compliance with all local, state and federal planning and approval requirements.
SA Greens MLC Mark Parnell will spend a night sleeping under a wind turbine at Waterloo tonight in a bid to experience the reported effects of the farms firsthand. ..."There needs to be a lot more research done and people need to come to Waterloo, where the turbines are too close together and too close to the people, and do the research there."
The chances of the largest wind farm in the southern hemisphere being built on King Island could depend on the contents of a new economic impact report. ...The company says it will only go ahead with a feasibility study if 60 per cent of the island's 1500 people support it in a vote to be conducted by polling company EMRS.
Also filed under [
General|
Australia / New Zealand]
On a line of low hills standing sentinel beside a dry lake bed near Canberra, giant turbines turning slowly in a chill winter breeze give no hint of a multi-billion-dollar storm building around renewable energy.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Australia / New Zealand]
In less than a fortnight, the small community of King Island will vote on whether a crucial part of Australia's clean energy future should proceed to the next stage. But the islanders are sharply divided, after claims by health promotion company the Waubra Foundation, and their controversial CEO Dr Sarah Laurie, that the noise wind turbines make harms human health. Sarah Dingle investigates.