As part of their lobbying against wind turbine farms in Scotland's mountains, MCofS's Chief Officer, David Gibson is attempting to mobilise travel and tourist businesses to voice their dissent against this 'industrialisation'.

Greenhouse gas emissions generated by visitors air travel to New Zealand are far greater than commonly quoted, according to new research by University of Otago scientists. Physics researchers Dr Inga Smith and Dr Craig Rodger say their findings on the sheer size of the emissions and difficulties in offsetting them have far-reaching implications for both the tourism industry and efforts to achieve carbon neutrality. ...The researchers then went on to evaluate the feasibility of potential measures to offset the emissions to make the visitors travel carbon-neutral. We investigated several domestically-based offsetting scenarios involving either increased reliance on sustainable energy sources or reducing emissions. Unfortunately, none of the scenarios currently appear to be economically or technically feasible, Dr Smith says.

Town council should be cautious in approving locations for wind turbine projects until important natural features have been assessed, says Phil Roberts of the municipal environmental advisory committee. ..."You need to exercise caution," said Roberts. "There's a big learning curve in all of this." He said the county's eco-tourism market -- based largely on the bird and hawk migrations -- has to be kept in mind as wind turbines are sited.

OUTSTANDING views from five of Scotland's best-loved peaks will be ruined if controversial plans for a major wind farm in the Highlands go ahead, claims a leading environmental charity.

A citizens' group opposed to the location of massive wind-energy plant in northern Potter County is pressuring Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell to stop the plan. However, with Gov. Rendell pushing for renewable energy projects in Pennsylvania, the "Save God's Country" (SGC) group could face an uphill struggle. An SGC spokesman said the location of wind turbines in the region is at odds with the governor's strong support for the Pennsylvania Wilds tourist promotion plan. "Are hundreds of industrial wind turbines something that will tempt people to visit the Pennsylvania Wilds?" asked Dan Howe. "It seems incongruous, and yet this is what is happening in Potter, Cameron, McKean, Lycoming and Tioga counties, all designated as the Pennsylvania Wilds."

A new report says plans for a wind farm off the coast of north Wales could damage tourism.

Wind farm developer Eneco has been criticised for failing to consult tourism bosses over plans to site turbines in Poole Bay. The proposed Navitus Bay wind park, which would see turbines of around 311 feet tall situated between 10 and 17 miles out to sea, would have a major impact on Bournemouth and Poole's tourism industry.

It said the Connemara landscape is one of the principal assets of the tourism industry in Co Galway and the proposed development is located on a prominent site in east Connemara in a an area which is part of the Connemara Bog Complex Special Area of Conservation. The site is also within an area with a high-value coastal tourism infrastructure and fisheries resource.

Ottaway News Service

HARRISBURG -- The Kittatinny Ridge, a 185-mile forested highland linking the Delaware Water Gap, Susquehanna Water Gap and the Mason-Dixon line, is the focus of a new conservation effort.

A campaign by Pennsylvania Audubon seeks to place Kittatinny Ridge, also known as Blue Mountain, in the public consciousness as the largest uninterrupted forest area in eastern and central Pennsylvania. Kittatinny Ridge faces multiple threats from ill-planned development as well as an overabundance of deer, insect pests and illegal dumping by humans, the environmental group says.

An eyesore or thing of beauty? A detriment to tourism or a magnet for it? That is the core of the debate raging between proponents and opponents of wind farms off the shores of Lake Michigan. Muskegon's Jack Kennedy has seen a waterfront wind farm in action.

Earlier this year, the council decided to seek a full judicial review against the Secretary of State's decision to grant planning permission for a 66-megawatt wind farm at Fullabrook Down. The decision followed a Public Inquiry held between November 2006 and January 2007. During the Inquiry, the council argued strongly that the impact the development would have on the local landscape, the lives of those living in the area, the attractiveness of the area to visitors and local tourism far outweighed any benefits. It is challenging the Secretary of State's decision on landscape, noise and policy grounds.

Leaderdale and Melrose councillor John Paton-Day has called for a halt to wind farm developments in the Borders. The Lib Dem from Earlston was reacting to a letter in TheSouthern last week (October 29 issue) from Mr S. Wilson from Blairgowrie, who described how he had advised a party of 20 hillwalkers from Austria not to visit the region because "the hills have been destroyed by numerous wind farms with a lot more to come".