The federally endangered Indiana bat won a significant reprieve recently when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced that it would reinitiate consultation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) on Gamesa's proposed Shaffer Mountain Wind Project in Bedford and Somerset Counties in Pennsylvania.

The Tioga Preservation Group's land use appeal of the Tioga County Planning Commission's decision to grant conditional approval for a wind farm project has been denied, opening the door for the construction of 124 wind turbines in Tioga and Bradford counties. On Aug. 8, Tioga County Court of Common Pleas President Judge Robert E. Dalton Jr. issued an order denying the appeal of the group, and upheld the planning commission's preliminary conditional approval of the land-use application made by AES Armenia Mountain Wind LLC, according to court documents.

Schemes to monitor the bat population will be carried out all over Ireland this summer amid concerns the population of the endangered species has dropped dramatically. Despite being protected by law, the nocturnal flying mammals are being affected by hedgerow removals, the renovation of old buildings, bridge work and pesticides.

Three Alberta families near Three Hills have taken their fight against a proposal to build wind turbines near their homes to a local appeal board. FPLE Canadian Wind plans to construct 54 wind turbines in Knee Hill County northeast of Calgary for a project called the Ghost Pine wind farm.

If the GMP project goes ahead, decision-makers will be viewed as having "destroyed one of the beautiful pristine areas of Vermont ... for no good reason at a time when a better alternative was just about to come into reach."

Plans to build a windfarm in the far north that would have been the biggest in Britain have been scaled down to protect birds. In November 2002, North British Windpower (NBW) revealed proposals for a £75million development on the Skelpick Estate, near Bettyhill, in Sutherland, that would have been three times bigger than any windfarm operating in the UK at that time. The company hoped to erect 50 turbines with a capacity of over 100megawatts - enough power to supply 84,000 households, or the equivalent to 90% of the homes in the Highland region. But the Edinburgh-based energy company went back to the drawing board after it was discovered that some of the turbines were on the flight path of birds from the nearby Caithness and Sutherland Special Protection Area. Managing director Andrew Shaw said yesterday they were now proposing 22 turbines, measuring about 410ft to tip of blade and producing just under 50MW of electricity. The development was now expected to cost about £40million.

Picture 400 super-size windmills spinning in a steady, stiff ocean breeze just beyond the horizon off the Washington coast, generating enough electricity to supply the needs of Seattle and Tacoma. Now picture thousands of similar windmills off California, New England, the mid-Atlantic, the Great Lakes and the Gulf of Mexico. Even as Congress is embroiled in a sharp debate over whether to allow increased offshore oil and gas drilling, others are seriously working to develop a green source of energy along the outer continental shelf.

The landscape of Shetland could be changed forever if the giant windfarm project goes ahead, those in the tourism industry told representatives from Viking Energy at a meeting on Wednesday. Members of Shetland Tourism Association, including accommodation providers and tour operators, expressed concern about the size of the proposed development, which could see as many a 192 turbines being erected in the central and north-east mainland. They feared the visual impact of the windfarm would deter tourists, although this was disputed by David Thomson of Viking Energy who produced the results of surveys carried out in other parts of the UK that windfarms made no difference. A suggestion was made to give questionnaires on the subject for tour guides to give to tourists.

One week after moving in, Loudenslager found out that a swath of the farm where cows graze and alfalfa grows soon could be cleared to make way for a high-voltage power line. "It's like a punch to the gut," Loudenslager said. "This is where I've wanted to be my whole life." Loudenslager's farm north of Boonsboro sits on one of several routes that have been suggested for the Potomac Appalachian Transmission Highline (PATH), which would run from St. Albans, W.Va., through Bedington, W.Va., to Kemptown, Md., in Frederick County.

The court found the introduction of turbines would detract visually from the area to an unacceptable degree. Ms Godfrey told the hearing in January she was forced to move from her Waubra home because of sleep deprivation, headaches and nausea after turbines began operating.

RYE area farmer and conservationist Phillip Merricks is involved in a High Court challenge to the government decision to allow a wind farm to be built near Camber. Mr Merricks insists the controversial plans would damage protected bird populations if built at Little Cheyne Court, a few miles east of Rye.

The Mexican government is preparing a big wind energy project, but peasant farmers and bird experts aren’t too happy about it. The government’s aim is for wind-generated electricity — which now accounts for just 0.005 percent of the energy generated in Mexico — to reach six percent by 2030. The project has the blessing of some big corporations and environmentalists. Achieving that goal involves setting up more than 3,000 turbines in Mexico’s windiest zone, the Isthmus of Tehuantepec, in the southern state of Oaxaca, as well as several other wind farms around the country with dozens of turbines each. But erecting the windmills, tall towers with a 27-metre blade span, requires negotiating with landowners, most of whom are farmers. Some have complained that they were taken advantage of when the first wind farm was created in 1994. Meanwhile, ornithologiests experts warn that many bird species are at risk of being killed by the giant blades, which could cause an environmental chain reaction across the continent, because various birds are migratory. “Everything is bent towards facilitating the wind farms, but there is not much interest in the birds, which in the long term could bring much broader problems,” RaGBPl Ortiz-Pulido, spokesman for the Mexican office of BirdLife International, told Tierramerica.

Farmers in southern Alberta have filed an appeal with the province against a proposed transmission line that would cut a swath through prime irrigation land, arguing the Montana-Alberta Tie Line does not meet the public interest. A group of 16 landowners, lead by the Lavesta Area Group, want to see the 346-kilometre line between Lethbridge and Great Falls, Mont., rerouted five kilometres east of the provincially and federally approved route.

Bill Durdan has farmed northeast of Grand Ridge for 43 years and often relied on crop dusters. Now, however, he has been told his proximity to wind turbine towers will prevent him from receiving that service. The cost to him could be lost crops and lost revenue, he told the La Salle County Zoning Board of Appeals Tuesday evening. ...Kim Schertz of Hudson, who works in her husband's crop dusting business, said the problem is pilots simply can not safely pull up and make the necessary turns in a wind farm area. "These guys are good, but they're not kamikazes."

The wind was blowing strong in Wells County Thursday night, but not the way the Plan Commission and Apex Wind Energy officials had hoped. ...A little over a dozen people raised their hands when asked who was in favor of the wind farm. Otherwise, almost all of the approximately 100 people that crowded the Southern Wells High School cafeteria were greatly opposed to the idea.

A controversial application for a 14 turbine windfarm in a scenic area of Argyll frequented by young golden eagles will be debated by planners this summer. A proposal by npower renewables to erect a windfarm at Allt Dearg, on moorland south of Lochgilphead overlooking Loch Fyne, was lodged with Argyll and Bute Council a year ago. A host of objections on various grounds came in, including visual impact and the potential adverse impact of the windfarm on golden eagles and other local rare bird species.

Bats are being put in danger by the increasing number of wind turbines in Lincolnshire, it has been claimed. Some conservationists have said turbines in the US and Europe have had a serious impact on bat populations. The Bat Conservation Trust has called for talks with the renewable energy industry for more research ahead of more wind farms being built. But the local Green Party dismissed the idea saying there was no evidence impact was significant.

Spanish energy company Union Fenosa has begun consultations over its plan but residents are fearful and say they are having trouble getting accurate information. Berrybank farmer Graeme Keating said affected residents felt in the dark. "We can't get any information from the company or from the Corangamite Shire,'' he said. "We are trying to get organised to fight this.''

BT has submitted a report to North Devon Council about plans to build three giant wind turbines at Greater Shelfin Farm near Mullacott. ...The proposal has already met strong opposition. Bill Wilson, owner of Mullacott Cross Caravan Park , said: "It would be a huge blot on the landscape blocking views that people come from the city to see.

"Studies show how wind farms attract starfish that eat oysters. If that is true, they will wipe out most of the oyster population here and ruin our tourist industry." Vattenfall has begun a public consultation about its plans to add 17 turbines to the 30 already on the Kentish Flats offshore wind farm.