A proposed wind farm in Ashe County should not be allowed because it violates the state’s Ridge Law, the public staff of the N.C. Utilities Commission said yesterday. Also yesterday, State Attorney General Roy Cooper filed a notice he intends to intervene in the issue.

The industrialization of the ocean, coastal overdevelopment, contaminated sites and global warming will be among the top environmental issues in the Garden State next year, observers said. "What we're seeing is a gold rush toward energy development in the ocean," said Tim Dillingham, executive director of the American Littoral Society, a Sandy Hook-based coastal conservation coalition. "We gotta take better care of the coast," he said.

The board voted 8-2 today, after two hours of public comment, in favor of Public Service Electric & Gas Co.'s proposed 45-mile, $750 million high-voltage power line project that opponents testified would ravage the land -- hurting flora and fauna -- and damage the region's natural beauty.

A host of New Jersey environmental officials and scientists have lined up against another proposed "wind farm" in the Delaware Bay. In an Aug. 20 letter, Scott Brubaker, an assistant commissioner of the New Jersey state Department of Environmental Protection, listed numerous concerns about Delsea Energy's proposal for a 42 square mile field of wind turbines off the Cumberland County shore.

A large swath off the New Jersey coast will be studied beginning in January to assess wildlife density where offshore windmill farms may be built as an alternative energy source, the state Department of Environmental Protection said Friday. The 18-month survey will focus on the 70 or so miles of coast between Seaside Park in Ocean County and Stone Harbor in Cape May County and extend as far as 20 nautical miles, or 23 miles, offshore. ...Although the study stems from a recommendation from a May 2006 report from the state's blue ribbon panel on developing wind energy farms in New Jersey, Jeff Tittel, executive director of the New Jersey chapter of the Sierra Club, said the research is unnecessary and just delays the construction.

Massachusetts' top historic preservation officer has dealt a setback to the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm, ruling yesterday that the body of water is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places because of its cultural significance for two Native American tribes. In a letter released late in the afternoon, Brona Simon, state historic preservation officer, said she believes that Nantucket Sound is so culturally important to two Wampanoag tribes that it should be eligible to be listed on the National Register as a traditional cultural property.

The Town Board says wind turbines planned for neighboring Prattsburgh come too close to the Naples town line. Board members agreed this month to send a letter asking the state Public Service Commission to intervene and order a developer to move the towers further from town line. "I think the board has made clear, we're not against wind turbines, but we are against the improper siting of towers," Supervisor Frank Duserick said. ...By placing turbines less than 500 feet from the Naples property line, Duserick and Servo argue that the project is creating "reverse zoning" that effectively limits Naples landowners from full use of their property for safety reasons.

A recently released study that concluded fewer than 10 birds die yearly from the three wind turbines on this Maine island paints too rosey a picture, according to biologists with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. ...The study was shoddily done, the letter implies.

Bird and bat deaths caused by wind turbines will be the subject of a national study involving 30 scientists from universities, industry, government and non-governmental organizations.

In public comments submitted to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the NPS said that it is concerned about potential adverse impacts to Block Island's historic South East Lighthouse, the lighthouse's property and its viewshed. The NPS also suggests that additional locations be considered for the wind farm.

Margaret Paren, Chair of the South Downs National Park Authority, said: "We're pleased to see that E.ON has listened to our concerns regarding the visual impact of the Rampion proposal on the South Downs National Park, however we think that there is more to be done especially on the routing of the cables."

According to a May 3, 2007 report by the National Research Council (NRC), the federal government should develop national guidelines to maximize the benefits and minimize the hazards of wind farms. Such federal guidelines, according to the NRC, would help guide local and regional governments in devising wind-energy projects that take into consideration their effects on wildlife, the environment, and scenic landscapes, along with devising guidelines to develop the most effective devices to produce electrical energy.

Mr Guy said while the Liberal Party supported wind farms, there was significant community opposition to the proposal. "The Liberal Party is supportive of wind energy in areas with broad community support and not major destruction of environmental or aesthetic grounds," Mr Guy said. "We are talking about a proposal in Spa Country Australia, one of our biggest tourist attractions and this is clearly going to impact on that area - the Minister for Planning needs to consider that."

"As an island nation it does seem strange that it's taken us more than six decades to start thinking about how we protect our seascapes, these wonderful yet fragile places that mean so much to people," he said. Mr Dyke said offshore wind is a worry.

He said "not a week goes by" without the charity having to fight plans for wind farms that threaten the more than 700 miles of coastline, 28,500 acres of countryside and more than 500 properties owned by the Trust. "Broadly speaking the National Trust is deeply sceptical of this form of renewable energy," he said.

The National Trust for Scotland (NTS) has announced it is to oppose the proposed development of a wind farm on hills surrounding Culzean Castle in Ayrshire.

"We are working very diligently to bring this issue to the attention of the public. We hate to think that it will take hundreds of wind turbines going up in areas around the state, after it's too late to stop them, for the public to wake up and realize that we are ruining the quality of place in the state of Maine."

By a 4-0 vote, with the remaining commissioners absent, the NAHC voted to grant requests by Viejas and Quechan tribes to declare the 12,400 acre Ocotillo wind project site a sanctified Native American sacred site. Further, the commissioners voted unanimously to ask California Attorney General Kamala Harris to research if legal action can be taken.

The discovery poses a clear challenge in the design and maintenance of a major windfarm proposed by Castle & Cooke for Lana'i. The company is working on plans for a $750 million field of wind generators that would ship power to O'ahu via undersea cable. Conventional windmills are cited by opponents of such structures as a threat to migrating birds. It is not clear yet whether it would be possible to site wind generators out of petrel flight paths, or perhaps to manage the windfarm in a way that warns the birds away from danger. On Kaua'i, researchers use radar to identify flight paths of ‘a'o.