Eyesores or clean machines? Environmentalists are split over the giant energy-producing towers popping up in Maryland and other states.

Richard Tamplin, the planning inspector who heard the appeal, ‘applauded’ the ‘dedication and persistence’ of Mr and Mrs Bradford and acknowledged that the urgency of meeting Devon’s renewable energy targets for 2010 weighed very heavily in favour of the proposal. However, he judged the benefits were even more heavily outweighed by the unacceptable harm to the character and appearance of the distinctive local landscape around the appeal site. The adverse impact on the viewpoints of Brent Tor, which he said was ‘such an unusual and special place’, and Pork Hill, ‘would damage the special qualities of the National Park’. The size and motion of the turbines would destroy the fragile quality of this ‘quiet, still landscape’ and would be ‘wholly inappropriate’ to the setting of Brent Tor and the scheduled barrow cemetery on the crest of the Beacon just below. The ‘alien feature’ would also cause ‘significant harm to the longer views’ from the National Park and the Tamar Valley Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. One of the statutory purposes of Dartmoor as a National Park would be compromised. He also considered there would be a significant adverse effect on the residential amenity of people living up to two kilometres from the site.

Heidi Brautigam loves nothing better than horseback riding in Warm Springs Valley, where she has lived for 17 years. But she is worried her rides could become dangerous once big tractor rigs and construction trucks start hauling equipment and materials to build Nevada Wind's proposed wind turbine farm on the northern ridges overlooking the valley, north of Spanish Springs.

Hundreds of Tehachapi residents are trying to ban a wind farm from blowing into their part of town, but Kern County may not have legal grounds to stop the San Diego company that wants to build it. The nearly 700 Tehachapi residents have signed a petition against giant wind generators, but it's not because they're anti-environment. It's quite the opposite. They just don't want the wind farms blowing in their back yards. "If you picture a football field spinning in the air, that's how big they will be," Kassandra McQuillen explained.

"I like the idea of green energy," he says. "I just don't want it on our doorsteps." Residents of the tiny village of Routh objected when they discovered land behind their 26 homes was being earmarked for a wind farm. East Riding Council refused the application, but developers RidgeWind have appealed to the Planning Inspectorate, with further developments expected in the near future. And with E.ON proposing an offshore development off the East Yorkshire coast, the issue of wind farms is set to remain on the agenda. The Routh reaction is identical to those seen in other communities when onshore wind farms are mooted.

A West peer yesterday hit out at the Government's plans to create thousands of “monstrous” wind turbines across the country, all well over twice the size of Nelson's Column. Lord Stoddart of Swindon claimed the towering turbines would be an ugly scar in both the countryside or in shallow waters off the coast while being nowhere near sufficient to cater for the nation's energy requirements. The 82-year-old Independent Labour peer said: “It is not widely realised that the Government's new proposals for the installation of 5,000 wind turbines in Britain requires them to be 400 ft high.”

Up to 5,000 people in North Kerry have limited water supplies today following a landslide of elevated blanket bog in the Stacks Mountains at the weekend which polluted water courses. The landslide reached over two kilometres in length and up to 55m wide place with mud seeping into north Kerry's most important water sources and the rivers Smearlagh and Feale. ...The Stacks area has been designated for wind farm development and locals had claimed there was a risk of landslides in objections to a wind farm which is under construction.

The Palm Springs Planning Commission approved about 50 windmills on Wednesday. ...The turbines would be about 3,000 feet from the Mountain Gate housing community and 2,000 feet from where College of the Desert's west valley campus is planned.

The Government says it wants to cut the red tape and expense involved in generating energy from wind, and insists the new rules will come with strict conditions about noise, size and appearance. But rural campaigners said the changes to the planning system could lead to a 'free-for-all' and warned that the countryside was in danger of being sacrificed in the battle against global warming.

For decades dairy farmers have wrested a living from the Tug -- accepting lives of wind-swept hardship with little prospect of much change. Then, a few years ago, change roared onto Tug Hill. Overnight it seemed, caravans of trucks trundled onto the plateau and for a couple of years the village was ablaze with activity. Today, 195 turbines soar above Tug Hill, 122 metres high, their 40-metre-long blades spinning at 14 revolutions per minute. The $400-million Maple Ridge wind project, the largest in New York state, brought money and jobs and a wondrous sense of prosperity. But the windmills also came with a price -- and not just the visual impact.

It will soon be easier for rural property buyers to find out if a wind farm is planned for next door. The Victorian Government this week agreed to let buyers know where they can get information on current wind farm proposals. Until now, prospective buyers were in the dark over how to get the information. ...The move followed calls by Nationals MP Peter Hall for more transparency on wind-farm proposals. Mr. Hall said property buyers had little hope of finding information about new wind farms, dozens of which are proposed for Victoria.

A proposed wind farm project for Higgins Mountain is causing some concern for the operators of Ski Wentworth and others in the Wentworth Valley-Folly Lake area. "I want to make it clear that we are in favour of renewable energy and all of the benefits that come with it, but we do have some concerns about the proposal that will see 400-foot (120-metre) turbines being erected right across the valley from the ski hill," Ski Wentworth spokeswoman Leslie Wilson said Monday. Ottawa-based 3G Energy Corp. proposes to build 66 turbines along a seven-kilometre stretch of the Cobequid Mountains. They would be on a ridge on the opposite side of the valley from the ski hill. The project is among the largest ever proposed for Nova Scotia.

Wind energy advocates want the Douglas administration to lift its ban on large-scale wind projects on state-owned land. The advocates say Vermont needs to explore all options as it looks for new energy resources. But Governor Jim Douglas remains opposed to the idea VPR's John Dillon reports:

In evidence to the Central Otago District Council last year Meridian acknowledged the turbines each of which will have a rotor roughly the size of a Boeing 747 would have an adverse visual impact on the nearby Paerau Valley. But it produced photographic mock-ups suggesting that from other vantage points the mountain block on which they would be arrayed would remain the dominant visual feature. However, Sydney says the windfarm will "industrialise" the landscape for vast distances. "What happens when you put that number of wind turbines of that size in the landscape is that they actually become the landscape. You don't see anything else really."

Bedford Borough Council rejected the scheme saying the scale of the turbines would impact on nearby homes, historic park land and an ancient monument.

Following complaints from farmers, the U.S. Department of Energy is now planning its toughest environmental review of a proposed $120 million power transmission line between Great Falls and Lethbridge, Alberta.... Wind farm developers have said the line is critical to construction of their projects. To date, three companies have signed up to use capacity on the line to ship power from wind farms they're planning between Great Falls and the Canadian border.

An Allendale East dairy farmer says he is not prepared to pull his blinds down to keep flashing lights out at night, nor will he put up with the endless noise of humming wind turbines if the proposed Allendale Wind Farm goes ahead on his doorstep. Richard Paltridge told The Border Watch he strongly objects to the multi-million dollar green power project with 49 turbines, which is currently awaiting approval before construction can start next year. "I love this area, it's beautiful and I don't want the scenery spoiled by high towers when I am going to have 13 turbines within close view," he said.

Alternative energy advocates and residents opposed to giant wind turbines overlooking their homes in Warm Springs Valley are expected to square off when Nevada Wind's proposed wind farm comes before the Washoe County Planning Commission on Tuesday. ...No matter what the planning commission decides, the project is expected to be appealed to the Washoe County Commission.

An energy developer from New York is moving forward with a project to build a gargantuan wind farm along the Columbia River in Gilliam and Morrow counties. If built out as proposed, Shepherd's Flat wind farm would be the largest in the Northwest and more than double the size of any individual wind project under development in Oregon. It would include as many as 303 wind turbines, some stretching 500 feet tall. At peak capacity, the project could generate up to 909 megawatts ...It would include 57 miles of new access roads, two substations, six meteorological towers, 17 miles of high-voltage transmission lines and another 103 miles of collector transmission lines. The application lists about 25 landowners within the site or within 500 feet of its boundaries.

Alternative power is all the rage but even a magic bullet can draw blood. Dave Bidini visits Ontario's bucolic Wolfe Island, where an Alberta firm wants to build a $410-million wind farm, bigger than any now operating in Canada. Many residents are bitter - their home is a major stopover for species that migrate in the dark, 'when you can't see the birds getting chopped out of the sky'