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.

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.

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.

As many as 30 natives in a convoy - some wearing traditional garb and waving native flags - interrupted work at several turbine and substation construction sites. ...Josie Hernandez, spokesperson for NextEra, confirmed that the protest was motivated in part by her company's removal of an eagle's nest near Fisherville two weeks ago.

The pieces of the tower that will support the wind turbine to be built in the coming weeks at Mark Richey Woodworking are so massive, they dwarf the humans preparing them to reach skyward. Once assembled, the tower alone would serve as the tallest structure in Greater Newburyport. ...The group has started a Web site, BackBayWind.org, that links to research video showing the potential hazards of these massive turbines, from health hazards to safety fears. One video shows a turbine collapsing in the wind.

About 180 people attended the meeting this evening at West Shore Community College to hear more about a plan for and voice their thoughts on 100 to 200 wind turbines in Lake Michigan offshore in an area from about the Ludington Pumped Storage Plant to the Silver Lake area. Most who spoke were against the proposal.

Scott Logan felt fortunate when he and his wife found their home in rural Goodhue County. "This is the place literally I want to die in. We've got the walking trails down here, the quality of life is great and the neighbors are great,"he said. But now Logan is worried that the home life he has come to enjoy is in jeopardy. A 75-megawatt wind development has been proposed in the area that includes 52 wind turbines.

A community meeting to clear the air about Houston-based Chevron Global Power's proposed wind farm kicked up clouds about county regulations and company behavior at the Evansville school on Tuesday evening. ..."The issue is about you," responded Charlie Miller of the Elkhorn Creek Ranch LLC, whose property shares the southern fence line of the site. "Nobody wants this except you people," Miller said later. "Take it back to Houston with you."

In the Aroostook County town of Mars Hill, 28 wind turbines will soon be generating electricity. Even before they begin commercial operation, however, the windmills are generating considerable controversy. The biggest issue is noise.

At a public meeting last week, residents of Ludington and Pentwater were unhappy, saying the spinning blades would ruin their vista and shoo away tourists and the money they bring to the area. There also are environmental concerns about how the noise and low-frequency hum the turbines make might affect bird and fish migration patterns. ..."It was shocking," said Mary Stiphany of Pentwater.

The biggest challenge to the proposed 1.5-megawatt wind turbine in Falmouth Technology Park may not come from the 14 local, state, and federal agencies that Notus Clean Energy LLC needs approval from. Instead it may come from nearby residents who are concerned that the machine will negatively impact their views, lower their property values, create noise pollution, and potentially cause health problems to those in the neighborhood.

Gov. Jennifer Granholm has dreams of bringing as many as 4,000 wind turbines to Michigan, making it the nation's 14th windiest state and a major player in wind power to attract green jobs and investment. But some people who have turbines as neighbors are pushing back against the winds of change, the Detroit Free Press reported Sunday.

One community is united as they fight to block what a neighbor wants to build in his backyard. It's a battle that has been going on for several months. One man wants a wind turbine, his neighbors saying, not in our neighborhood. Now other surrounding communities are joining the fight.

The concerns voiced about the windmills at the meeting revolved not around the turbines themselves, but their location. As they will be placed in a largely residential area, neighboring residents were worried about the noise, turbine blades - the windmills will be approximately 100 meters tall, most likely using 41-meter blades - and flickering.

They were never officially notified by the high school, nor the Historic District Commission or any other town regulatory agency, about the project and its location. Others in the area are concerned about the impact of noise, while the father of one high-school student called the siting so close to the school and athletic fields "reckless and irresponsible."

The people living closest to the new wind farm at Browns Mountain near Merigomish want the project halted so wind energy can be studied more closely. If that doesn't happen, they want a guarantee of financial compensation if their property values plummet, the noise of 30 turbines affects their health, construction damages their water supply or the project involves any other negative effects. Such problems have occurred in other places, said a spokeswoman for the Eco Awareness Society.

As Cohocton wind turbines are being built skyward, local projects are still on the road to final approval. The Steuben County Industrial Development Agency will discuss projects in Cohocton and Howard at its next board meeting, Dec. 20, according to Executive Director Jim Sherron. The board will mull over the final project resolution on the 51-turbine Cohocton and Dutch Hill projects at the meeting, and Sherron believes the board will put it to a vote. ...One project that has been quiet lately is the proposed Airtricity project in Hartsville and Hornellsville. According to Sherron and Airtricity Project Manager Bob Sherwin, the project is currently stalled.

The proposal is renewing concerns raised by some western Maryland resident about the state's first two wind projects, in particular the towering windmills' proximity to homes and their potential to kill birds and bats, including one listed as endangered in Maryland. Some also worry that construction of this project could clear a large swath of forest and harm the nearby Savage River, one of Maryland's premier trout streams.

Angry householders are demanding an explanation for what they claim is "appalling" treatment at the hands of developers building a 12-turbine wind farm at Newland. Work has been started on the site at Pease Farm and Rusholme Grange by developers Wind Prospect on behalf of the French power company EDF Energy Renewables.

“The hypocrisy of this provincial government is absolutely stunning. The timing of the approval announcement is another slap in the face for rural Ontario—the government is saying, we don’t care what people want, or what's right, we’re helping big business push this through.”