A Springhill Township man concerned that his sound recording equipment may be rendered useless if a proposed wind turbine project is built near his home brought his concerns Tuesday to the Fayette County commissioners. Thomas John Bozek III, who lives on Wymps Gap Road, asked the commissioners to "consider the people the proposed project is going to affect." "I'm asking you to protect my investment, my property and my life. All I want to do is be left alone and play my music," Bozek said.

There will be a little more room near the shores of Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair, as Chatham- Kent council tweaked its wind turbine setbacks Monday. Setbacks -- or minimum distances from a structure or site -- have been a source of controversy since wind energy companies first showed an interest in the municipality. Tom Storey of Storey Samways Planning provided a report with recommendations and comparisons to other centres with turbines. ...Chatham Coun. Doug Sulman offered a successful amendment to increase the setback around all of Lake Erie and Lake St. Clair to one kilometre instead of 500 metres.

Some of the protesters who attended the meeting to oppose the new turbine Safety fears have been raised over plans to build a 400ft wind turbine next to a quiet residential area. Concerned residents packed a meeting yesterday to discuss the proposals to put the £2million turbine at Princes Soft Drinks factory in Weaverthorpe Road, Tong, Bradford. It has been hailed as a 21st century landmark for the city and a way of dramatically cutting carbon emissions from one of the district's major businesses. But organisers of the meeting, at Tong Conservative Club yesterday, claim residents could be put in danger if the turbine is allowed.

Controversial proposals are being drawn up to place a wind farm outside an historic South Lakeland village. The 80m height of the proposed wind turbines, nearing that of Big Ben, means they would also be seen from the neighbouring villages of Haverthwaite, Cark, Greenodd and Backbarrow and from as far away as Grange, Ulverston and Coniston. Opposition to the plans, which are expected to be submitted for planning approval next spring, is beginning to gain momentum, as news of the scheme filters through to residents. ..."This country has spent thousands removing pylons that scarred our landscape and putting the cables underground. "Why haven't we learned from that mistake?"

Mayor Steve Toms said the biggest issue the DCP set guidelines for was the setback distance for unrelated houses from turbines. "The two kilometres setback was a benchmark set up by other councils but certainly takes into account noise and aesthetic studies," he said. "Obviously there are rules in place but there is a certain amount of controversy with how noise affects residents. "The scale of these towers is rather higher than normal at 125 to 130 metres but we felt 2km to be a reasonable benchmark."

Tourists have long treked to the region to see the Niagara River plunge as far as 188 feet over the Horseshoe and American falls. But what if windmills taller than the falls is deep soared above the city's skyline? A company founded by Sabres owner B. Thomas Golisano has approached city leaders about building wind turbines on old industrial sites in the city. While the company sees economic opportunity, the prospect exists for millions of tourists to see windmills on the horizon of Niagara Falls. "The issue for us is one more of aesthetics than anything else," said Thomas J. DeSantis, senior planner for the city. "Is it OK to put a 600-foot wind generating station at Falls and First streets? Probably not. "I think because we're Niagara Falls, and because we have certain scenic and national resources that are important to us, that we'll want to try to protect them in some small way, we'll want to look at those issues."

When Joseph Betz of Cape Carteret bought property near Bogue Field, he moved into his home expecting to hear the sound of military aircraft flying overhead. That was his choice. But Betz said the Golden Wind Farm project proposed for a community in Down East Carteret County would be an imposition for which residents haven't asked. "For the people down there, it is not an existing condition," he said. ...Betz said the proposed plans by Nelson and Dianna Paul of Raleigh could put turbines of 350 feet or more, which he described as "monstrous," in the middle of the community. "This is not a couple of hundred-foot windmills; these are massive structures," he said.

As Florida Power & Light Co. gets closer to a public hearing on its wind turbine plan, skeptics of the project have plenty of questions left unanswered. What about the effect on birds? Or sea turtles? And why put turbines in St. Lucie County in the first place? Nick Blount, external affairs manager for FPL on the Treasure Coast, tried to answer some of those questions from about 20 members of the St. Lucie County Conservation Alliance on Wednesday night and promised to try to find answers to others raised by residents. "I respect people's opinion about our wind project, but what I do want to do is tell our side of the story," Blount said. "That's what we want."

It is a rare lunar spectacle whose significance dates back to ancient times, drawing visitors to the Isle of Lewis from across the world. But now the druids, pagans and witches who gather at the Callanish Stones fear the next time they visit their treasured view of the Moon could be ruined by a 53-turbine wind farm. ...Beinn Mhor Power plans to build turbines on the Eisgein Estate in Lewis, some of them on the Old Woman of the Moors. One would be built on a lump that looks like her knee, and others would be on the skyline. Archeologist Ian McHardy said the lunar phenomenon is mentioned in the Historic Scotland guidebook for the area. "I think it's an integral part of Callanish and should have been afforded higher protection. The wind turbines would be a significant part of the view."

Many of the landowners whose property abuts the Beaver Ridge windmill project met at the Beaver Ridge Road home of Sally Hadyniak Saturday afternoon to voice some concerns about the windmill project and explain why they want the town to reinstate its commercial development review ordinance. ...[Resident Jeff] Keating explained at Saturday's press conference that he wants to see in writing that the builders of the project, formerly referred to as Competitive Energy Services (CES) but now known as Beaver Ridge Wind LLC, will abide by the standards set forth in the ordinance. Originally, CES had worked with the town while it created the ordinance but, according to the abutters, were ultimately unwilling to make the windmill project meet the ordinance's guidelines, and encouraged the town to get rid of the ordinance after it had been enacted.

The Glen Innes Severn council has officially adopted a new policy governing the development of wind farms. ..."The critical issue that received wide support from the community is a recommended two kilometre buffer distance from non-related dwellings,' he said. "So those properties than don't have a turbine or wind farm on them ... council's asking for those applicants to understand that's the distance we'd be requiring."

A decision by the Fayette County commissioners to intervene in a lawsuit about a proposed wind turbine project and how the proceeds of the impending hotel tax will be distributed dominated public comment during Thursday's monthly meeting. Numerous people wearing "Fayette TNT, Trees Not Turbines" shirts spoke to the commissioners to express concern about a decision by Commissioners Vincent Zapotosky and Angela M. Zimmerlink to intervene in the case that involves appeal of denial that would have allowed construction of 18 wind-powered turbines in Georges and Springhill townships.

Elkins City Council chambers was packed Wednesday afternoon for a West Virginia Public Service Commission public hearing as people spoke for and against the AES proposed windfarm project on Laurel Mountain. The meeting started with Chris Callas, the attorney representing AES, and WVPSC Staff Lawyer Carrie DeHaven presenting opening statements. ...WVPSC Chairman Michael Albert then opened the public hearing portion of the meeting. Those for the project were matched about evenly against those against the project. Twenty-two people took the time to speak to the WVPSC - 10 spoke in favor of the project, 11 against the project and a representative from the Randolph County Airport Authority stated the authority was not for or against the project but wanted further investigation conducted to see how the project could affect the airport.

A community completely and bitterly divided over proposals for wind turbines is how Marshland St James was described in Parliament. MP for North West Norfolk Henry Bellingham called into question the efficiency of small clusters of onshore turbines. He said: "Putting small clusters of eight, nine or 10 turbines onshore does untold environmental damage, for very little gain ...Government subsidies are effectively being used by developers to achieve what is known locally as the Tesco factor: if one has enough money and one keeps coming back, one will eventually overwhelm the planning inspectorate - and even persuade local people, who have to use their own money to appeal, that it is not worth the fight."

From the early 1980s through the early ‘90s, California was the national leader in wind energy development and power produced by wind farms. ...Are the turbines benefiting one aspect of the environment at the expense of another? Longtime Snow Creek resident Les Starks calls the wind farms "industrial slums" - claiming the windmills have displaced wildlife and degraded the quality of life for nearby residents. "There was a canyon near Whitewater Canyon that used to have thousands of bats," says Starks, "and now you don't see any." He's also noticed a decline in turkey buzzards migrating through the pass. ...With wind energy having been harnessed in the Desert for nearly three decades, the next few years will determine its future here. Presently, it accounts for just two percent of California's portfolio. That number surely will rise along with new and bigger windmills - love them or hate them.

When an Appanoose woman sought to erect a wind-power generator at her home a year ago, Larry Walrod, county planner, discovered there were no regulations regarding the generators and their towers. To allow her to put up a tower, planners had to design a backdoor path to grant her a special use permit through a provision that allows utilities to operate in the county. The procedure spurred several inquiries from other people interested in putting up their own wind generators, Walrod said. ...Few counties in Kansas have rules one way or another concerning wind-generators and, for the most part, are concerned with giant commercial wind farms, such as those in western Kansas, Walrod said.

People in a cluster of the North's former mining villages are preparing to speak out against plans to build a 13-turbine wind farm. Scottish Power subsidiary CRE Energy wants to erect the 121m-high turbines on farmland west of the Alcan aluminium complex at Lynemouth, which would be 40 metres taller than the smelter's landmark chimneys. ...Castle Morpeth councillors rejected the CRE Energy application a year ago, claiming the turbines will be excessive and over-dominant in the flat, coastal landscape. But the company has said it is confident of succeeding with its appeal. Its original bid for 16 turbines was scaled down because of local opposition.

Navajo Nation leaders are well aware that coal has fallen from favor in thisage of global warming. But to them, plans for a new power plant on the reservation mean more than rising temperatures and climate patterns. To them it is survival. The proposed Desert Rock Energy Project in northwestern New Mexico could add $50 million in revenue to their annual budget of about $130 million, excluding government contracts, and bring 1,000 construction jobs and 400 permanent positions to the plant and expanded mine. advertisement Environmentalists on and off the reservation are fighting the plans, saying that the region already suffers enough air pollution from existing coal plants and mines. They say the poverty-stricken tribe could see a bigger economic boost from developing wind and solar energy.

A dispute over transmission lines for the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm landed in court this week. ...Barnstable officials filed a complaint in Barnstable Superior Court Wednesday claiming the Cape Cod Commission has exclusive jurisdiction over the transmission cables that would link the turbines to the shoreline. In October, the commission rejected a plan to have the transmission cables make landfall in Barnstable, and Cape Wind appealed that decision to the state Energy Facilities Siting Board. In the complaint filed Wednesday, Barnstable officials contend the state Energy Facilities Siting Board does not have the authority to review the commission's denial of the transmission lines.

Hamlin residents weighed in on the possibility of a wind farm going up in their town. It would be the first in Monroe County. Town officials are proposing the turbines be set 1,200 feet from homes and 600 feed from the road. Many residents say they want them at least 1,700 feet back. ..."It doesn't belong in our town," said Hamlin resident Diana Hanley. "We have a wonderful town and this is just dividing it. If something divides this many people then it cannot be right." That is what concerns New York State Senator Jim Alesi. The republican believes wind farms would pit neighbor against neighbor and town against town. So Alesi has proposed a statewide moratorium until there is a comprehensive review.