A submission to list the orange-bellied parrot as critically endangered, could put an end to wind farms in Tasmania, South Australia and Victoria.

MONTEREY— Yet another decision awaits county officials about Highland New Wind Development’s plan to erect a 39-megawatt wind plant atop Allegheny Mountain.

The people of Te Anga and Marakopa happily meet the cost of travelling long distances from their isolated settlements for shopping, entertainment and medical attention.

In the face of mounting international evidence and continued industry denials, Waterloo will become the test site for a noise-monitoring program which may reverberate around the world. Over two months, SA's Environmental Protection Authority will continuously measure the lowest frequency noises from the Waterloo turbines. It will use its powers to force the wind company to co-operate by turning wind turbines on and off so there can be no dispute about background noise.

More than 65 people attended a public meeting about plans for a windfarm in Pica. Wind Prospect Limited wants to erect five 81-metre turbines on land at Fairfield Farm. Villagers from Pica and Distington oppose the windfarm because of noise and the effect on the landscape.

On Friday, Rockford attorney Rick Porter, who is representing Hamilton Township, informed Lee County of the township board's Dec. 11 decision to file an objection to the wind farm, known as the Green River project. ...By Porter's reading of the law, the township's written objection now means the project needs a three-fourths County Board majority for passage.

Ashfield-Colborne-Wawanosh Township Reeve Ben Van Diepenbeek believes council is satisfied with the Environmental Screening Report (ESR) for the Kingsbridge II Wind Power Project. About 15 township residents and 15 representatives from EPCOR, including Paul McMillan, senior vice president of Ontario, and Michael Smith, manager of policy and programs environment, as well as Stantec Consulting Ltd., filled the council chambers on Dec. 19 to hear the review of the ESR.

Aberavon Am Brian Gibbons has joined the chorus of disapproval against plans to bring the UK’s tallest wind turbines to the Afan Valley. Gamesa Energy UK wants to put 14 turbines there. With a 120-metre tower and a 64-metre blade, the structures would stand well over four times the height of Swansea’s big wheel. The planned development consists of four turbines in Glyncorrwg and a further 10 on the Gelli mountain near Croeserw. Dr Gibbons joins opponents including Aberavon MP Hywel Francis who has already spoken out against the proposals.

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. The staff’s statement of position becomes part of the record as the six members of the Utilities Commission consider whether or not to approve an application to build 25 to 28 wind turbines in the Creston community. The Ridge Law contains a limited exception for windmills. Robert Gruber, executive director of the Utilities Commission, said that the staff’s position against the wind farm is based on a previous statement by Attorney General Roy Cooper. In a 2002 letter, Cooper wrote that the term windmills meant only “the traditional, solitary farm windmill which has long been in use in rural communities” and not wind turbines.

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) _ Australia's government says its plans to create the world's largest solar power station by turning a wasteland into a glistening field of mirrors is a step toward making the sun-drenched country a world leader in clean energy. But critics say the government, which is riding on the back of an economic boom driven by sales of Australia's main export, coal, and other resources, is moving too slowly on less-polluting alternatives to fossil fuels and is using clean-energy arguments to launch a nuclear power industry.

Australia's prime minister has backed an electricity and gas company study emphasizing nuclear and coal instead of renewable energy and energy efficiency. As Australia attempts to address greenhouse gas emissions and a need for more energy, Prime Minister John Howard said, The answer is a greater emphasis on clean coal and nuclear power.He was responding to a report by the Energy Supply Association of Australia that said hitting a goal for reducing global warming pollution by 2030 would cost $75 billion, and wind, solar and other non-polluting energy sources would not be enough. It recognizes that while renewables such as solar and wind have a role to play, and we have always argued that, they will not provide the fundamental answer, Howard said. The ESAA is a trade group of Australia's electricity and downstream gas industries, the Sydney Morning Herald reported. The report said Australia should feed between 15 percent and 20 percent of its energy demand by nuclear reactors and rely on natural gas and coal for much of the rest. It is in the interests of the fossil fuel industry to claim that renewable energy and energy efficiency are no solution to climate change and that we must rely instead on an experimental and costly technology, said Christine Milne, a senator with the Green Party.

His neighbours, however, testified at the OMB hearings that they felt the turbine would be invasive and could be dangerous if the tall pole with a turbine on top fell over. Even though the turbine has been designed specifically for residential areas, the OMB said in its June ruling that it supported Findlay's neighbour's concerns.

Voters overwhelmingly opposed the wind tower proposal slated for neighboring Sheffield and Sutton on Tuesday evening. The unanimous opposition provided the town selectmen with precisely the overwhelming sense of direction they lacked last fall. “I think it was clear,” Selectman Robert Croteau said. “It’s not like we only had 25 or 30 people or even 60 or 70.” An estimated 120 voters turned out to make their position, and that of their town, unmistakably clear. That clarity, however, may have little effect on the Public Service Board (PSB), which must decide whether to issue a certificate of public good for the 16 towers UPC Vermont Wind wants to build.

Once upon a time, getting approval for a wind farm in Lee County was relatively simple. Those days are gone. For the latest proposal to build wind turbines, the county had 26 meetings that took up 65 hours.

Steve Gallo, executive director of the Bayonne Municipal Utilities Authority, said he is looking for innovative ways to save money for the city, and reduce the cost of his authority's energy needs. One of these ways, he said, is the possibility of installing modern windmills on BMUA controlled land to harness wind gusts off New York Bay to generate power for the Oak Street pump station. "We are trying to use new technology to find ways of saving our energy costs," Gallo said. "This is evident with the recent installation of solar panels in our schools that makes Bayonne the largest non-power company to supply energy on the east coast." Two years ago, the municipal authority in South Plainfield installed a wind-generated turbine to run a station, and with Bayonne surrounded on three sides, Gallo figures he might be able to do the same things. Windmills have also been successfully installed at Atlantic County Utility Authority, and combined with solar panels it generates enough energy to run the plant.

Closing arguments are expected to begin tonight in the controversial application by Invenergy to allow a 100-turbine wind farm in part of the agricultural areas of McLean and Woodford counties. Attorneys representing Invenergy and opponents will be allowed to speak 20 minutes and people who previously testified and are not represented by attorneys will have five minutes. The meeting will begin at 6 p.m. in Room 400 of the Government Center, 115 E. Washington St.

According to a council representative, the new law limits the height of wind towers to 500 feet (from ground to blade tip), and sets noise levels at 50 decibels. The law creates a zoning district overlay that includes the west side of NYS Route 12 to Depauville and County Route 179, and Depauville to 1,500 feet north of County Route 12 on the east side of NYS Route 12 from just south of Gunns Corners. The application fee is now $50 per MW.

It has been standing room only at the meetings regarding the proposed wind turbine facility that could be built on Big Springs Mountain in Creston. The Ashe County Board of Commissioners approved the first reading of the Ashe County Ordinance to Regulate Wind Energy Systems Monday at their regularly scheduled meeting. The Ordinance will be presented again at the Feb. 19th meeting of the commissioners and can be officially adopted at that time, but because Commissioner Marty Gambill was not at Monday’s meeting it could not be adopted then.

The Government’s energy strategy declares a preference for renewable energy and for emissions trading but comes with two major caveats. One is Energy Minister David Parker’s assurance yesterday that security of supply is paramount. Because of the variability from one year to another in how much rain and snow fall in the catchment of the hydro lakes, and because of the intermittent nature of wind power, that suggests a continuing major role - as Parker confirmed - for thermal generators. The other caveat relates to his oft-stated need to relate the stringency of any measures New Zealand adopts in the longer term to the pace of progress elsewhere in the world.

A state agency charged with protecting the environment holds the key to whether northcentral Montana will become a power mecca with as many as 400 wind turbines erected between Great Falls and Cut Bank along a proposed transmission corridor. The trade-off for losing the undeveloped view, generally paralleling the west side of Interstate 15, would be a steady source of supplemental revenue for landowners and tax revenue for local government. The electricity from the wind farms, however, would be sold to out-of-state power plants, most likely in California, under power-purchase agreements with the wind companies.