Opposition to wind turbines in Pigeon Bay has even reached the Ontario legislature. Last week MPP Bruce Crozier presented a petition signed by "thousands" of area residents opposed to any wind generating projects in the bay. And despite the mounting pressure on the government, the company behind the proposal says it will be answering all the questions its detractors have raised.

Prowind's plans for Gunn's Hill Road have drawn plenty of public outcry and opposition from those saying the large wind turbines with their low-frequency vibrations and stray voltage cause health problems for nearby residents. The movement there grew into the Oxford Wind Action Group, a member of Wind Concerns Ontario -- both are lobby groups opposed to the development of industrial wind farms near residences.

Miniature wind turbines will eventually become part of the urban landscape and should be allowed in a residential Ottawa area under strict conditions, an Ontario Municipal Board hearing was told Thursday.

Although they gave the conditional go-ahead to a six-turbine wind project, Chatham-Kent council still wants answers. The Harwich Wind Farm, from Wind Prospect Inc. and another partner, received zoning approval Monday night. However, a letter from the neighbour of a different project was brought up at the table.

Local municipalities need to retain some control over where solar and wind energy projects are located, the County of Simcoe insists. ..."The speed at which this new legislation is being introduced, and the relatively short period of time provided for public consultation, leaves us with concerns at the potential implications"

Taking a last-minute vacation to Cuba and looking to ease your conscience? Don't buy carbon offsets, says Mark Jaccard. Those wind turbines you are helping to fund in India could be improving people's lives. But they aren't likely to save the warming atmosphere from the extra load of carbon dioxide your flight is set to release.

Local wind energy developer Allan Kettles failed to get any further with his application for a small windfarm north of Pincher Creek earlier this week. ...MD Councillor Rod Zielinski pointed to a series of typographical errors in Kettles application for a six-turbine windfarm last month. Planning commission members also expressed concern that some information was missing from the application, which would help them to make a decision on the merit of the project. As a result they requested Kettles fill in the blanks and make the necessary corrections before they reviewed it again.

Most residents don't have a problem with the naturalizing and creation of green initiatives, but some are protesting the installation of the wind turbine, which will stand 33 feet tall with six-foot blades, while other issues in the neighbourhood remain unaddressed. "We have been told by the town we can't have things like traffic lights and crossing guards because they are not in the budget, but, now, they are going to put in a wind turbine," resident Hailey Stevenson said, pointing out the community is built around a four-lane highway. "I feel like I'm choking. I can't even get my kids across the street."

The Ontario government's pledge to remove barriers to renewable energy projects is being viewed warily by Municipality of Bluewater Mayor Bill Dowson. The province's proposed Green Energy Act, announced in late February, aims to promote green energy projects like solar and wind farms, and may include province-wide standards for where such facilities can be located, overruling municipal bylaws.

The Township of Madawaska Valley Council has slapped a moratorium on the approval of any wind turbine projects until next year's municipal elections, at which time voters will have a chance to vote on the wind farm issue in a referendum question attached to their ballots. The move came after an at-times heated debate on the issue at Monday night's regular council meeting.

With council chambers overflowing with an equal mix of supporters and opponents of wind turbines, an attempt Monday to temporarily halt all projects in the Town of Essex failed in a 5-2 vote. The vote means the town could be receiving requests to approve official plan amendments and zoning bylaw changes for a $100-million, 24-turbine wind project southwest of Harrow within the next few weeks.

The wind farm issue was front and centre at last week's Township of Madawaska Valley council and tempers flared over claims that the township had prevented a woman from giving a presentation on the effects that wind turbines have on human health. Carmen Krogh, who in past weeks has spoken at several venues, is a pharmacist who says she has experienced the detrimental impact on her health that being close to wind turbines has had.

Essex Council got an eye opener on Monday night as health experts from around Ontario and the UK discussed Ontario's noise regulations. An overflow crowd of around 200 people packed the Civic Center to discuss their health concerns towards the potential wind turbines to be placed throughout the county. There is a wind farm proposal in Amherstburg near Malden Centre. There were residents of Amherstburg in attendance at the meeting.

"I think that if they want to get something going, they could do a partial lifting of the orange zone and allow the capacity that is available today to be produced by wind energy," Estill said in a recent interview. "If there's a problem with any of the nuclear units, as there often is, or if the refurbishment is started on another nuclear unit, to me, it's pretty darn good odds that not everything is going to be producing at the same time and they would be able to use the existing [transmission] capacity," Estill said.

Ontario's noise regulations for wind turbines are among the weakest in the world and current distance setbacks from homes should be tripled or more, a public meeting was told Monday. About 200 people crowded the Essex Civic Centre to hear experts from across the province debate the health effects of wind turbines. Using teleconferencing, some spoke from as far away as the United Kingdom. The meeting got a little rowdy at times with some Town of Essex councillors trading barbs with taunting spectators.

Ontario's noise regulations for wind turbines are among the weakest in the world and current distance setbacks from homes should be tripled or more, a public meeting was told Monday. About 200 people crowded the Essex Civic Centre to hear experts from across the province debate the health effects of wind turbines. Using teleconferencing, some spoke from as far away as the United Kingdom.

Municipalities will lose the power to decide how close wind turbines can be to residential properties and environmentally sensitive areas under proposed green-energy legislation being tabled Monday. The new rules, a blow to NIMBYism, will also ensure that developers of wind and other renewable-energy projects get construction permits within six months. It's all part of Premier Dalton McGuinty's plan to streamline approvals for such projects ...

The Town of Essex is hosting the first local attempt to convene a group of experts to debate the health risks of wind turbines and appropriate remedies. The meeting at 6 p.m. Monday at the Civic Centre will also hear from residents who have lived among wind farms already built in the province, and from representatives of project developers.

Lakeshore council chambers were filled to capacity when council voted 6-2 in favour of re-zoning five parcels of land east of the Naylor Sideroad, to allow the installation of five wind turbines that will make up the Naylor Wind farm. Several people spoke to council, some against the Gengrowth project and some for it. Many of the speakers who were in favour of the wind energy project were property owners who expect to have turbines on their land. Compensation for these turbines will amount to about $10,000 a year for each landowner.

Caught in the political crosswinds of the alternative energy debate, Innisfil council is waiting for the province and the county to make the next move. The Town was about to hire a consultant to help it develop planning standards for wind turbines, solar power and other clean energy initiatives. However, councillors decided to hold off until senior levels of government carve out their own policies.