www.windaction.org

Research documents Lesser Prairie Chickens
March 26, 2013 in Texas Tech University

"What people need to understand is that it's not just prairie chickens. It's really the inter-connectedness of these biotic communities," Boal said. "When we have indicators like a prairie chicken, and there's something going wrong, that's an indication of that biotic community as a whole. We need to think about, ‘what is the world we want to live in?'

Also filed under [ Impact on Wildlife| Impact on Birds]

Industry works to avoid listing of prairie grouse
February 12, 2013 by Associated Press in The Daily Times

Oil, gas and wind energy producers are working to persuade federal wildlife officials not to enact protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a move that could force them to halt or significantly alter their operations to protect the species' dwindling grassland habitat.

Also filed under [ Impact on Wildlife| Impact on Birds]

Wind industry secures tax credit, but damage may be done
January 4, 2013 in KERA News

The wind energy industry is dependent on something even more unpredictable than wind: Congress. Hidden in the turmoil over the "fiscal cliff" compromise was a tax credit for wind energy.

Also filed under [ Tax Breaks & Subsidies]

Environmentalists criticize federally backed Texas offshore wind project
December 14, 2012 by Simone Sebastian in Fuel Fix

In a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers in May, a top Texas Parks and Wildlife official said his agency had serious concerns about the project. "Numerous federal and state-listed threatened and endangered species and species of concern have been documented within or near the proposed corridors within which transmission lines would be constructed."

Also filed under [ Impact on Wildlife]

E.ON Sells Half of U.S. Wind Parks to PensionDanmark
October 8, 2012 by Peter Levring in Bloomberg News

EON AG agreed to sell a 50 percent stake in three U.S. wind farms to Danish pension fund PensionDanmark as Germany's biggest utility seeks to free up capital. ..."The return is very similar to what we can get on listed equities, though with a very limited downside risk," thanks to fixed prices negotiated on the power generated by the turbines over the next 15 years."

Also filed under [ General| Pennsylvania]

South Texas wind farm developers cautious as tax credit expires
September 30, 2012 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller

Expiration of the credit would have a significant impact on development of about 80 turbines near Petronila in Nueces County, said Patrick Woodson, chief operating officer for Germany-based E.On Climate & Renewables in North America. The company wants to build in 2013.

Also filed under [ Tax Breaks & Subsidies]

Texas wind boom threatened by expiring tax credit
September 14, 2012 by Kate Galbraith in Texas Tribune

Some wind experts think the credit extension will ultimately pass Congress, albeit after the November election ...others do not, and the industry is left to bemoan the difficulty of long-term planning. A one-year extension could mean the wrangling resumes next year. Hornaday said that Texas could benefit more than other states from a one-year extension because there are fewer rules here, making wind farms easier to build.

Also filed under [ Tax Breaks & Subsidies]

Wind energy industry faces stiff headwind; Projects race against deadline for tax credit
July 15, 2012 by Kevin Welch in Amarillo Globe-News

Two large wind energy projects in the Texas Panhandle are racing against a looming Dec. 31 deadline when a critical federal tax credit expires, threatening to toss an already tumbling industry into freefall. Project leaders are confident about the immediate future, but they and the companies that build the components used in wind farms are worried about next year.

Also filed under [ General]

Potential loss of tax credit becalms wind industry
July 11, 2012 by Simone Sebastian in Houston Chronicle

Many supporters are optimistic that the credit will be renewed, but doubt it will happen before the November election. And a last-minute deal probably won't prevent mass casualties for the U.S. wind power business. "Most of the damage has already been done," said Matt DaPrato, senior analyst for IHS Emerging Energy Research. "There's going to be a big drop-off in 2013 either way."

Also filed under [ Tax Breaks & Subsidies]

Naval Air Station Fort Worth worried about wind turbines
June 9, 2012 by Chris Vaughn in Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Proposed wind developments in California are similarly causing heartburn for the Defense Department. "The Navy fully embraces green energy," Bennett said. "But it needs to be compatible development so that we can maintain our training capabilities. That's where the discussion has to start."

Also filed under [ Safety]

Wind farms may have warming effect: research
April 29, 2012 by Nina Chestney in Reuters

"We attribute this warming primarily to wind farms," the study said. The temperature change could be due to the effects of the energy expelled by farms and the movement and turbulence generated by turbine rotors, it said. "These changes, if spatially large enough, may have noticeable impacts on local to regional weather and climate," the authors said.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape]

Large wind farms raise temperature near ground
April 29, 2012 by Robert Lee Hotz in Wall Street Journal

Despite long-standing interest in the environmental impacts of such large-scale alternative energy installations, this is the first time anyone has measured how wind turbines can alter local temperatures over the long term, the scientists said. So far, the scientists don't know if these higher temperatures affect local rainfall or other weather patterns.

Also filed under [ Impact on Landscape]

Army Corps launches study of proposed South Texas offshore wind farms
March 15, 2012 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times

The first public meeting on the project is planned for March 28 in Brownsville. The Corps is accepting public comments that will help define the scope of its environmental study, which is expected to be complete by the end of 2014. Environmental groups are tracking the project and have raised concerns about the turbines' effects on birds and sea life.

Also filed under [ General]

In Texas, Ambivalence Over Wind Tax Credit Extension
February 15, 2012 by Kate Galbraith in The Texas Tribune

Texas has a commanding lead over other states in wind power production, as turbines supply 8 percent of the state grid's power. But the looming expiration of a federal tax credit jeopardizes the boom - and Texas' congressional delegation, for the most part, does not appear to be clamoring loudly to save it.

Also filed under [ Tax Breaks & Subsidies]

State to seek reimbursement of up to $2 million in wind farm fraud case
October 17, 2011 by Tony Plohetski in American Statesman

Court filings said that Malouff and Woodall conspired to illegally obtain up to $2 million in federal stimulus money by overselling the company's ability to deliver electricity-generating wind turbines for Jonestown.

Also filed under [ General]

Business owner, state employee arrested on fraud charges
October 15, 2011 by Tony Plohetski in American Statesman

Malouff, the founder of CM Energies and owner of CM Energies International, had said in the application that he would use $2 million of federal stimulus money to help build about 20 wind turbines in the city of Jonestown, according to an arrest affidavit. However, witnesses reported that the company could not produce the wind turbine technology and that the technology Malouff was promoting "did not exist."

Also filed under [ General]

EPA regulation forces closure of Texas energy facilities, eliminates 500 jobs
September 12, 2011 by Matthew Boyle in The Daily Caller

"We have hundreds of employees who have spent their entire professional careers at Luminant and its predecessor companies," Luminant CEO David Campbell said in a statement. "...we have tried to minimize these impacts, and it truly saddens me that we are being compelled to take the actions we've announced today."

Also filed under [ General]

Public meeting addresses issue of wind turbines and bird deaths
September 9, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times

Lanoue and his wife, Linda, came to ask federal officials to press the industry to report more information about bird deaths at wind farms, echoing a common complaint from wildlife advocates who say the industry hasn't done enough to measure the effect of turbines on birds.

Also filed under [ Impact on Wildlife| Impact on Birds]

New plan aims to reduce bird, wind turbine conflicts from Corpus Christi to Canada
September 7, 2011 by Mark Collette in Corpus Christi Caller Times

The plan would provide conservation guidelines for development of wind farms across a 200-mile-wide migratory flyway from the Gulf of Mexico to North Dakota and Montana. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is holding an informational and public input meeting Thursday at the American Bank Center, the last in an initial series of meetings across the plan area.

Also filed under [ Impact on Wildlife]

Wind energy company proposes massive leases off South Texas coast
June 17, 2011 by Mike D. Smith in Corpus Christi Caller Times

An alternate, 45,000-acre site was negotiated with the Texas General Land Office in case of any concerns that may arise about Naval Air Station Corpus Christi operations, Baryonyx's senior vice president of offshore wind projects Mark Leyland said.

Also filed under [ General]

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