The American Wind Energy Association claims it is wind power that creates the most jobs per kilowatt hour. One oft-cited statistic is that there are 27% more jobs per kilowatt-hour from wind than from coal, and 66% more from wind than from natural gas. ..."To the extent it's true, it illustrates these technologies aren't that efficient."

The chairman of the U.S. House committee that oversees the Coast Guard has asked that service to delay issuing a recommendation on the proposed Cape Wind project in Nantucket Sound. U.S. Rep. James Oberstar, D-Minnesota, further said he is considering holding hearings on the issue, "given that any action taken on this project will set a precedent for all future offshore renewable energy projects."

The Coast Guard has given conditional approval to the Cape Wind Associates plan to build a wind turbine farm on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. In a conference call Friday morning, Capt. Raymond Perry, captain of the port for southeastern New England, said his analysis of a study of the impact of the 130-turbine array on navigation shows those effects could be mitigated.

To find out what effects, if any, large scale wind farms might have on wind patterns, Daniel Barrie and Daniel Kirk-Davidoff of the University of Maryland concocted an experiment. ...On average, the mammoth installation lowered wind speeds by 2-3 meters per second (5.5-6.7 miles per hour) immediately downwind. But the turbines also disrupted air currents on a large scale that rippled out like waves across the northern hemisphere.

Wind development in New York has hit a bit of turbulence. The nationwide financial crisis has put the brakes on a wind farm under construction in northern New York and another developer has aborted possible projects in eastern and central New York after trouble securing land. And wind energy companies are now being asked to abide by a code of ethics by Attorney General Andrew Cuomo.

General Electric Co., the world's biggest maker of power-generation equipment, may delay delivery of new wind turbines as some customers are finding it harder to finance energy projects. "We haven't seen any cancellations but we have had discussions with some customers on the financial situation ...Some are looking for delays in delivery because there may be some uncertainty about renewable energy incentives or questions about how they will get financing for projects.''

Theolia SA, the French wind-power company part-owned by General Electric Co., dropped the most in more than five years in Paris trading after abandoning financial and operational targets. ..."Theolia is getting short of cash,'' Exane BNP Paribas analyst Yohann Terry, who has an "underperform'' rating on the shares, said today in a report. "We believe it will be difficult for the company to create significant value'' from its pipeline of wind-power projects.

Tontine Associates, the once gilt-edged hedge fund that collapsed rapidly over the past two months in the wake of the market's carnage, was renowned for its massive and highly contrarian bets in industries like home-building and steel manufacturing. ...Last week, however, the combination of big bets gone south and prime brokers demanding repayment for loans forced Gendell to announce to investors that he was shutting two of his main portfolios ...But at the center of the Tontine maelstrom is a less well-known series of trades in alternative energy stocks, especially those related to wind turbines, that played a key role in the both the fund's recent success and its collapse.

Canada is the biggest exporter of oil to the United States, and one might expect environmentalists to cheer the prospect of exchanging a little of our dependence on foreign oil for dependence on foreign wind. But some fear that a flood of clean power from Canada will undercut New England's efforts to become a national leader in green energy and technology. Jobs could be lost, they caution, and local utilities may have less incentive to reduce their use of coal and other fossil fuels that contribute to global warming. Concerns also exist that the construction of expensive transmission lines to bring renewable energy from Canada could drive up the region's electricity rates, already among the highest in the country.

Renewable energy groups hailed the Oct. 1 passage of tax credit legislation as a big step forward toward U.S. energy independence. Less than two months later, they are lobbying Congress for emergency aid to make those credits more generous. The problem, they say, is that the financial crisis has blown a hole in their reservoir of investment capital. Projects that weeks ago seemed on track to provide new clean power sources for hundreds of thousands of consumers are now starved for credit, as U.S. banks struggle to recover and begin lending again.

Blue H USA this week gave Cape Codders their first serious taste of a proposed deep-water wind farm project. ...The so-called floating turbine is, in fact, a tension-legged platform similar to those already used by the oil industry for some offshore drilling rigs, and that platform may be installed in seas 30 to 300 meters deep. The bulk of the platform is below sea level and is anchored to the sea floor, which keeps the unit stable even in high seas.

While the focus on renewable energy may be good for the environment and the local economy, the turbines themselves can be a traffic nightmare for those who must figure out how to move the massive parts across the country. Some also say they pose a safety risk. ...Lisa Linowes, executive director of the Industrial Wind Action Group, cited problems caused by large wind loads ..."Under the pressure to get construction done, corners get cut," Linowes said.

Although T. Boone Pickens has become somewhat of a celebrity as of late - giving speeches and appearing on national television in interviews and commercials - the Oklahoma native is finding falling energy prices are making it difficult for his eponymous Pickens Plan to gain traction. Furthermore, a host of other outside factors have cropped up to make the Texas oilman's push for renewable energy increasingly difficult ...Depressed fuel prices, while easier on consumers' wallets, hinder efforts to persuade companies and individuals to invest in renewable energy resources, especially when combined with a shortage of discretionary cash.

Adding electricity from the wind and the sun could increase the frequency of blackouts and reduce the reliability of the nation's electrical grid, an industry report says. The North American Electric Reliability Corporation says in a report scheduled for release Monday that unless appropriate measures are taken to improve transmission of electricity, rules reducing carbon dioxide emissions by utilities could impair the reliability of the power grid.

On the campaign trail, Mr. Obama argued that spending $150 billion over the next decade to boost energy efficiency would help create five million jobs. ...Critics say analyzing only new green jobs misses half the story. "It's not looking at the other side of the coin: You are spending more money for your energy," says Anne Smith, a vice president at CRA International. ...gains in green jobs would be "more than offset" by job losses elsewhere in the economy.

Big American utilities are slashing their investments in alternative energy. Florida Power & Light has cut its planned investment in wind power next year by 400 megawatts. Duke Energy of North Carolina has lopped $50m off its budget for solar power. And on October 31st VeraSun Energy, one of America's biggest ethanol producers, caught out by gyrations in the prices of corn and petrol (gasoline), filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. In the European Union the price of carbon permits has fallen from a high of almost €30 in July to around €20, making clean-tech investments less attractive.

In recent weeks, though, energy experts have also noted that a squeeze in credit and collapsing oil and natural gas prices, both byproducts of a worldwide financial crisis, could stifle the further growth of renewable energy. Industry observers and companies operating in the state, however, say the chances are good that the production of wind power will keep growing in Kansas. ...Tighter credit markets could make it more difficult for wind developers to secure financing for their projects. Plus, lower natural gas prices could give utilities less incentive to invest in wind turbines, some renewable energy boosters fear.

Just a couple months ago, wind energy had huge momentum. T. Boone Pickens, who made his billions in the oil sector, touted the technology in a $58 million ad campaign and promised to build the world’s largest wind farm. Fellow billionaires Phil Anschutz and Warren Buffett planned to build their own wind farms. ...Then came the credit crunch. If the momentum for wind power was measured by the Beaufort scale, which measures wind speed, it has dropped from a strong gale to a gentle breeze.

Two public meetings on the proposed Deerfield Wind Project have been scheduled in November, according to Robert Bayer of the U.S. Forest Service. The first will be held on Nov. 5 at the Readsboro Elementary School and the second will be held on Nov. 6 in the Franklin Conference Center at the Howe Center. Both are from 6 to 8 p.m. Bayer said the sessions are part of the Forest Service's application process, which is in progress for Deerfield Wind, LLC, a limited liability company created by Iberdrola Renewable.

T. Boone Pickens' $10 billion wind farm - the cornerstone of his plan to build thousands of wind turbines from Texas to Canada - is about to be downsized because the oil tycoon can't raise money in the current credit crunch, the billionaire confirmed to the Observer. ...Asked about his plans to build a giant wind farm in the Texas Panhandle, Pickens said: "I've started it, but let's don't go into that, my project is getting ready to get downsized pretty quick. "You can't get financing," he said. "But that will all come back."