Cecil Martin is none too pleased at the prospect of losing part of his home in the Texas Panhandle to make way for billionaire T. Boone Pickens' water and wind energy projects. ..."The state of Texas has for over 100 years authorized the use of eminent domain to permit the common necessities of life, water, electricity, telephone service, oil and gas for use in the big cities," said Humble, Pickens' attorney. Until last year, though, the wind project couldn't not have been included in the process of obtaining rights of way. Lawmakers in the last legislative session voted to allow renewable and clean-coal energy projects to piggyback obtaining rights of way with a district like the one Pickens formed last year to "construct, maintain, and operate transmission lines."

Environmental experts are to be enlisted to assess the damage caused by windfarms across the north and north-east, it has emerged. The Scottish Parliament's petitions committee voted in favour of the move after considering claims from a retired university professor from the north-east. Dixie Dean says that the mechanical vibrations transmitted through land-based turbines to the surrounding terrain lead to problems. Mr Dean, a former business professor who has also worked in the field of mycology, says the impact will "devastate" the sand, soil and peat in the immediate area. His petition states: "These vibrations will in time destroy the very fabric of peat, sand and soil for miles around. Peat bogs shaken to pieces will be flushed down to pollute streams as fibres disintegrate, collapse and rot."

Most people in Clutha district would not even know the proposed wind farm site was in their district, he said. ‘‘They Clutha District Council just want to get industry into the area. But that area should be in the Dunedin city district.'' He described TrustPower consultation as a token effort. ‘‘They came and saw me and I told them I had some concerns and they would get back to me. I'm still waiting.'' The wind farm would not only scar the landscape but also would bring financial uncertainty. ‘‘They tried to sell a farm round here last year and no-one wanted to touch it. They didn't get one tender.''

Dwayne Bailey has some simple advice for Gulf Shore residents fighting a proposed wind farm in their area, don't give up the fight because they may regret the consequences. Bailey recently abandoned his Elmira, P.E.I., home because noise from a nearby wind farm was becoming intolerable. It kept the family awake at night and impacted their health with headaches and vision problems. "Don't let them put up the windfarm, it's way too close to the houses. It chased us out of our house and it could happen to someone else. We didn't have much a choice and it resulted in us leaving our home," Bailey said, adding his parents also abandoned their home.

German courts are starting to deal with a unique new crime - stealing wind. As Europe's greenest country builds ever more electricity-producing wind farms, so the rights to nature are now being fought over by lawyers. Among the cases being considered by a Leipzig court is a dispute between the operators of two wind turbine facilities. At issue: who owns the wind?

THE security of Victoria's electricity supply is under a cloud after the emergence of threats to the operation of some of the state's key generators. In an unprecedented development, power companies have been forced to buy emergency supplies of water on the internet after the drought left them short of what they need to run major generators in the Latrobe Valley................A recent investigation by Wyndham City Council found "the operation of the gas-fuelled turbines adversely affects theamenity of the area by way of low-frequency noise and vibration".

The giant wind farm of 19 electricity-generating windmills in Highland County recently approved by the State Corporation Commission wasn't on the game department's radar. Studies elsewhere have shown that the 400-foot-high wind turbines kill bats and migrating songbirds and raptors. By the time the SCC asked the game department to review the proposal, Zadnik said, the developer had already gotten permission from the county to build.

A major announcement is thought likely today on a bid for planning permission for another controversial giant windfarm on Lewis which could polarise opinions ahead of local elections in May. Speculation has been heightened as Alan Wilson, the deputy enterprise minister, who will make the final decision on the contentious scheme to build 53 turbines at Eisgein, is due to visit Stornoway with the First Minister Jack McConnell for the Highlands and Islands Convention. It is believed Mr Wilson is minded to approve the application subject to certain conditions and, provided legal issues are finalised, could confirm what is seen as a significant investment opportunity to regenerate the isles’ economy.

Plans for a controversial windfarm at a Perthshire beauty-spot have been approved - despite almost 700 objections and concerns about the impact on local water supplies. In a 75-page judgment issued yesterday, Scottish ministers overruled a decision by Perth and Kinross Council to refuse a 16-turbine development at Drumderg, near Alyth. The ruling, which follows a four-week public inquiry that ended in June, has disappointed opposition campaigners.

The Patrick County Board of Supervisors voted 4-1 Monday to enact a temporary ordinance prohibiting the construction of structures more than 100 feet tall, with a six-month "sunset clause." According to the motion made by Peters Creek District Supervisor David Young, the board will make a decision at the end of the six months on whether to adopt a permanent ordinance banning "tall structures," based on the results of a public opinion survey to be mailed to owners of real estate in Patrick County. The survey, which will be mailed by the county treasurer's office along with real estate tax tickets, asks recipients if they support the proposed policy: "No structure shall be built in Patrick County more than 100 feet high, except a structure built solely for telecommunications purposes and except a structure built as a steeple or tower for a place of religious worship."

A GROUP of residents is making a desperate, last-ditch attempt to prevent the construction of Suffolk's first wind farm - because of alleged shortcomings by a local authority when it gave the go-ahead.

BRANDON, N.Y. An energy company says it will submit a proposal for a wind farm in Franklin County early this summer.

WASHINGTON, Pa. (AP) _ A municipality has approved ordinances that help clear the way for a wind farm to be built by a Spain-based turbine company.