Gov. Charlie Crist said today he is talking to Florida Power & Light about finding another location for its proposed wind turbines, but the power company said it's sticking with St. Lucie County, at least for now. Crist said FPL should consider locations that "may not have the resistance we're seeing in St. Lucie County." Crist said he understands St. Lucie County residents want to make sure the land used for turbines is an appropriate location. "I can't disagree," Crist said. "I want to make sure it's appropriate too."

The turbines would take up only 3 or 4 acres of dunes in the 409-acre park, FPL officials say, but to opponents like Coward that's too much. "It doesn't make any sense to me to promote green energy at the expense of our green spaces," said Coward. "I don't know that you could pick a worse site." Other commissioners are less certain about what to do, and want more information. "None of us are wind experts," said Commissioner Charles Grande, "although some of us are known for producing hot air."

Florida Power & Light, the state's largest utility, wants to build a line of nine wind turbines, each more than 400 feet tall, along an Atlantic Ocean beach. ...But a coalition of environmental groups - including Audubon of Florida, the Florida Wildlife Federation and 1,000 Friends of Florida - have sent state officials a letter questioning whether the windmills will kill migrating birds and objecting to using conservation land for an industrial use. "While there are obvious benefits to considering the feasibility of wind in Florida," they wrote, "the benefits of the project do not warrant the significant wildlife impacts and bad conservation lands precedent that could result from this easement request."

Three Florida Power & Light Co. wind turbines could be built amid human remains and Ais Indian artifacts that an archaeologist hired by St. Lucie County found in Blind Creek Park. Archaeologist Bob Carr called the area a "prehistoric cemetery," though only scattered bones and no skeletons were found. Ceramic pottery and shells also were discovered. "It was obviously a big campground," Mosquito Control Director Jim David said. "There clearly was camping and fishing and oystering there." ..."The survey was part of the state requirements before we removed exotic species with heavy equipment," David said.

Facing the possibility of two commissioners withdrawing support for its wind turbines, Florida Power & Light Co. pulled out of a planned state meeting set for today. The decision came after commissioners unanimously agreed Tuesday to send a letter to the state Acquisition and Restoration Council, which oversees the use of public land, telling them they shouldn't consider the turbine proposal until the county has weighed in. FPL is seeking to place six turbines on its own land on Hutchinson Island and another three on state owned land at Blind Creek Park that is leased by the county.

Florida Power & Light Co. will not go before a state agency this week to discuss its wind turbine plan, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Environmental Protection said Wednesday. The Acquisition and Restoration Council, a state agency affiliated with DEP that oversees the use of public conservation lands, was set to meet Thursday and Friday in Tallahassee. The item is no longer on the agenda, said Sarah Williams, a DEP spokeswoman.

St. Lucie County commissioners' support for Florida Power & Light Co.'s push to build wind turbines on public land appeared to cool during a daylong debate Tuesday. But commissioners did not vote to endorse or oppose FPL's plan to build nine electricity-producing turbines on Hutchinson Island - six on company property and three on state land managed by the county. Instead, they decided to ask the state to delay a public hearing scheduled for Thursday in Tallahassee before a state committee that will hear FPL's request to lease the Blind Creek property needed for the three turbines. They weren't optimistic that the hearing would be put off before the Acquisition and Restoration Council, an advisory committee with representatives of several state agencies.

Several commissioners asked Florida Power & Light Co. Tuesday not to present information to the state about its wind turbine project until the county weighs in on it. The company wants to place six turbines on property its own at the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant and three on state-owned land at Blind Creek Park that is leased by the county. The Acquisition and Restoration Council, a state agency affiliated with the Department of Environmental Protection that oversees the use of public conservation lands and makes recommendations on new lands for purchase, will discuss the project Thursday in Tallahassee and make a decision regarding it Friday. ...County Attorney Dan McIntyre said state officials told him there was "direction from above" to keep the turbines on the state agenda, but he thought the county should have its say before the state. McIntyre also said he didn't think having the turbines on a day agenda was the right way to go.

Residents packed commission chambers Tuesday morning in anticipation of a discussion on Florida Power & Light Co.'s proposal to put wind turbines on Hutchinson Island. The company wants to place six turbines on property it owns at the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant and three on state-owned land at Blind Creek Park that is leased by the county. The Acquisition and Restoration Council, a state agency affiliated with the Department of Environmental Protection that oversees the use of public conservation lands and makes recommendations on new lands for purchase, will discuss the project Thursday in Tallahassee and make a decision regarding it Friday. ...In an e-mail to its members, the St. Lucie Chamber of Commerce recommended the commissioners not make a decision Tuesday, but wait until they have more information on the project.

The "low-hanging fruit," as Wayne Hildreth calls it, is in the windy West and Midwest. It's going to take some convincing for politicians and the general public, but Hildreth said clean, renewable wind power may have a big future in Florida as well. ...But as the state's political climate changes - Gov. Charlie Crist signed an executive order last year calling for more renewable energy - and the technology for wind turbines continues to improve, Hildreth said he expects business to grow. "I think there may be something in Florida, but it's going to be baby steps," Hildreth said. "There's going to have to be a public education component."

Florida Power & Light Co.'s proposal to put wind turbines on public conservation land within the county is simple: It's illegal. That's the message St. Lucie County Commissioner Doug Coward told a crowd of more than 100 people Monday afternoon during a meeting at Ocean Village. FPL wants to put nine wind turbines on the island, including six on property it owns and three on Blind Creek Park - state-owned environmentally sensitive land leased by the county. In 1994, St. Lucie County voters agreed by referendum to pay additional taxes so the county could acquire environmentally significant land for recreation and the protection of wildlife habitat. Coward read the ballot language to residents, which he called clear and unambiguous. ...Coward encouraged residents to show up in full force Tuesday to voice their concerns to the County Commission. One woman in the audience asked residents to wear red T-shirts to the meeting.

The Acquisition and Restoration Council, a state agency that oversees the use of public conservation lands and makes recommendations on new lands for purchase, will discuss Florida Power & Light Co.'s turbine project Thursday and make its decision Friday. FPL wants to put nine wind machines on the island, six on its own property and three on state-owned land that is leased by the county. The county learned of the state meeting Friday and added the turbine discussion to Tuesday's morning commission meeting agenda. The county apologized to residents for the late notice, but felt it was important to have the discussion prior to the Tallahassee hearings, said Erick Gill, a county spokesman. ..."It's unfortunate we're forced to react on such late notice, but we have to move forward," said Commissioner Doug Coward, who has opposed putting the turbines on public conservation land.

A decision on whether St. Lucie County commissioners want wind turbines on South Hutchinson Island could come Tuesday because state officials would like an answer later in the week. A state advisory committee known as the Acquisition and Restoration Council will hold a public hearing Thursday and vote Friday in Tallahassee on whether Florida Power & Light Co. should be allowed to use 6.3 acres in Blind Creek Park just north of the nuclear power plant. ...County Attorney Dan McIntyre has recommended the county oppose use of Blind Creek property because $3.6 million from a voter-approved bond issue helped buy the land. The ballot approved by 67 percent of the voters said the money should be used to protect environmentally significant land and wildlife habitat. ..."I'm disappointed we didn't get more advance notice so the public would have more opportunity to speak," Coward said. "It's unconscionable and now we have to add it to our agenda at the last minute."

Two St. Lucie Nuclear Plant employees have raised safety concerns about wind turbines damaging the plant, but Florida Power & Light Co. officials maintain there is no danger. The concerns are raised in internal documents from FPL that were sent anonymously to County Attorney Dan McIntyre on Thursday. ...One of the messages recommends discontinuing the project on FPL property. A manager posted a response to the messages Aug. 23, noting the exact locations of the turbines still was to be determined and a safety study was underway.

Wind turbines like the ones proposed by Florida Power & Light Co. on Hutchinson Island have been called ugly by residents worried about the 400-foot-tall structures with their large, whirling blades. Imagine the turbines standing atop a concrete foundation 10- to 20-feet high on a public beach access. The large pedestals could be needed to protect the towers from a storm surge washing over the dunes along the Hutchinson Island coastline where FPL proposes to build the electricity-producing wind turbines. Henrietta McBee, FPL's director of project development, raised that possibility when she and St. Lucie County Administrator Doug Anderson visited the Horse Hollow Wind Farm near Abilene, Texas, early in January.

A New York activist opposed to wind turbines urged locals today to organize to defeat a plan to bring nine windmills to South Hutchinson Island. The 400-foot-tall windmills, proposed by Florida Power and Light Co., aren't suited to Florida's coast, which gets winds that average 5-8 mph, far less than optimal for wind power, said Brad Jones, a Naples, N.Y., resident battling windmills under construction or proposed for three of his neighboring communities. Jones said the windmills also produce far less electricity than proponents claim, can significantly harm wildlife, and produce visual and noise pollution that will drive down nearby property values.

While Florida Power & Light Co. is moving forward with plans to bring wind turbines to St. Lucie County, a group of residents is trying to spread information about the controversial project. The 3-month-old grass-roots group, Save St. Lucie Alliance, says it wants to get accurate information out to residents. On Saturday, about 40 residents attended a meeting at the Fort Pierce Community Center, where Brad Jones from Naples, N.Y., presented his findings and perspectives. ...FPL picked St. Lucie County for the project because it has a plant in the county, there is open land on the coast, and the commission has been supportive of alternative energy. However, after Saturday's informational meeting, County Commissioner Doug Coward said as he learns more, he's becoming more skeptical about the project.

Florida Power & Light Co. is moving forward with plans to place wind turbines on state land at Blind Creek Park despite one county commissioner coming out against the site and the county attorney advising against it. County Attorney Dan McIntyre released a memo late Wednesday advising commissioners to not allow FPL to put turbines on the land, which is co-owned by the state Board of Trustees of the Internal Improvement Trust Fund (affiliated with the Department of Environmental Protection) and the South Florida Water Management District. The county helped the state buy the land, currently leases it and acts as the land manager. McIntyre opposed the plan because the county contributed $3.6 million to the state to buy the property, using money from bonds issues approved by voters to buy and protect "environmentally significant lands and wildlife habitat."

The St. Lucie County attorney is recommending against letting Florida Power & Light Co. build wind turbines on state land at Blind Creek Park because county conservation money was used toward buying the park. The recommendation is similar to one he made last year against allowing FPL to build turbines at Frederick Douglass and John Brooks parks, county-owned land that was purchased through bonds approved by voters for conservation purposes. FPL announced earlier this month that it was scrapping plans to put the machines at those parks, and would instead place six turbines on its own property at the St. Lucie Nuclear Plant and another three on an undeveloped parcel of state land at Blind Creek Park. ...Sharon Bennett, an FPL spokeswoman, said the company is reviewing McIntyre's recommendation, though she said some state officials have "offered a different opinion" about the legal status of the property. "We anticipate they will also be weighing in on the issue," she said.

St. Lucie County's John Brooks Park and Frederick Douglass Park are beaches people usually go to relax and enjoy nature. Each public facility is set aside for conservation and recreation, but an ill wind has blown in a new swell of controversy for local surfers - and it's not red tide. It's Florida Power & Light's "Winds of Change" initiative to build nine commercial wind generators along St. Lucie County's remaining desolate beaches that has them all riled up. Standing roughly 412 feet tall, each white cylindrical turbine is almost 100 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty and requires an impact zone of one acre. ..."As far as Surfrider goes, these wind turbines should not be built on land that is set aside for conservation and recreation," said Andy Brady, Fort Pierce surfer and chairman of the Surfrider Foundation's Treasure Coast Chapter. "We're all for alternative energy, but not on public land."