State officials have scheduled the last of five public hearings on a draft ocean management plan released last month. ...The final version of the plan, which is being developed under the state Oceans Act of 2008, is set to go into effect Jan. 1.

The town will not seek a state Green Community grant after failing to submit an application before the deadline, but officials say they will continue to move toward implementing sound environmental initiatives independently. Selectmen last week considered applying for a state grant that would have paid for a consultant to suggest how the town can become more environmentally friendly.

With plans moving forward in New Jersey and Delaware - not to mention recent progress in Cape Wind's years-long fight in Massachusetts - it's far from certain that Deepwater and Rhode Island will succeed in their quest to be first. And make no mistake, being first is important. For the developer, it means more than just bragging rights. It gives the company a leg up on its competitors as it tries to develop additional wind farms elsewhere. For the state, it means much-needed economic development and valuable green-collar jobs.

With a great deal more hope than expectation, Tisbury selectmen decided on Tuesday evening to make application for a share of $10 million in state grant money to fund energy efficiency and renewable energy initiatives. The trouble is, the money comes with conditions attached - conditions Tisbury and other Island towns cannot possibly meet.

The topics stretched from the economy to wind turbines. Introductions were made between government officials and environmentalists. ...Patrick asked for a show of hands on who supported the local proposal, called Hoosac Wind. About one-third of the crowd supported it, one-third opposed it, and one-third had never heard of it. Mount Washington resident Bobbi Hallig told the governor: "There's plenty of things to do rather than put turbines across the landscape."

A second balloon siting test will be required by the Massachusetts Historic Commission to determine how the 331-foot-tall wind turbine proposed for the Berkshire East Ski Area would look from the town's registered historic landmarks. Also, the town Planning Board wants more information on moving the 900-kilowatt turbine off the ridgeline.

Less than 24 hours after the project had its first public airing, a proposal to build a 60-foot-tall wind turbine was scuttled by the owners of Outermost Harbor Marine, answering the concerns of nearby residents. "We've always tried to be good neighbors down here at the marina," Frank Facchetti said. The four-kilowatt vertical axis turbine was to be mounted on a pole on the east side of the marina building.

A Superior Court ruling against abutters who sought to keep the town from erecting a wind-measuring device on town-owned property at the Water and Sewer Department makes it more likely the town will get an electric power-generating windmill in the future. The town wants to erect the 130-foot tower to take readings to determine wind velocity in the area.

Mass Audubon's Joppa Flats Education Center is looking into placing a small turbine on their property, sanctuary Director Bill Gette confirmed yesterday. Gette said the center hopes to install the "evaluation turbine" immediately adjacent to the property's parking lot by the end of the year, if it meets all zoning regulations and permits.

Like prospectors who discovered gold in the old West, developers, business owners, and homeowners are rushing to stake their claims to free, renewable energy by putting up wind turbines. As more of the structures sprout, however, local, state, and federal authorities are struggling to close the gap between old regulations and relatively new technology.

As Island towns refine and strengthen their regulatory authority over local wind turbine projects, the Martha's Vineyard Commission (MVC), as the Island's comprehensive land use planning agency, is considering the extent of its role in the process. MVC executive director Mark London said this week that the commission is closely watching two key pieces of state legislation that will influence development of wind power on land and sea.

Two local wind-power projects aimed at saving energy at state facilities are moving forward, although it may be a while until ground is broken. U.S. Rep. John W. Olver, D-Amherst, notified Mount Wachusett Community College this week that the college is slated to get $1 million for a wind-turbine project in the fiscal 2010 Energy and Water Appropriations Bill. ...Another wind project under way in the city is at Gardner state prison.

The town faced a setback in the funding of the two 1.5 megawatt wind turbines they are planning to locate on water department property north of Robbins Pond. Town Administrator James Merriam said he received word on Friday from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative that the $1.2 million grant application to assist with the purchase of two wind turbines was not funded.

More than $170,000 in grant money is coming to the Cape and Islands to help get some wind projects off the ground. Five organizations around Cape Cod and Martha's Vineyard will share about $178,000 in state funds to help determine the feasibility of building wind turbines on their respective campuses, officials from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative announced yesterday.

Could the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm become obsolete before it is even built? ...technological advances in recent years are allowing developers elsewhere to consider building wind turbines farther from shore, where they would be less visible. ...If these and similar projects prove viable, some wind energy specialists and developers say, they could leapfrog closer-to-shore projects like Cape Wind.

New pressures on the nation's oceans, from wind turbines to fish farms, are increasingly sparking conflicts with more traditional activities such as shipping and recreational boating and show the need for better planning, the head of the agency overseeing federal ocean research services said Monday. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief Jane Lubchenco said the nation should take cues from Massachusetts, the first state to create a comprehensive planning map for its ocean waters.

While no one agreed on whether a proposed 331-foot wind turbine on Berkshire East's Thunder Mountain would enhance or spoil the mountain view, most of those who attended Thursday's public hearing apparently believe that in the abstract, clean, carbon-free energy is a thing of beauty.

A new subdivision could be in the cards for the land where two wind turbines were recently proposed in Cohasset. Civil engineer and CCI-Energy President Jim Sweeney, the proponent of the Cohasset Heights wind turbine project, was before the planning board this week presenting plans for a new access road to the site.

Officials from two federally recognized Indian tribes say they are frustrated in their attempts to protect what they consider a sacred site from becoming part of an offshore wind farm. The two tribes want federal officials to deny a permit to Cape Wind for Horseshoe Shoal and move the proposed 130 wind turbines to another site. ..."MMS has failed its trust responsibility," said Cedric Cromwell, chairman of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribal Council.

A Maine-based contractor has begun limited work on the future site of wind turbines on Brodie Mountain, after receiving authorization from the project's owner. Dave Tuohey, spokesman for the Massachusetts Municipal Wholesale Electric Co., said Reed & Reed are doing geotechnical surveys to determine the composition of the ground in preparation for constructing the turbine foundations.