MONTEREY — “Now is not the time,” said Highland County supervisor Jerry Rexrode in response to a request for money and a letter of support for a feasibility study to establish a tourist trail in the Alleghany Highlands. “Maybe six months from now and I would support it,” he said. At Tuesday night’s supervisors’ meeting, the trail idea concerned officials because of pending litigation faced by the county. Rexrode said he does not oppose tourism or money spent to enhance tourism in Highland, but repeated it was the wrong time to commit to the project.

The US Forest Service is one step closer to issuing a decision on the Deerfield Wind Project. The Manchester Ranger District of the Green Mountain National Forest has reviewed the Public Service Board's approval and the public comments it received regarding last year's Draft Environmental Impact Statement. Now the forest service is ready to release a supplemental report on their latest findings. But despite the new information, some state officials are urging the forest service take extra precautions before they make a final decision.

A supplement to the Draft Environmental Impact Statement for the proposed Jordanville Wind Farm is complete, and now it’s off for another round of public review. Written public comments on the proposal will be accepted through Dec. 15. The project area encompasses more than 5,000 acres and calls for the construction of 68 wind turbines in the towns of Warren and Stark. The project includes the construction of access roads, underground collection lines and overhead transmission lines in addition to construction of staging areas and operational structures. All written comments on the SDEIS should be addressed to: Bernard C. Melewski, special counsel, Ulasewicz, Melewski & Greenwood, LLP, 112 Spring St., Suite 307, Saratoga Springs 12866.

Public confusion in recent days over the exact nature of Monday night's hearing prompted Town Council President Christopher Semonelli to open the discussion by emphasizing that the hearing was only on those proposed amendments and would not affect a current wind turbine construction project that's separately moving through the town's approval process.

Support for putting federal funds into alternative energy sources such as wind, solar and hydrogen has slipped to its lowest point in polls since 2006, driven by growing Republican opposition to such initiatives, according to a new Washington Post-Pew Research Center poll.

Solar is lower maintenance and more constant [than wind], and it is currently easier to find sites. But Mr Rowson predicted: "I think we'll see the tide change. Already, protest groups are getting pretty mobile and the goodwill towards PV applications on this scale will eventually run out.

A multi-million pound proposal to build up to 108 wind turbines off the north Norfolk coast has faced a setback. County councillors refused to back the Sheringham Shoal Offshore Wind farm, despite recommendations from planning officers to approve the scheme.

Plans for a massive offshore wind farm in the Bristol Channel yesterday received broad support.The proposal would be the world's largest offshore wind farm, covering an area the size of the Isle of Wight and situated about 13 miles off Ilfracombe and nine miles to the North of Lundy.

Jewell's idea on establishing a wind-power royalty payment program, discussed in a separate meeting on Jan. 5, is on hold pending more research. The concept was a possible fee on electricity produced by wind farms in the county.

Wind farm opponents aren't the only ones who have been preparing a petition. Iberdrola project manager Krista Gordon submitted a petition of 1,439 signatures to the Ellis County Clerk's office Monday morning.

Supporters of wind turbines in the Orleans watershed pleaded with selectmen last night to keep the project alive. ...Instead the selectmen voted unanimously to move ahead and establish a five-member committee that will review and apply the project's four years of data to another alternative energy project.

Town Planner Coreen Moore, meanwhile, said the proposed citizen-petition amendment of the town's turbine control bylaw is "comprehensive and detailed;" perhaps to the point the planning board would have to engage professional consultants to review any future proposal.

"They expected to be able to build the whole thing and not until they were ready to throw the switch" would the company resolve the wildlife issues, Smith said. "You can't put back the hydrology of a mountain," she added.

"So basically, you're looking at about two-and-a-half times market rates and about double other green projects like land-based wind. This is basically a transfer of wealth from Massachusetts ratepayers to a private developer," Parker said. Robert Rio agrees. He's a senior vice president with Associated Industries of Massachusetts, which represents about 6,000 companies across the state - many of which, he says, would be crippled by higher electric rates if the Cape Wind contract is approved.

As public attention ratchets up surrounding the controversial Cape Wind project planned for Nantucket Sound, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court is set to hear arguments next week in a case that will decide whether the wind farm developers can sidestep review by the Cape Cod Commission.

A Supreme Court challenge is shaping up as the next chapter in a long battle for a wind farm in the rolling hills of The Sisters farming district. Only weeks after the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal upheld Moyne Shire Council's refusal of a planning permit for 12 turbines on four farms the proponent company has sent notification of its intention to appeal the ruling.

Nicholas J. Harding, a Hartford lawyer representing the group, Fairwindct, along with plaintiffs Michael and Stella Somers and Susan Wagner, said he filed a 60-page statement March 22. The action follows a dismissal of their case by a New Britain Superior Court judge in October, and appeals subsequently filed in Appellate Court.

The Supreme Court has dismissed an appeal by the developer of The Sisters wind farm, once again crushing plans for the 12-turbine project north-west of Terang. Moyne Shire mayor Jim Doukas has welcomed the latest judgement, saying it was a "win for commonsense".

The Supreme Court ruling said the Public Service Board had proven its case at every turn, and that the claims of the Ridge Protectors were without merit in most instances, and did not offer evidence to cause reconsideration of the certificate's issuance. Paul Brouha of Sutton, one of the lead members of the Ridge Protectors, said Friday, "We're disappointed, that's certainly true. ...if they can put them in this pristine area, they can put them anywhere. So, we're really concerned with that."

Plans for a proposed 36-turbine wind farm in Bear Creek Township hit another snag for Energy Unlimited Inc. The state Supreme Court decided to not hear the company's appeal for the front 25 turbines. In February, Commonwealth Court upheld township supervisors' assertion that the EUI's plans were too incomplete. Project Manager Ed Shoener said the company will refile its preliminary plan with the township to move the project forward.