www.windaction.org

Opponents of Bowers Mountain wind site complain about effect on views
May 1, 2013 by Nick Sambides Jr. in Bangor Daily News

A scenic impact expert testifying before the state's top environmental agency on Tuesday said First Wind's proposed wind project "comes as close as being unreasonably adverse" in its potential impact on Bowers Mountain as any he has seen.

Also filed under [ Impact on Views]

Rural Mainers turn out in force to back bills that would change wind energy law
March 27, 2013 by Robert Long in Bangor Daily News

Testifying neither for nor against LD 616, Patrick Woodcock, director of the Governor's Energy Office, urged legislators not to shy away from trying to improve the 2008 Wind Energy Act. He reiterated LePage's intent to streamline energy permitting processes in Maine, but in a way that does not favor one industry over another, which he said the current law does.

Also filed under [ Impact on People]

Groups lined up to intervene on Bowers Mountain proposal
February 12, 2013 by Nick Sambides Jr. in Bangor Daily News

Three groups and a professional guide will get to cross examine First Wind officials who want to build an industrial wind site on Bowers Mountain when the state's top environmental agency reviews the proposal in late April or early May, officials said Monday.

Also filed under [ Impact on People]

Maine regulators advise rejection of proposed wind farm
November 2, 2012 in Portland Press Herald

The Department of Environmental Protection's recommendation Thursday goes to DEP Commissioner Patricia Aho. In reaching its decision, the DEP staff said the proposed windmills would disrupt a "one-of-a-kind" view from Saponac Pond.

Also filed under [ Impact on Views]

Opposition grows against Passadumkeag wind project proposal
June 9, 2012 by Danielle Waugh in WCSH 6 News

For people living near Burlington, the Passadumkeag Mountain may look like home. But for workers at a Texas energy company, the mountain looks like wind power.

Also filed under [ Impact on People]

Portland wants to set limits on wind power to keep turbines out of the skyline
November 30, 2011 by Seth Koenig in Bangor Daily News

The ordinance language currently on the table would allow wind turbines as tall as 160 feet in some areas of the city, namely industrial, airport business and certain recreational open space zones. ...In residential zones in Portland, the windmills are proposed to be capped at 45 feet in height on properties larger than half of an acre where there isn't a pre-existing lower height limitation.

Nowhere's special
June 26, 2011 by Tux Turkel in Portland Press Herald

Guides and sporting camp owners are highly independent, but Bowers Mountain has led them to organize against wind power. Several are expected to testify Monday and Tuesday evening at public hearings in Lincoln before the Land Use Regulation Commission.

Also filed under [ Impact on People]

National wind-to-energy campaign has Maine voice
April 21, 2011 by Nick Sambides Jr. in Bangor Daily News

"We are working very diligently to bring this issue to the attention of the public. We hate to think that it will take hundreds of wind turbines going up in areas around the state, after it's too late to stop them, for the public to wake up and realize that we are ruining the quality of place in the state of Maine."

Wind project critics cheer decision
April 7, 2011 by Erin Rhoda in Kennebec Journal

Under the tougher standards, Highland Wind will have to prove it will not harm scenery beyond eight miles of the project, where Bigelow Preserve and the Appalachian Trail are. Previously it only had to focus on the area within eight miles of the project.

Also filed under [ Impact on Views]

Can wing power thrive amid wind power growth?
December 26, 2010 by Beth Quimby in Maine Sunday Telegram

Holberton said a huge swath of the Maine coastline remains uncharted territory as far as understanding bird migrations ...when visibility is poor, the birds fly at much lower altitudes, under 500 feet. "Most of the birds are island hopping and that is why wind development in shallow water and right along the coast in my opinion poses big issues," said Holberton.

Also filed under [ Impact on Wildlife]

Guides, sporting camps oppose wind farm
December 15, 2010 by Tux Turkel in Portland Press Herald

A coaltion that includes professional Maine guides and sporting camp owners has joined an effort to stop a proposed wind farm in eastern Maine. The group also is asking Gov.-elect Paul LePage for a moratorium on large wind projects until cost-benefit studies of existing wind farms can be carried out.

Also filed under [ Impact on People]

Wind farm sites are the new proving ground for Maine's environmental groups
November 15, 2010 by Douglas Rooks in Maine Biz

As construction valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars unfolds, the industry faces legal and regulatory challenges even as it struggles to gain new financing in a post-recessionary climate where investors are cautious. Perhaps nowhere are the stakes higher, or the positions more complex, than for the state's major environmental groups.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy]

Tibbetts shows mountains before, after wind-turbine construction
October 27, 2010 by Eileen M. Adams in Sun Journal

"It's great to see the mountains before they put the damn windmills up." About 100 turbines in six separate projects are in various stages of planning in the six towns, with all but Rumford's and Roxbury's proposed by Patriot Renewables LLC of Quincy, Mass. Rumford's project is proposed by First Wind LLC of Boston, and Roxbury's by Independent Wind LLC.

Ragged Mountain turbine talks spawn worries
September 17, 2010 by Heather Steeves in Maineville Rockville

Amid turbulence about the possibility of a wind energy project on top of Ragged Mountain, a citizen group has formed with the intention of stopping any further research into the possibility of placing turbines on the mountain.

Also filed under [ Impact on People]

How the wind blows in Vinalhaven
April 29, 2010 by Janet Hefler in Martha's Vindyard Times

Mr. Hall said General Electric told residents that from 1,000 feet away, the wind turbine noise would sound like a quiet conversation taking place in a living room. Instead, he described the turbines' sound as a "palpable experience," with rhythmic pulsations he can feel thumping in his chest as the blades turn. Other people interviewed in the film clips likened the turbines' whooshing sound to a jet airplane heard off in the distance.

Also filed under [ Impact on People| Massachusetts]

Bluster over allegedly Yale-backed windmills in Maine
April 16, 2010 by Vivian Yee in Yale Daily News

Independence Wind, promised to not only bring Highland 340,000 megawatt hours of clean, renewable energy, but also to pay for 90 percent of the plantation's taxes. Given the opportunity to lift what has become an ever-growing tax burden on Highland's population ...But by now, Highland is split down the middle over whether Independence Wind and its partners, Wagner Forest Management and landowner corporation Bayroot - which have been connected to Yale's investments in the past - will ruin Highland's mountains.

Also filed under [ Impact on People]

Cell towers, wind turbines on hold in Penobscot
March 5, 2010 by Rich Hewitt in Bangor Daily News

Voters at the annual town meeting have approved two moratoriums that will give the town time to develop ordinances to regulate communications towers and wind turbines. There has been commercial interest in such construction, particularly in communications towers, according to Code Enforcement Officer Judy Jenkins, and the town’s existing land use regulations include nothing to guide the siting of such structures.

Also filed under [ Impact on People]

Wind Power In Maine Part 2
February 24, 2010 by Rob Poindexter in WABI TV 5

Some people living near existing wind farms say the cost is too high in addition to noise complaints, some think wind farms have an irreversible visual impact. Marilyn Roper and her husband Harry own a camp in Danforth. "It had a beautiful pristine scenery and two lakes," says Roper. The Ropers are avid star gazers and they say the Stetson 1 and 2 projects have ruined their view.

Also filed under [ Impact on People]

Somerset County wind project sparks opposition
February 11, 2010 by Josie Huang in Maine Public Broadcasting Network

Opposition to wind farms has been growing around the state -- even as state leaders try to make Maine a pioneer in harnessing wind power. Now a new opposition group has formed in western Maine to fight what could be one of the largest projects: a 48-wind turbine development south of the Bigelow Preserve.

Also filed under [ Impact on People]

Maine's 'Offshore Wind Rush' challenged in Maine Superior Court
January 26, 2010 in Penobscot Bay Blog

A Rockland man has filed suit in Knox County Superior Court, seeking suspension of a December 14th decision by the Bureau of Parks and Lands that designated two square miles of ocean south of Monhegan as the Maine Offshore Wind Energy Research Center. ..."Maine is wasting a marvelous chance to do ocean energy projects in state waters right the first time. Instead it is assuring investors their projects will be subject to minimal review." said Huber.

Also filed under [ Energy Policy]

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Impact on Landscape and Maine