Back in the 1950s, the standard Western movie would include a scene in which some dignitary from Washington would meet with an Indian chief and his council in the hope of resolving grievances that had sent the Indians on the warpath. The other day, we got a replay of that scene when a real-life government dignitary sailed into Nantucket Sound with a group of Wampanoag Indians for the ostensible purpose of resolving their grievances.

In Minnesota, the wind is blowing but turbines aren't turning. The machines, bought used from California and installed last fall, are completely frozen in place. Even on the windiest days, the blades sit at a standstill, producing no power. Why should anyone care? The problem highlights some of the less intuitive challenges associated with wind power - long considered to be the most feasible and cost effective source of renewable energy.

Wind developers are here because they can make money. Right now, thanks to tax incentives and public policy, wind power is profitable in New York state. We have exactly what the wind farm investors need... They have fewer choices than they might want us to believe, and for every deal we lose, another will come to take its place. If wind farms are coming, or at least prospective wind farm developers, we need to be ready for them and reap the benefits on our terms. To them, it's just money. To us, it's our home.

The Land Use Regulation Commission is considering a request from TransCanada to allow extension of its Kibby wind farm into a portion of LURC jurisdiction that has been considered unexpedited. Currently this area is subject to the usual protected mountain zoning restrictions. This request has focused attention on the rules governing such expansion.

It's time for our representatives, both state and federal, to take a serious look at the possible health effects of wind turbines. It's possible reported problems are psychological, but we will not know conclusively until a reliable test is available. Yes, this will cost a lot of money, but it will be nothing compared to the price we will pay if we erect hundreds of turbines in the Upper Thumb and then find proof of a problem.

Cape Wind's staking a claim on Nantucket Sound seems to belong to the oil wildcatters' era ("There Will Be Wind?"), not the modern age of cooperative development that calls forth a nation's resources not just from its corporations but also its government and research institutions. This is not to say Cape Wind failed to do its homework. It identified and exploited a loophole in the Sound's protection from industrialization, and its scientists made their case that they could produce energy at that site without significant environmental damage.

Golden Gate Audubon and four other local Audubon chapters sent a letter Jan. 28 to Alameda County demanding that the county ensure that wind turbines operating in the Altamont Pass remain shut down until the county implements a management plan that significantly reduces avian mortality resulting from wind turbine operations in the Altamont. "Wind turbine operations in the Altamont Pass kill as many as 9,600 birds each year, including many species that are fully protected by state and federal laws," said Mike Lynes, Conservation Director for Golden Gate Audubon.

The irresponsible decision by the Jefferson County Legislature approving a tax abatement plan for the Galloo Island Wind Farm leaves unresolved several issues that will bedevil the county for years to come. A last-minute offer of another $3.5 million in community benefits by Upstate NY Power Corp. sweetened the deal sufficiently to win the eight votes needed for county approval of a 20-year payment-in-lieu-of-taxes plan for the project. But that does not end the dispute.

The deal had a familiar shape. One partner was a successful international consortium with deep pockets and manufacturing expertise, the other a backward jurisdiction so hungry for jobs that it had to pay the big company what amounts to a bribe to do the deal. The whole thing was arranged directly with the jurisdiction's leader without the bother of competition.

Kevin Rudd is damned and damned utterly by his own Intergenerational Report. It loudly proclaims we have a prime minister who hasn't got a clue. Of course it does so completely unknowingly and self-evidently unintentionally. Most deliciously, in so capturing the report's comprehensive inanity, with the illustration chosen for the cover.

The near-universal enthusiasm for wind power seen in the early days of the industry here in Maine has waned, in large part because of the complaints from those living near towers and turbines, which dominate the landscape and can produce annoying noise. As people hear about those complaints, sympathy for wind farm neighbors grows, as does wariness about the technology. While people may still support wind in the abstract, the thought of towers and turbines in their backyards tends to sour that support.

The intersection of health and renewable energy is a brand new area of medical inquiry that must be studied. To say that no further study of the issues is necessary as the AWEA-CANWEA authors did is shameful. The precautionary principle must be applied to projects that have the potential of worsening our lives. I and others will continue to work unceasingly on issues we believe in.

The McGuinty government is spending the Ontario electricity revenue to encourage investments in wind and solar green-power generation, without any chance of a benefit to the system or to the customer. The big corporate investors in wind farms and maybe solar farms will reap rich rewards for 20 years, while the customers pay higher and higher prices for electrical energy.

Wind power development, as approved by our state government, will ruin the Maine woods. Goodbye trees, goodbye wildlife, goodbye forested landscape. Hello to 1700 forty-story wind turbines. Hello fan-blade shadow flicker. Hello to 1700 red strobe lights towering above us. Farewell to the night sky. And hello to a constant low resonance hum, or worse.

Last month, I wrote about how wind power is not a substitute for base-load power generation. And while there may be fairly wide agreement with that argument, there is another aspect of wind power which has rarely been discussed: the effect of wind farms on people who live close by. ...It turns out that if you live in the vicinity of a wind farms, noise is most certainly a problem - a really big problem!

The federal Energy Department last week reported that wind power could take the place of coal and natural gas for as much as 30 percent of the electricity generation in the eastern two-thirds of the country. There is just one problem: the cost would be huge and the supposed environmental benefit (reduced carbon emissions) small.

Before we commit, for the supposed "common good," to having a 400 foot windmill in every backyard in rural Maine, it's time to give the harsh realities of this possibility some serious thought. Now is the time, because once a majority of towns cave to the idea, it will be too late.

"Wind cannot be relied upon to provide firm generation at full capacity coincident with peak demand." warns Hertzmark. "Wind might be capable of contributing to the peak demand requirements at some times. However, this will rarely happen - and when it does, it will be for brief periods. For significant periods of time, no households will be served by the wind farms." Nor have either of the worlds "wind leaders" - Denmark and Germany - decommissioned any fossil fuel plants.

Considering the wind farm(s) projected for Goodhue County, many are concerned for surrounding areas, the affects of sound, flickering reflections, killing of birds, human and wild life habitat, erosion of soil, etc. After attending meetings of the county commissioners where some issues were addressed I checked with some in the foot print of existing farms.

"The noise caused by wind farms can make some people ill", reported The Daily Telegraph. It said experts ... have acknowledged that the irritation caused by the noise can affect certain individuals. The story is based on an industry commissioned review of the current research on the possible health effects of wind turbine noise. It found that the sound (including subaudible sound) is not unique, and does not pose a risk to human health. Although the sound may cause ‘annoyance' for some people, this in itself is not an adverse health effect.