But they do have an enormous impact on the land. And that's something that must be considered and regulated before the county opens the door to that kind of development.

It won't be long before green-energy companies will want to make use of White Pine County's abundant wind and moderate sunlight. Sen. Reid says there's even geothermal potential near Cherry Creek.

There are a couple of stumbling blocks for green-energy development in Nevada right now.

The military is balking at tall wind turbines out of fear they'll interfere with radar signals. Sen. Reid is working on that issue, and we expect the Defense Department to rapidly see his point of view.

But transmission lines are the primary limitation.

Tranmission lines are part of the White Pine Energy Station and the Ely Energy Center projects.

Reid wants to control what kind of power can be transmitted over those lines: three-quarters must come from green sources (but not nuclear, no indeed).

The senator also is offering federal help to build a transmission line to any locale where 1,000MW of green power will be generated.

However the WPES and EEC projects shake out, it seems a sure bet that there will be transmission lines available for green-power companies to use.

We've already met representatives of one solar-power firm -- Ausra. The Palo Alto, Calif.-based company is surveying anywhere transmission corridors and lines are being contemplated. Other California-based, solar-power firms also are looking to Nevada to set up their ground-covering facilities to feed the Golden State's requirement for more green power.

All too soon, solar-power companies will be staking out areas here to build their power-generation facilities. The same can be said for wind-power providers, and possibly geothermal advocates.

The White Pine County Commissioners must decide where they would like to see these facilities built -- and where they would NOT like them built.

Wind-farms on the Georgetown Ranch, or in Steptoe Valley's irrigated fields may be compatible, but one around Comins Lake may not.

The differing technologies for solar power take up different amounts of land space -- but all take up large amounts. The commission should identify as many areas suitable for development as possible and start to attract the businesses. But just as quickly, the commission must determine what areas we want off limits.

There are other problems that if dealt with early on can be handled. There are new and emerging technologies and governmental subsidies to help them come on line. But a decade or two down the road, subsidies will fade and green-power generating facilities will be required to compete. Some technologies will succeed, while others will become obsolete.

Any massive facilities planned for our county must have performance bonds to guarantee, if they fail, that it won't be up to the county to clean up their mess.

But there are other considerations.

We get much of our power from Deseret Power in Utah. Mt. Wheeler Power gets hydropower from the Glen Canyon Dam and coal-fired power from Deseret's Bonanza plant in Utah.

The Utah Legislature is deliberating CO2 emission levels, and whatever limit the Bee Hive State adopts, the Bonanza plant will have to conform.

That could mean the cost of our power in Eastern Nevada could skyrocket if Deseret must pay to include more green power in its mix.

We could easily face a situation, where we are surrounded by green-power generation, while having to pay a carbon surcharge because our power includes too much fossil fuels and not enough green power.

Any green-power companies setting up in White Pine County should be required to share a reasonable portion of their generation with us to make the Mt. Wheeler/Deseret mix green enough for Utah's rules and to pass over transmission lines on public lands.

And where will this future network of smaller transmission lines leading to larger transmission lines go?

This area has worked long and hard to bring in a single power plant to provide a better tax base.

Sierra Pacific Resources invited itself late to the party, changing the number of proposed plants to two. From one possible wind farm, associated with WPES, we now face the potential of multiple green-power facilities dotting our valleys and along our ridges.

Additional green-power plants can be a good thing, but only if their placement is compatible with our vision and future plans. White Pine certainly shouldn't become the clogged green-power, energy park for Nevada (or neighboring states).

But allowing enough to augment our economy and tax base, while providing us with additional green power, may be possible.

The issue will arise quickly. The commission must consider its options how to address this new green challenge -- and very soon.