For now, wind power's triumphant march in the U.S. can count on another legal smackdown of "NIMBYism," after a Texas appeals court yesterday dismissed a suit by landowners upset with a big wind farm built by FPL Energy. Landowners decried the turbines' noise and their spoiled sunsets-which the court agreed was a pity-but the appeals court couldn't find grounds to rule against the power company. ...Congress is meant to reconvene next month for yet another attempt at renewing clean-energy tax credits. But does it have any recipe to make clean energy more appealing to the folks who hate it?

It is clear the majority of commissioners court is in favor of allowing the wind farm to go up in northern Young County. From a government perspective, the choice is easy. By agreeing to waive some of the property tax for 10 years, commissioners will see the income to the county rise by between $200,000 and $400,000 each year. ...While wind farms are often beneficial to property owners who lease their land, they are frequently hated by other land owners. The bottom line is putting 40 or 50 wind generators up in Young County will drastically change the scenic view many people have become accustomed to. If you want an example of what you may see, just drive down Highway 16 South toward Possum Kingdom Lake and look at the windmills sitting south of Bryson.

If anyone wants to see what these windmills can do to ruin a beautiful view, try taking a quick trip up IH-20 and Highway 84 between Sweetwater and Snyder. That used to be the highlight of my drive from Dallas to Lubbock, to see the beautiful ridges and hills off to the southwest. It has now been ruined with hundreds of massive windmills. ...I would hate to see it ruined because a few folks see a way to make a little money for a few years.

The Coastal Habitat Alliance, which is fighting a massive wind farm proposed for the Kenedy Ranch in South Texas, has raised some troubling, not terribly well-studied problems with wind power - namely it may take a toll on wildlife. As it happens, the Kenedy Ranch is smack dab in the middle of one of the most important corridors for migratory birds in the U.S., a sort of feathery superhighway. ...the Alliance's demands are pretty simple - before the PUC grants a permit to build the 21-mile, high-voltage power line, they want a study commissioned on the impact to the birds, bats and bees.

Elsewhere, the General Land Office has gotten into real estate speculation, destroying rare habitats for profit. For instance, in discussions regarding coastal wind farms, Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson dismisses grave neo-tropical bird migration concerns with "This is Texas. We don't have Walter Cronkite and Ted Kennedy whining about their back yards."