By now I'm sure most of the residents of Natrona County have seen the newest addition to our skyline, the Chevron wind farm. I have noticed an increase in traffic in our area, I assume to see this mess close-up. I have spoken with many people and asked them if they would like to live next to this; I have yet to get a "yes." So why did our commissioners allow this to happen in violation of their own regulations?

Now is the time for you to prove to the people of Wyoming if you really care about the scenic beauty of Wyoming. The wind farm rage is coming. I have been to your wind symposium in Laramie and to the task force meeting in Casper this past week. I have heard so much talk about sage grouse, and state taxes being imposed on a 100 percent tax subsidized industry that I feel Ill!

There will be a time when future generations look back at the challenges we are addressing today regarding the development of our wind resources. They will compare our actions to those of our predecessors who dealt with the coal boom of the 1970s, and numerous other development peaks in our state's history. Here's the test: Will we have created an environment where people look upon wind turbines as a point of progress and something positive for the state, or will people look at what we did and see the monsters that Don Quixote saw in windmills?

The symposium will also create perspectives for the legislative branches to drum up new laws, along with revenues for Wyoming. In turn the trade-off will be right-of-way easements and more access to state and federal land. Wyoming Wind Corridors will produce the energy, and like all that is produced here, that energy will be sent out on the National Electrical Grid system. Each company online will receive a cut of the Wyoming wind energy pie. Therefore once again Wyoming residents will hold out the coffers' bags, getting the least for the best Wyoming has to offer.

It's understandable that wind power companies are confused about Wyoming's attitude toward wind energy development. In a period of less than two years, the state has gone from offering a tax incentive aimed at spurring construction of wind farms to eliminating that incentive and restricting where turbines can be built. The sudden shift in sentiment has come in reaction to a significant increase in the number of wind farms planned in Wyoming ...Quite frankly, the state has been caught unprepared to deal with the wind energy boom.

Wyomingites should be very careful before jumping on the renewable energy bandwagon. There is no doubt that wind and solar will play some role in our future energy requirements. We need to take a methodical and well-thought out approach to protect the wide open spaces that we all enjoy here in our state.

To reach the ultimate goal of wind producing 20 percent of the energy used in this country by 2030, tens of thousands of 200-foot-high turbines must be installed nationwide, with many of them slated for gusty public lands in Wyoming, Washington, Oregon and Idaho. That's sparked a fight that looks much like the one waged about natural gas in the past couple of decades. Only this time the battle lines are drawn in unexpected places.

The Natrona County Commission has had three years to consider how to regulate commercial wind farms here. ...But there were no county guidelines for construction of wind farms three years ago. In fact, the county commission didn't approve its wind farm regulations until last September. ...after more than a dozen public meetings over the last two years, neighboring property owners have petitioned a 7th District Court judge to invalidate the permits approved by the county commissioners.

New Interior Secretary Ken Salazar went overboard when he said recently that windmills off the East Coast could generate enough electricity to replace most, if not all, of the coal-fired power plants in the country. ...It is clear that the new administration is changing the nation's energy policy, putting more focus on renewables and clean energy. But coal has clearly not been taken out of the equation, even though we're not likely to see construction of many more traditional coal fired power plants.

New Interior Secretary Ken Salazar went overboard when he said Monday that windmills off the East Coast could generate enough electricity to replace most, if not all, of the coal-fired power plants in the country. ...it's impractical to think that the coal-fired power industry -- which supplies about half of the nation's electricity -- could be displaced by wind turbines.

This has been known to fry wind turbines. With snow, ice and frigid weather, winter creates complications for renewable energy, as I wrote last week. But for Ralph Brokaw, a Wyoming rancher with both cows and wind turbines on his land, the worst hazard is not the ice that his blades can throw off in the winter. Rather, it is lightning strikes on the towers.

And turbines are still something of a novelty for most of us, so the "not in my backyard" mentality hasn't yet set in when it comes to wind farms. In fact, as we reported in the Energy Journal, groups of ranchers in eastern Wyoming -- seeing an opportunity to make some money without significantly disrupting their ag operations -- have banded together to market their properties to wind energy developers. That, of course, could change. As turbines begin to spring up in more sensitive, pristine spots, or closer to residential areas, the novelty could wear off quickly.