Iberdrola is threatening to pull out because Clayton is considering very reasonable requirements that will preserve the prized qualities of the town. Iberdrola's statement is mind-boggling to me. According to the article, "Iberdrola spokeswoman Jan Johnson said the company will use Maple Ridge as the example of responsible development ...Maple Ridge is a massive, visually dominating wind project in an area that is much different in character than the St. Lawrence shore towns.

Virginia officials have long discussed placing wind turbines off the coast, but the first towers in the region are likely to appear farther south - in North Carolina's Pamlico Sound. Duke Energy and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill recently signed a contract to install one to three turbines in the sound west of Buxton and Avon as early as next year. The turbines would be seven to 10 miles from shore. The pilot project ...could position North Carolina as a leader in developing wind energy.

Wind projects require government subsidies and inflated energy prices to be viable. When the full cost of subsidies, operations and government-mandated prices are considered, the consumer cost for green power substantially exceeds conventional energy. Despite all the hype, green power is not your friend.

One of the most beautiful areas of the North American continent has become the target for wind turbine projects put up by giant international corporations that, if they have their way, plan to fill the entire Great Lakes basin with these industrial parks. ...In Ontario (and New York state), the control of wind energy has been put into the hands of large international corporations which has turned the whole "green" energy movement on its head.

Ontario-based developer AIM PowerGen proposed building four 9.9 MW wind projects in Harrow, Ontario, in 2007. But two years later, the company is still waiting for its building permit - a process that typically takes no more than six months to complete. What's the holdup? Local opponents have bird-dogged town officials to overly vet AIM PowerGen's wind project, citing health concerns, according to Dave Timm, the developer's vice president of strategic affairs.

"You begin to feel like you're being used," a long-time Maine Audubon supporter and state legislator told me about the wind power movement in Maine. "There seems to be no real benefit to the people or communities of Maine." What? We are being used? No benefit to the people of Maine?

Habib Dagher and Governor King make compelling arguments for offshore wind energy. However, I am very skeptical about the continued use of taxpayer money to fund energy experiments like ethanol and off shore wind. Off-shore wind energy, like ethanol before it, has the potential to gobble up billions in taxpayer money and provide very little in return.

The developers of a wind farm in Highland County will be required today to appear before the State Corporation Commission -- again. This time opponents claim that the wind mills, finally under construction, might be seen from the site of a Civil War skirmish. Even if the swooping blades are visible a mile or two away at Camp Allegheny, that isn't cause to halt the project. This objection has been raised before -- and addressed before.

Prime Minister Stephen Harper came under attack from environmentalists last week following his announcement, in Washington, that Ottawa will provide $130-million from the Green Infrastructure Fund for a power line in northwestern British Columbia. Was the criticism justified? Or did Mr. Harper get unfairly attacked? He was accused of "greenwashing" the Northwest Transmission Line, a $404-million project that will push power cables along the scenic Stewart-Cassiar Highway.

What is not being addressed in any of these debates is the larger question of what position wind power will take in the national energy production cycle. Because wind power technology has been around for a long time, it is at an advanced stage of development, and it is cheaper than solar power. Thus, it achieved a quick popularity with people seeking a quick alternative to coal and oil. However, wind power has its own drawbacks.

The fact is that every claim made by the wind industry and its financially motivated promoters results in the very opposite effect in reality. ...After five years of researching and writing about this issue, I have not been able to substantiate a single claim developers make for industrial wind energy, including the one justifying its existence -- that massive wind installations will meaningfully reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, shutter any conventional power plants, or reduce meaningful levels of CO2 emissions.

Why would Vermont Community Wind Farm be willing to spend huge amounts of money on lawyers and experts only to find out that the wind does not blow enough to merit placement of wind towers? Why does the state of Vermont not have any siting standards for wind turbines?

Rutland Herald staff writer Gordon Dritschilo, who was not at the meeting in Ira on Aug. 26, wrote an article entitled "Ira wind supporters begin to stir publicly." From those who were there, it is reasonable to believe that this article was generated not from the facts in attendance, as the author was not there, nor were there that many supporters, but rather from the public relations effort of Jeff Wennberg and Vermont Community Wind Farm.

Before you slap a down payment on your own bucolic corner of heaven, look around you carefully -- because, trust me, there's almost always trouble of some sort brewing in paradise. If it isn't a landfill proposal, it's a gravel pit or a giant hog farm or a communications tower or biosolids being sprayed on the field next door. And now, a new danger: Dalton McGuinty's wind farms are sprouting all over rural Ontario.

Plans for a wind farm in Ira and nearby towns received a boost on Wednesday when the Public Service Board approved the installation of wind-measuring towers on Herrick Mountain in Ira and Susie's Peak in Clarendon. Opposition to the project has been strong in Ira and Clarendon, where town officials and other residents have expressed fears that a wind farm would destroy the scenic beauty of their towns without yielding significant electric power or benefits for the environment. ...Vermont Community Wind Farm has been alerted to the sensitivity of residents in the region about potential for damage to the environment and the beauty of the landscape.

While debate stemming from a recent Michigan Wind Energy Resource Zone Board meeting in Bad Axe has mostly been about whether future wind turbine development should be allowed in the local area, there have been other concerns raised that should be acknowledged. They are in regard to the board's actual makeup: That there's too much representation from the utility and transmission industries, and not enough representation from other entities, including counties, public health, agriculture and the Thumb region.

Thirty-six speakers at Perry's Public Hearing on Horizon's Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement offered vast amounts of well-documented research related specifically to the numerous inaccuracies in Horizon's SDEIS. This in contrast to the scant dozen pro-wind speakers who said they "supported the project and the SDEIS," but provided absolutely no independent, scientific information to back up their positions.

By banking heavily on wind power, Oregon and the Northwest are building their future comfort and prosperity on air, both figuratively and literally. It's a risky proposition, as indicated by a couple of announcements from the Bonneville Power Administration. ...The need for better forecasting illustrates the fickle nature of wind strength and direction. As amateur sailors know, the wind in Oregon can't be relied on to be either steady or strong for a very long time ahead.