Even if we trusted Florida Power & Light, and we would be fools to, how do you think FPL's industrial wind turbines could possibly be "exactly what the doctor ordered"? What exactly are they supposed to do for this county? ...Why are we considering endangering eagles, osprey, other wildlife and our beaches for a net gain of 1/1,000th the current generating capacity in a county that exports 500 percent more than we use? Believing FPL's bought-and-paid-for polls and studies is just begging to be lied to again.

Trust us, they said. Trust us, because we're the largest developer of alternative sources of energy in the world. We really know what we're doing. Trust us to build wind turbines near your coastline. Yes, they'd be very tall, but don't worry. After all, we live here, too. Trust us, we wouldn't do anything to harm the environment, to hurt birds and wildlife. This is our home, too you know. The "we" here is Florida Power & Light Co. I'm sorry, but recent revelations about FPL's "green energy" practices make me trust them even less than I did before.

Our impressive upper-level winds (average year-round 13.8 mph, no less) will make those jumbo-jet-sized turbine blades churn merrily. That's far faster than the 9 mph the super-efficient Siemens generators need to start turning over - and turning us on. I know the estimated 3,600 lucky Hutchinson Island recipients of this windy bounty are besides themselves with excitement over the news. I'm not so sure how the other hundreds of thousands of FPL customers feel about footing most of the $45 million bill.

The city of Fort Pierce has issued an edict (April 7 City Commission meeting) requiring all residents of condominiums on the beach to pull down shades, turn off lamps and batten down the lights to aid sea turtles in their search for nesting sites and ensuring hatchlings make their destination in the right direction - east. The lights confuse the turtles and cause the hatchlings to move toward land lights rather than toward the ocean. ...Now that we have this bit of information that should surprise no one, we move to giant wind turbines on the beach. What do they do to the sea turtles?

Do you really want to take the chance of ruining the lagoon and destroying our sport-fishing resource for something that we do not have enough wind for? The evidence points to the fact that wind turbines might be a disaster to our environment and proper independent studies have not been conducted by either the county or FPL. County commissioners have a choice to represent either their constituents or FPL. I urge them to stop the procrastination, and unless proper, independent, ecological studies are initiated, please save the county a lot of time and money and ban the turbines immediately.

Perhaps FPL is right. Perhaps the majority of St. Lucians could care less if the company wants to play at windmills on its own land. But I have to wonder if the survey questions weren't just a little, shall we say, skewed? It's well-known in market research circles that how you ask the questions can be as important as the questions themselves. FPL's survey, for instance, made no distinction as to where phone respondents lived — the island or inland? I suspect few of the "yes" votes came from Hutchinson Island. FPL also didn't seem to want to hear from people who rarely vote in general elections. And they didn't bother to find out exactly what 20 percent of the "yes" voters meant by being only "somewhat" supportive.

Last week, Florida Power & Light Co. killed plans to build three wind turbines on a publicly owned St. Lucie County beach - just hours before county commissioners had scheduled a vote to oppose the project. Who says the state's biggest utility can't see the light? Now the utility can move forward with plans to build six 40-story windmills on its own oceanfront land near the St. Lucie Nuclear Power Plant. That should have been the approach all along. Instead, FPL tried to put another three windmills at Blind Creek Park, public land north of the nuclear plant that had been bought for preservation.

But running turbines on public conservation land, which Florida Power & Light was looking to do in St. Lucie County until county commissioners there got wind of it, isn't the way. Florida needs to cut its dependence on fossil fuels. But not -- not -- where a wind farm would irreparably damage publicly preserved land. Better options exist.

With a majority of St. Lucie County commissioners opposing Florida Power & Light Co.'s plans to put three giant wind turbines on conservation land at Blind Creek Park, that part of the nine-windmill project is dead. Three cheers. The project does not belong on land the county and state paid to preserve. ...St. Lucie's rejection would leave intact the principle that land bought for conservation is meant to be preserved. If FPL proceeds with the project on its own land, it should return a portion of the grant. If FPL drops the whole project, the whole grant should go back to the state.

So it's dead - or on life support, at best. The news that three county commissioners went public this week against the Florida Power & Light Co. wind turbine project on Hutchinson Island effectively seems to have killed the idea. All we're lacking now is the official obituary. Paula Lewis was the latest to make up her mind, following Doug Coward, but it was the project's chief proponent - Chris Craft - who turned a few heads Tuesday when he announced his opposition.

Will the windmill project reduce the energy costs for FPL customers in St. Lucie County? FPL admits the answer is no. But, the windmills along the beach would show that St. Lucie County is an environmentally-conscious, “green” county, helping to reduce oil dependence and saving the country from global warming. How impressive will the windmills be, though, if the project fails, which seems likely? Will the county look foolish, allowing the landscape to be marred by skyscraping windmills, which serve no purpose?

The statistics did not include ranking of states with available, sustainable wind that makes it possible to produce wind energy. Florida ranks 48th in available, sustainable wind, according to AWEA. This phenomenal statistic should be included in competent decision-making. In a horse race, would you a bet on the horse ranking 48 in a field of 50?

Gov. Crist has committed the state to developing "green" energy that doesn't harm the environment. Now, he must direct state agencies, especially the Department of Environmental Protection, to stop approving little-tested technologies without setting standards. ...Last week, the state correctly backed off a hasty push to approve Florida Power & Light Co.'s request to build three, 40-story wind turbines on St. Lucie County public beaches. Even a planned April meeting is too soon to reconsider. FPL already plans six wind turbines on its own land. FPL has a booming wind business in other states, where turbines are inland, but little experience with coastal turbines.

"This is a test. This is only a test ..." The test I refer to involves FPL, its push for electricity-producing wind turbines on public land next to its nuclear plant, and the way government played along at first but now appears splintered. We have three players in this drama: the county, the state and, of course, FPL. Watching the trio dance, occasionally stepping on each other's toes, has been intriguing.

Our parks should remain quiet preserves; Kennedy Space Center's security shouldn't be compromised. Even our landfills should be off limits to FPL. Private industries have no right to generate profits on public property that only their shareholders will enjoy. Solar power is local by nature. It's time for municipalities to get behind start-up companies that can keep energy dollars circulating within their community and get FPL off public assistance.

Let's confront an inconvenient truth. Wind turbines on Hutchinson Island will not work. What makes this statement more shocking is that Florida Power & Light is well aware of this. Then what could motivate them to proceed with a major project that will destroy the natural habitat, kill a multitude of birds, disrupt the environment, do damage to the infrastructure, and go against the wishes of the residents of Hutchinson Island? The answer is quite simple. Money. ...I personally cannot think of this practice being anything less than economic terrorism.

This week, Florida should avoid setting a bad precedent. The state should not allow Florida Power & Light to build giant wind turbines on land the state and St. Lucie County bought to preserve. FPL is trying to rush a state decision at a Thursday hearing in Tallahassee before the Acquisition and Restoration Council, an advisory board. A decision could come on Friday. If the council approves the plan, Gov. Crist and the Florida Cabinet would cast the final vote. ...This is the second time FPL has played last-minute tricks to get its way in St. Lucie County. In 2005, the utility wanted to build a large coal plant. To get around opposition, FPL offered $13.6 million to help an opponent who had drainage problems, and altered the plant's boundaries to change the definition of who was considered a "neighbor."

This morning's St. Lucie Board of County Commission meeting could see the end of the Florida Power & Light wind turbine project on Hutchinson Island. But don't bet on it. Rumor has it some commissioners would prefer to "punt" and delay a decision until they have more information. ...The wind turbine opposition comes from a multitude of angles: the 40-story height and appearance of the towers and their whirling blades wider than a jumbo jet; the possibly lethal effects on wildlife (especially birds); the unpleasant "strobe" effects spinning turbine blades tend to have on those living nearby; the noise that's been described as like a wrapped brick in a clothes dryer; reduction in property values; the possible safety threat to the nuclear plant from what's attractively called "blade throw," should one ever come off in high winds. Hey, it's happened.

Wind power is green and clean. All it takes is land, transmission lines, substations, collection systems, windmills that are 40 stories high and constant wind of 12 miles per hour. The nine experimental low-wind-speed turbines Florida Power and Light plans to build may provide electricity to 2,500 homes. May, that is, if the wind blows 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Otherwise, the windmills will stand tall and still. FPL wishes to experiment with unregulated low-wind-speed turbines in St. Lucie County.

This one is about corporate tax avoidance through massive tax subsidies lobbied for by Enron, which was the largest wind developer in the United States before its demise and which pioneered the tax shelter as a commodity. FPL Group paid zero federal income tax in 2002 and 2003 despite more than $2 billion in profits, largely because of the wind projects of its wind subsidiary, FPL Energy, according to Citizens for Tax Justice. But, now it has gotten so bold that it is proposing putting wind turbines where we don't have sufficient winds to get close to the 30 mph required to reach the turbines' rated capacity. Destroying environmentally sensitive lands on Hutchinson Island and the quality of life for people in a populated area for an industrial wind plant is like burning down rain forest to build a solar farm.