Google plans to corner the wind energy market in New Jersey. It's a first-of-its kind venture that could cost Google and its partners $1.3 billion, but one Google believes fits its core mission: You can make money without doing evil.

The enviros are up against nothing less than a grassroots revolt against their entire alternative-energy strategy. They sold it as a painless way to power the world without carbon emissions. ...But now people are learning that to produce all that power, these things have to be huge - and they have to be in our backyards.

"This used to be inundated with wildlife," Lourenco said. "There were deer, woodchuck, foxes ... " Soon, this will all be fenced off behind a chain-link wall. The natural area to be destroyed will total 45 acres. Who is responsible for this environmental disaster? You can blame this one on the tree-huggers themselves. All of this acreage will be sacrificed for so-called "green energy."

"People says the sound is like sneakers in the dryer or a threshing plant or a jet that never lands," she said. "If you close the windows and doors to keep out the noise, things are still going to vibrate." The tips of the turbine blades can reach speeds of 150 mph, killing lots of migrating birds.

I have never been more saddened by any action that our borough has taken. This atrocity is over the top for me. What are they thinking? This is not what going green is supposed to be like.

"It is likely that one blade failed, and the imbalance created gyroscopic forces that broke the other two," Jones said. That is small comfort to those considering wind turbines. ...But with so many projects on hold and so much at stake, these flaws need to be addressed quickly - before someone is decapitated.

The BRSA is trying to force the turbine down the throats of the communities it serves and has irresponsibly spent more than $2 million on the project. By not first acquiring the additional land and ensuring that all permits were completed, it has put the ratepayers it serves at risk.

Cape May is now facing a different kind of accommodation with the modern age, one that pits often-allied historic and environmental interests against each other: Green power. The city's Historic Preservation Commission is asking City Council wants to ban windmills and only wants solar systems in the historic district that can't be seen from the street.

On page 5 of a GE Energy document titled "Wind Energy Basics", it states, "Siting wind turbines and assessing the feasibility of a proposed location must consider factors such as Community Acceptance and compatibility with adjacent land uses. ... Hence, megawatt-scale wind turbines cannot be located in densely populated areas." In Union Beach a "densely populated area" begins 1,080 feet from the Bayshore Regional Sewerage Authority's site for their proposed 380-foot-tall GE industrial wind turbine.

The council would not have wasted $250,000 of taxpayers' money to save $1,629. The only reason the council approved the project was because of the claim of an 80 percent savings presented by Kennedy and Fry. Was their data false on purpose, to justify the windmill, or false by accident?

The take-home point from this and other windmill controversies is that windmills are not the magical power source they're touted to be. They should not be built near where people live.

Bill Heller told me the windmill in question would be 75 feet taller than the Statue of Liberty. I could see the statue looming on the other side of the Verrazano Narrows Bridge. And if you can see the statue from Union Beach, that means this windmill would be visible from most of the New York Bay. ...It's a symbol the residents don't want, said Borough Councilman Lou Andreuzzi.

Last November I drove across the country, mostly along back roads. In the middle of Iowa, I came upon a fascinating spectacle. Giant windmills filled the fields in every direction. I watched them turn slowly in the breeze. They looked like an army of giant robots marching across the middle of nowhere. And that's exactly where they belong. Stick one of these things in crowded New Jersey and it's a different story. I learned that the other day when I witnessed a windmill in Ocean Gate, a pleasant little community at the mouth of the mighty Toms River.

Instead of messing with farms, let's put solar and wind energy facilities where they belong. ...This legislation tries to satisfy one societal need - clean energy - by compromising another - preserved farmland. Perhaps it's easier to place clean power generation facilities on open land than retrofit other sites, but this tendency to look to greenfields to satisfy new development needs is precisely the kind of practice that has brought so much sprawl to New Jersey.

Of the proposals under consideration, at least one would be off the coast of Ocean County, 18 miles from Long Beach Island. Although a study prepared for the BPU noted the impact of wind farms off the Jersey coast on the fishing and tourism industries would be temporary and relatively minimal, it indicated there was far greater sensitivity to the visual impact of wind farms in Ocean County than in Cape May and Atlantic counties. The BPU should take that into account. ...The projected loss of tourism revenue would drop off dramatically if wind farms were located 6 miles or more off the coast.

The issue of constructing these 500 kV power lines is being fought throughout the country. Debates and litigation are ongoing in Virginia, Pennsylvania, California, Florida and Canada. The issue relates to the fact that these transmission lines are of a size and strength few have seen. At the Montville meeting, PSE&G was unable to address the mayor's desire to drive within one to two hours and see these proposed 190-foot towers. I accept the fact that when I purchased my home three years ago it was near a current right of way, but the idea that towers can go from 85 feet up to 190 feet without any impact on my property value is ludicrous.

But before you go all wacky for wind power, certain opposition groups like the Industrial Wind Action Group and National Wind Watch want you to hear their side of the story. Their claims are more than just not-in-my-backyard, wet-blanket-complaints. They believe the wind energy industry is spinning lies along with the turbines, luring large public subsidies for a system that is, at best, secondary to fossil fuels.

Governor Corzine's energy master plan for New Jersey calls for a reduction of 20 percent in energy consumption by 2020. It also proposes that by that same year, just 12 years hence, 22.5 percent of the state's electricity should come from renewable sources, chiefly wind and solar, up from 2 percent now. Further, New Jersey emissions of greenhouse gases should be reduced by 20 percent. These goals are remarkable. Energy use has been growing steadily. Nearly half the state's power plants are 30 years old or older. Some will have to be replaced, sooner or later. ...Some interesting things are happening, but as for the 2020 goals set by Corzine, he, and we, had better not get our hopes up.

In an attempt to help meet Gov. Jon Corzine's targets for reducing greenhouse gas emissions in the state, several developers submitted proposals last week to construct offshore wind farms. If a proposal is accepted, it would be the first offshore wind farm in the United States ...Given that the projected cost of a proposal could reach $1.4 billion, there is a concern as to who will pay for the construction of the wind farm. The developer will outlay the cost. If the project is not subsidized, the high original cost would most likely be passed along to the energy consumer.