Today, we are confronted by the crisis of climate change. Descriptions are so fearful, confusing, and occasionally contradictory that it's hard to know what to think. We each try to do what we can to reduce our personal impact on the earth, and ponder how to preserve the planet from a catastrophic fate that could be imminent and irreversible. For many people, renewable energy has become the panacea: producing power from wind, trees, grasses, and the sun.

Thanks to the foresight and enlightened public policy of the Yorkshire Town Board, the 30 megawatt (MW) project (approximately 15 turbines) proposed in Yorkshire has blown away. Nowhere in New York state have turbines been erected prior to the enactment of a local town law. Fortunately, the Yorkshire Board did an extensive cost-benefit analysis and correctly determined the negative impacts of industrial wind turbines in residential areas far exceed the limited economic benefits to the community.

In the last year I have been to some of the local hearings and information meetings about wind turbine parks and have visited several operating turbine sites, but I have not heard a lot of discussion about the impacts of nighttime lighting. I spent an evening in Cape Vincent looking at the nighttime lighting of the Wolfe Island wind turbine park. ...Standing on the shore in Cape Vincent, in the dark, looking across three miles to the nearest turbine light (five to seven miles to the farthest), more than 20 red strobes blitz simultaneously every two-and-a-half seconds.

The Sept. 1 letter of Claire Jones hits a key point. Ms. Jones apparently is a regular visitor to the Thousand Island area from far away. I too am a regular visitor, and like so many, we cannot believe how some local town officials are seriously prepared to transform the area in a most profound way. Having seen the Maple Ridge Wind Farm many times on my way to the Thousand Islands, I am shocked that efforts are under way to bring such visually dominating infrastructure to the Thousand Islands.

Why do our town officials value the wind companies more than the citizens they represent? Furthermore, it's hard to understand why so many people are indifferent about the issue. Many people say, "I don't care one way or another because I won't see them from my house or from the village. They won't affect me." To me this translated to I don't care what happens to my neighbors or my community.

At what point does it become a matter of personal responsibility to stand up and speak out to preserve the priceless beauty and health of a God-given resource that once irreversibly damaged by corporate and political greed can never be replaced? ...Now after the introduction of industrial-scale wind turbines and high voltage switchyards and transformers to Sheldon, and the dumping of thousands of tons of industrial waste from the 100 year-old industrial steel site into the agricultural fields where food is grown or cattle graze ... we choose to exercise our rights as a democratic society and therefore stand up and speak out as necessary to preserve this land that is the Orangeville that we love.

My house and land is in Prattsburgh, across from turbine sites for the Ecogen wind project, and my wife owns adjacent property in Naples, Ontario County. I've heard some people say "what's happening in the hills with the wind turbines won't affect me." What these folks may not yet realize is that, if these turbines are allowed to damage the value of adjacent properties, their taxes will go up. And the first step in this one-two process has just started.

We have recently learned about the wind turbine projects proposed for construction along the shores of the majestic St. Lawrence River in Hammond. I implore those who want to preserve and protect a way of life to speak up and take action before it is too late. For those readers who have never visited the Thousand Islands area of the St. Lawrence River in upstate New York, go and see for yourself Mother Nature's gift to all of us who have been blessed to spend time in that beautiful environment.

My heart aches for the citizens of Hammond, both year-round and seasonal, for they are about to lose their entire way of life and the wildlife and peace and quiet of the area. The natural beauty will be gone. Friends and neighbors will be choosing camps, and lifelong grudges will be formed. Is it worth it just to pick up a few thousand bucks? Ask the people of Lowville what it has done to families and neighbors. I say to the turbine industry, go away and leave us alone. Stop appealing to people's sense of greed no matter what the cost.

There are some troubling aspects regarding the proposed wind turbine project being considered for the Chipmonk area in Allegany that we think should be taken into consideration.

In my opinion it is unreasonable and irresponsible for Supervisor Rienbeck and the zoning law review committee to recommend any less setback from all of our public roads. The notion that the users of secondary or seasonal roads warrant less protection from potential harm than those using main roads is an absurd idea. I am discouraged that this review committee is resisting virtually every effort to significantly regulate the placement of wind turbines in Cape Vincent contrary to Mr. Rienbeck's claim.

Over the last couple of years, concerned citizens all around Jefferson County have sponsored informational sessions on wind turbine issues. These sessions have brought out the facts and the health hazards of placing wind turbines where people live. ...The facts are there and the facts are being stepped over to pick up money our Congress has made available for renewable energy. This is your money, and this is just another giveaway program for an inefficient source of energy. We need to channel our tax dollars into the development of real fuel-cell technology for cars and trucks.

The public information program that was held at the Thousand Islands Central School on Sept. 25 was attended by Jefferson County residents who wanted to learn more about industrial wind turbines. The program was put together by a group of citizens from the Cape Vincent, Clayton, Orleans, Lyme and Brownville areas who saw a need for a program like this. ...The public needs to be informed of how our quality of life would be affected and reminded that we are not in an Empire Zone so the profits here would not be close to what was gained in Lewis County.

The windmills Windforce LLC are proposing to put on Dan's Mountain are over 400 feet tall the blades are 150 feet long. You will be able to see the windmills from almost everywhere in Allegany County. There are currently only two buildings in Baltimore larger, one in Pittsburgh and one in Cleveland. Do you want our Western Maryland Mountain side destroyed only to bring a profit to an out of town company?

Currently, the wind law is designed to accommodate the noise levels expected by the developer PPM Energy. These levels are measured at the outside wall of a resident's home, disregarding one's property line, and are unhealthy. Federal guidelines state that an appropriate level of noise in a bedroom during sleep is 24dBA (A-weighted decibels). However, our current local laws allow noise levels to reach 50dBA. State guidelines in New York state that an increase of 6dBA above normal background will cause complaints and should be avoided. According to the guidelines, an increase of 20dBA is intolerable. ...We have shown our local government that placing 62 turbines in a four- by five-mile populated area is harmful to residents. To date the town leaders in Clayton continue to ignore the plea from residents to protect us.

When St. Lawrence Wind submitted its draft environmental study to Cape Vincent, there was no assessment considering the viewshed impact from the St. Lawrence River. This is astounding and negligent considering much of Cape Vincent's economy is tourism based on water recreation. Many people will view this industrial wind plant from the water.

I took a run this weekend over to Ellenburg and Clinton, N.Y., to see 121 wind turbines at work. These are the 400-foot behemoths installed over the fall and winter by Noble Environmental Power. They're the first of nearly 400 towers planned for this windy stretch of scrub and farmland just south of the Canadian border. We've been arguing about wind energy in Vermont for more than five years now. ... Only two conclusions were inescapable: First, a wind project undoubtedly transforms the landscape, for better or worse. Second, seeing a wind "farm" at work won't settle the argument over "better or worse."

A recent letter about the Jordanville Wind Project oversimplifies the opposition of the Holy Trinity Monastery and others to the location of the proposed wind farm. The monks are not selfishly choosing serenity over clean energy. Rather, their concerns speak to a larger issue: the impact of industrial-scale wind turbine projects on New York's historic, scenic and cultural resources. In fact, the Preservation League of New York State named the Holy Trinity Monastery to our Seven to Save list of endangered places this month in part to call attention to the need for statewide siting standards for wind energy projects.

I have been a resident in the town of Arkwright for almost 10 years. In my opinion, the town board meeting was not an indication of "the community coming together." A community is not together because the town supervisor declares that to the local media to sway public opinion. A community does not come together when proposing ideas and addressing important concerns to the leaders of our town is looked at as "confrontational questions" and "obvious objections." This is not about who agrees with wind power and who disagrees with wind power. The community is divided because Horizon is a huge company, no longer an American company, that has come into a small town with landowners desperate for money, in a society that no longer supports local farming, and a town board basing decisions on financial gains and nothing more. The result: 47 gigantic wind towers up to 330 feet and a turbine size of up to 300 feet, in an area that was considered residential/agricultural a year ago and has since been switched over to industrial zoning.