Wind turbine opponents win the day
Asheville Citizen-Times|Jordan Schrader|August 5, 2009
Officials have interpreted the state's mountain ridge development law as banning large wind turbines on the ridges. The Senate Agriculture Committee this morning rejected a proposal that would have reversed that ban. Instead, a bill moving through the Senate will continue to call for cementing the ban.
Officials have interpreted the state's mountain ridge development law as banning large wind turbines on the ridges. The Senate Agriculture Committee this morning rejected a proposal that would have reversed that ban. Instead, a bill moving through the Senate will continue to call for cementing the ban.
RALEIGH - An effort in the General Assembly to pave the way for windmills to dot mountaintops has stalled.
Officials have interpreted the state's mountain ridge development law as banning large wind turbines on the ridges. The Senate Agriculture Committee this morning rejected a proposal that would have reversed that ban.
Instead, a bill moving through the Senate will continue to call for cementing the ban, limiting windmills to a single unit less than 100 feet tall that is used to power a single home.
It was a win for several mountain legislators who say windmills would ruin views by scarring ridgetops, and a defeat for Sen. Steve Goss, D-Watauga.
Goss vowed to fight on. "It's not over yet. We'll take it to the (Senate) floor," …
... more [truncated due to possible copyright]RALEIGH - An effort in the General Assembly to pave the way for windmills to dot mountaintops has stalled.
Officials have interpreted the state's mountain ridge development law as banning large wind turbines on the ridges. The Senate Agriculture Committee this morning rejected a proposal that would have reversed that ban.
Instead, a bill moving through the Senate will continue to call for cementing the ban, limiting windmills to a single unit less than 100 feet tall that is used to power a single home.
It was a win for several mountain legislators who say windmills would ruin views by scarring ridgetops, and a defeat for Sen. Steve Goss, D-Watauga.
Goss vowed to fight on. "It's not over yet. We'll take it to the (Senate) floor," he said.
But the best he hopes to do now is stop an explicit ban from passing the Senate, by limiting the scope of the bill to the coast.
Senators are likely to consider the measure on the floor this week.