Wind In The News

 

Reunion Power's Application Not Accepted by Cherry Valley Planning Board: July 17 2006

Windfarm Disaster That Could Strike Scotland Too: July 17 2006, by Iain Ramage in This is North Scotland...Experts are warning that an environmental disaster in Ireland which was linked to the construction of a windfarm could happen in Scotland. The peat landslip in 2003 at Derrybrien saw a bog slide almost two miles down a hillside in County Galway - polluting waterways, killing 50,000 fish and engulfing a farmhouse. The windfarm operators were fined but construction of the 71-turbine project - Ireland's largest - was completed. Now a report from the Scottish Wind Assessment Project (Swap), which investigates claims for and against the wind industry, concludes that lessons from Derrybrien have not been heeded - despite legal action by the European Union against the Irish Government. Moorland specialist John Phillips, a contributor to the report, said: "Windfarms tend to be located on ridges because that's where the wind blows. "Anything that's got more than half a metre of peat on top of the bedrock is, potentially, something running in parallel with Derrybrien - which is the case for the majority of Scottish windfarms."...."

Audubon New York's Commitment To Wind Energy Called Superficial And Ill Considered

NWW's Submitted comments to House of Representatives Appropriations Subcommittee on Energy & Water Development March 31, 2006, by National Wind Watch..."Continued installation of wind turbines throughout our rural and mountainous landscapes without scientific, impartial review of the impacts of this industrialization would have devastating effects of some of the most precious ecosystems in the world. After decades of government subsidized research and implementation, it is time for the wind industry to no longer be treated as an ‘infant industry’. Rather, it is time for the industry to start paying for much of its way, consistent with the maturation of the technology. Any money now should go to research, once and for all, the impacts of these massive turbines on our wildlife, open spaces, property values, health and safety of residents living in the vicinity of turbines, and the quality of rural life."

Committee hears from friends, foes of wind farms: March 11, 2006, The Legislative Gazette..."Opponents of wind energy said wind turbines have destroyed the landscapes in the state, and they called for an immediate moratorium. 'They are practically building these things in people’s back yards,' said Sue Brander of Stark, Herkimer County. 'We need to stop the machines until we get it right.'...'I don’t support statewide moratorium on wind power,' said Assemblyman Ryan S. Karben, D,I-Monsey, chairman of the subcommittee on renewable energy. Aaron Troodler, Karben’s chief of staff, said the assemblyman would explore the possibility of creating statewide regulations to help New Yorkers, but he does not support a moratorium because it would hinder efforts to develop renewable energy resources."

Noble Environmental hopes for wind-farm approval before summer: 02-14-06, Suzanne Moore, Press Republican..."...Noble hopes to see its proposed Clinton Wind Park and Ellenburg Wind Park, along with another in Altona, win approval before summer... Noble Environmental Power's Clinton Wind Park would be situated in the town's southwest corner.

"We think it's a good site because it's a fairly wooded area, it's away from the hamlet (of Churubusco) and it will minimize visual impact," said Mark Lyons, development manager for the projects Noble has proposed for the North Country...The Clinton and Ellenburg parks are contiguous, he said, matching the edges of two maps to show where they meet... This is all wet through here," Lyons said, gesturing at the map again. "There weren't too many places we could put it."

Windfarm developer seeks compulsory purchase powers February 9 2006, Western Mail... "A FIRM behind a huge windfarm development in mid Wales is seeking the power to take over more land, sparking protests from campaigners and politicians. CRE Energy Ltd, a subsidiary of Scottish Power, aims to extend its network of windfarms across the UK. It says it would be 'helpful to have the power to acquire land compulsorily'.... CRE, which runs the Cefn Croes Wind farm. insists it would use the power as a "last resort" and would only need it to buy small areas of land where it was being "held to ransom".

Powerful change in wind - Towering turbines bring income for some, clean power for state, but some say costs too high: January 30, 2006, Times Union..."Before the wind farm, the plateau was best known for its snowmobile trails connecting to a statewide trail. Tug Hill is famous for deep snow, a long winter and unobstructed routes.Construction of the access roads blocked some of those trails, and the crews ran out of time to smooth out high spots, which are difficult for snowmobiles to pass over. The early season plowing postponed taking the sleds on the roads.

'They just weren't neighborly', said Gordon Yancey, owner of the Flat Rock Inn, a popular bar in the middle of the plateau. " It's not going to stop guys from riding. It just destroys the sleds.' Yancey does not receive money from the towers and says he can't stand them: The rotors sound like helicopters, the towers are ugly and he does not like to live surrounded by giants."

Wind Energy Issue Arrives In Nunda: Proposed project depends on erection of meteorological tower: January 25, 2006, The Evening Tribune..."To date, Brooks said, the town has not heard from Community Energy, and may not... 'They're making some decisions on whether they're going to complete the application,' Brooks said. 'As of today we have no active applicant.'"

"The company could decide to approach adjacent Ossian to erect the tower, Brooks said. He added that a tower erected in Mt. Morris by a different wind energy company produced inferior results, meaning the Nunda-area project may see the same fate."

Greenfield Eyed For Wind Energy: 1/16/2006, By Brendan McGarry, PostStar.com..."The project -- plans for which are preliminary and have not been filed with the town -- would result in the construction of between 10 and 17 wind turbines on the Kayaderosseras ridge east of Lake Desolation and south of the Adirondack Park, according to Jack Joyce, vice president of East Coast operations for Airtricity Inc., which maintains European headquarters in Ireland and U.S. headquarters in Chicago, Ill. Joyce said his firm was attracted to the site because of its steady wind and proximity to power transmission lines...There's a ton of wind in the Adirondack Park,' he said. This is close to that.'"

Flurry of complaints after wind change: Jul. 25, 2005, tvnz.co.nz..."A wind change at Meridian power company's giant wind farm on the Ruahine Ranges has prompted a flood of complaints from nearby residents. Residents in the small Manawatu town of Ashurst say that in an easterly there is an intrusive rumble for days on end. They say the windmills emitted a low frequency noise for three days on end, making their lives a living hell... Ashurst residents say it bombarded them with noise and vibration."

Amid Rolling Hills, a Push Against Whirling Turbines: July 24, 2005, by Michelle York, NY Times..."Gov. George E. Pataki's call to increase the state's so-called green energy 6 percent by 2013 has prompted a flurry of proposals that could add 46 wind farms to the three that already exist in the state. The two wind farms proposed in Prattsburgh would add 90 wind turbines that stand roughly 400 feet tall - higher, opponents like to say, than the Statue of Liberty. "My gosh, it looks like there's going to be five around us," Mr. Cadigan said. "The whole neighborhood could be driven right out."

Prisoners' Complaints Take Wind out of Turbine's Sails: 9 April 2005, Vikram Dodd, The Guardian..."Prisoners at top security Whitemoor jail were becoming irritated by sunlight reflecting off the blades of a nearby wind turbine, and creating flickering shadows inside the prison... After representations by the prison service the company operating the turbine has agreed to switch it off in the early morning, for fear it might upset the inmates and jeopardise security. Mr Alder added that problems with flickering shadows caused by wind turbines is one reason they are not built near housing.

The prison is just a few hundred metres from the turbine and the company will manually turn off the blades until an automatic system can be installed which would turn them off for a few hours before 9am. "

The answer's not just blowing in the wind: Perry Gourley, Scotland On Sunday... SCOTTISHPOWER chief executive Ian Russell has warned that the government’s ambitious targets for green energy are at risk unless other forms of renewable energy other than wind power are developed.

Russell, who heads the UK’s largest developer of windfarms, said the huge growth planned in windpower alone would not be able to meet the UK target of 20% of electricity being generated from renewable sources by 2020.

"We would need to see development of other technologies such as wave, tidal and biomass to get us to that target," he said.

Russell also said it was "sensible that the government was leaving the door open on nuclear power" while it focused on reducing carbon emissions from electricity generation... 

Huge protests by voters force the continent's governments to rethink so-called green energy: Apr. 4, 2004, The Telegraph (UK)..."They introduced the world to "environmentally friendly" energy, but now some of Europe's "greenest" countries are under pressure to backtrack on wind farms in the face of public anger over their impact on the countryside...Voters are outraged by the unsightly turbines, the loud, low-frequency humming noise that they create and the stroboscopic effects of blades rotating in sunshine...The dream of environmentally friendly energy has turned into highly subsidised destruction of the countryside," Germany's influential magazine Der Spiegel pronounced last week."

Connery joins protest to halt windfarms:www.theherald.co.uk, 10th July 2003..."SIR Sean Connery put himself on a collision course with environmental groups last night by backing a campaign to protect Scotland's beauty spots from windfarms. The actor, who lives in the Bahamas, has thrown his weight behind a campaign to halt the development of wind turbines across the country after contacting an activist whose organisation protests against the farms being built in scenic areas."

New York Wind Farms a Bad Decision; Full Expensing of Capital Will Reduce Carbon Intensity: September 18, 2002, Cooler Heads Coalition..." the awarding of credits to companies that report greenhouse gas reductions will corrupt the "politics of U.S. energy policy" and "grow the greenhouse lobby."

Under Bush’s proposal, companies that begin to comply with Kyoto before it is ratified would be awarded credits that they could sell or use to offset future regulatory obligations. In the absence of a regulatory cap on carbon emissions, the credits are worthless. Only if Kyoto or a similar regulatory program were enacted would the credits yield dividends. "Credit-holders thus acquire cash incentives to support Kyoto, or lobby for its domestic equivalent," says Lewis.