Free Republic

CHEYENNE — Wind energy development in Wyoming garnered unprecedented attention this year as the state wrestled with regulation, taxation and environmental protection issues. Developers brought online about 400 megawatts of wind-generated energy in Wyoming in 2009, pushing the state's wind industry past the 1,000-megawatt capacity mark for the first time. Karyn Coppinger of the Wyoming Power Producers Coalition, a trade group, said 2009 was a pivotal year for the industry because of the state's attention to wind policy questions. During the 2009 session, the Legislature allowed a sales tax exemption for wind projects to sunset, and lawmakers created a task...

Work on a West Virginia wind power project has been halted by a federal judge who sided with environmentalists' claim that the project would harm an endangered bat. U.S. District Judge Roger Titus issued the order Tuesday, citing potential harm to the federally endangered Indiana bat. John Stroud, co-chairman of one of the environmental groups that filed the lawsuit, Mountain Communities for Responsible Energy, said group members were "really delighted with the ruling." "We've been working on this for a while and the judge saw things our way, and we're really pleased," said Stroud, a rare book dealer who owns...

The ebbs and flows of wind powe stress the Northwest power gridIn the space of one hour last month, electricity generated at wind farms in the eastern end of the Columbia River Gorge shot up by 1,000 megawatts -- enough to power some 680,000 homes. Less than an hour later, it plummeted almost as much. Sitting in front of 10 computer screens in a fifth-floor room of the federal Bonneville Power Administration headquarters in Portland, Kim Randolph had to react quickly. Working from a keyboard, she diverted millions of gallons of water away from massive turbines spinning in Columbia River...

Great IBD Editorial Regarding My "Cap and Tax" Article Yesterday at 7:20pm The political death of Sarah Palin has been greatly exaggerated. In a devastating op-ed in the Washington Post, Alaska's governor exposes the cap-and-tax fraud that has nothing to do with earth's temperature and everything to do with government control of the economy. She also exposes the stealth socialism ambitions of the Democratic left and once again points out the availability of abundant "shovel-ready" resources under America's soil, off America's shores and even in America's rocks. Judging from the reaction from Sen. Kerry and the political arm of George...

Palin Vs. Kerry (And MoveOn.org) By INVESTOR'S BUSINESS DAILY | Posted Wednesday, July 15, 2009 4:20 PM The political death of Sarah Palin has been greatly exaggerated. In a devastating op-ed in the Washington Post, Alaska's governor exposes the cap-and-tax fraud that has nothing to do with earth's temperature and everything to do with government control of the economy. She also exposes the stealth socialism ambitions of the Democratic left and once again points out the availability of abundant "shovel-ready" resources under America's soil, off America's shores and even in America's rocks. Judging from the reaction from Sen. Kerry and...

Politics: John Kerry, replying to an op-ed Sarah Palin wrote on cap-and-trade, suggests the Alaska governor "check the view from her front porch." What she sees from there, senator, is energy wealth going to waste.The political death of Sarah Palin has been greatly exaggerated. In a devastating op-ed in the Washington Post, Alaska's governor exposes the cap-and-tax fraud that has nothing to do with earth's temperature and everything to do with government control of the economy. She also exposes the stealth socialism ambitions of the Democratic left and once again points out the availability of abundant "shovel-ready" resources under America's...

Texas oil billionaire T. Boone Pickens said on Wednesday said he has delayed his plans to build the world's largest wind farm in the Texas Panhandle, due to financing problems. AP Boone Pickens -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- "I didn't cancel it," Pickens said after a press conference on Capitol Hill. "Financing is tough right now and so it's going to be delayed a year or two." Reports on Tuesday said that Pickens had scrapped plans for the the wind farm. Pickens' company, Mesa Power, has already purchased over 600 wind turbines able to produce 1,000 megawatts of electricity for the first phase of...

Wind Farm Interference Showing Up on Doppler Radar During the last several years, New York State has been a leader in supporting the growth of wind energy. As a result of this effort, there have been several "wind farm" projects developed across the region. In western New York, some of the bigger projects include the towns of Sheldon, Wethersfield, Eagle/Bliss in Wyoming county. These farms are located between 20 miles and 35 miles directly southeast of the Weather Surveillance Doppler Radar located at the National Weather Service office in Cheektowaga (KBUF) in northern Erie county. The towers are on top...

A large number of goats in Taiwan may have died of exhaustion because of noise from a wind farm. A farmer on an outlying island told the BBC he had lost more than 400 animals after eight giant wind turbines were installed close to his grazing land. The Ministry of Agriculture says it suspects that noise may have caused the goats' demise through lack of sleep. The power company, Taipower, has offered to pay for part of the costs of building a new farmhouse elsewhere.

One of the oldest and most efficient wind farms in Britain is to be dismantled and replaced by a nuclear power station under plans drawn up by the German-owned power group RWE.The site at Kirksanton in Cumbria - home to the Haverigg turbines - has just been approved by the government for potential atomic newbuild in a move that has infuriated the wind power industry. Colin Palmer, founder of the Windcluster company, which owns part of the Haverigg wind farm, said he was horrified that such a plan could be considered at a time when Britain risks missing its green...

The Federal Aviation Administration is saying “not yet” on the proposed wind farm project for Nantucket Sound, issuing a “Notice of Presumed Hazard” Feb 13. “Initial findings of this study indicate that the structure as described exceeds obstruction standards and/or would have an adverse physical or electromagnetic interference effect upon navigable airspace or air navigation facilities,” the FAA notice issued Feb. 13 reads. “Pending resolution of the issues described below, the structure is presumed to be a hazard to air navigation.” As a “presumed” hazard, Cape Wind will have the opportunity to show the project does not exceed FAA thresholds....

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama's enthusiasm for alternative energy is being buffeted by two political forces on opposite sides of plans to build the nation's first offshore wind farm off Cape Cod. A leading foe of the $1 billion project is Sen. Edward Kennedy, D-Mass., an early and influential backer of Obama's presidential bid. A strong proponent is Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick, a close friend of Obama and a source for some of his best campaign speech lines. The plan to erect 130 giant turbines across 25 miles of federal waters in Nantucket Sound poses an early test of...

BOSTON — A federal agency said Friday that the nation’s first offshore wind farm, proposed for the waters off Cape Cod, posed no serious environmental threat, bringing it a major step closer to fruition. Homeowners and boaters on the cape, including Senator Edward M. Kennedy, Democrat of Massachusetts, have fought the project for eight years, saying it would hurt wildlife, fishing and tourism and spoil the beauty of Nantucket Sound. Opponents have sued to stop the project, known as Cape Wind, and more challenges are certain, keeping the path to construction bumpy despite what supporters on Friday called a crucial...

With two neighboring states having recently approved massive offshore wind farm projects, the Corzine administration is considering expanding New Jersey's future reliance on wind power as a clean source of energy. The state's draft energy master plan currently calls for developing 1,000 megawatts of offshore wind capacity by 2020 -- enough to power nearly 1 million homes -- but that target is expected to double and possibly even triple when the administration finalizes the plan later this month, according to three people who have been briefed on the administration's thinking. A spokesman for the Corzine administration declined to comment. Wind...

R.I. sets course to map its waters for wind farms 01:00 AM EDT on Tuesday, September 23, 2008 BY PETER B. LORD Journal Environment Writer As coastal states race to build the country’s first offshore wind farms, it is clear that Rhode Island is following a unique path. The state has recruited a battery of oceanographers, engineers and other experts at the University of Rhode Island in an unprecedented $3.2-million effort to map and zone state and federal coastal waters to determine the best locations for turbines. Nearly 50 people from URI’s College of the Environment and Life Sciences, the...

Finding direction in wind. T. BOONE PICKENS KNOWS SOMETHING ABOUT THE ENERGY business, and right now he's really, really into wind. His private firm, Mesa Power, is buying leases in the American heartland for a massive wind-power project whose first phase includes about 700 windmills on 400,000 acres near Pampa, Tex. By its completion in 2014, Pampa should be the world's largest wind farm, generating enough electricity to light 1.3 million homes. The legendary Texas oil man isn't alone. Some $9 billion of new wind projects boosted U.S. wind-power-generation capacity 46% last year. That, says a U.S. Department of Energy...

Clean and Green no longer gets "Green-e" stamp of approval. In dozens of shops and restaurants around Boulder, customers can find signs proclaiming "This Business Is Wind Powered" above the logo for local company Clean and Green. The whole idea may strike some customers as counter-intuitive -- after all, where are the windmills? Clearly, not on the roof, not in the yard and not even in the city limits. It's possible the windmills aren't even in Colorado. Clean and Green is one of many brokers in the United States selling renewable energy credits, or RECs, which allow customers with no...

Wind farms ‘a threat to national security’ Magnus Linklater and Dominic Kennedy Ambitious plans to meet up to a third of Britain’s energy needs from offshore wind farms are in jeopardy because the Ministry of Defence objects that the turbines interfere with its radar. The MoD has lodged last-minute objections to at least four onshore wind farms in the line of sight of its stations on the east coast because they make it impossible to spot aircraft, The Times has learnt. The same objections are likely to apply to wind turbines in the North Sea, part of the massive renewable...

Study finds strong winds off Lake Erie for turbine project Friday, January 11, 2008 Tom Breckenridge Plain Dealer Reporter Lake Erie winds are the strong est recorded anywhere in Ohio, good news for city leaders exploring whether Cleveland could be an interna tional hub for offshore wind power. A two-year study of wind off downtown Cleveland's shoreline found average speeds markedly stronger than those already turning wind turbines in Bowling Green, the nonprofit Green Energy Ohio reported Thursday. GEO's report is timely. On Tuesday, Cuyahoga County commissioners approved a $1 million study that will look at the costs and challenges...

NEW BEDFORD — Environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. attacked the Bush administration, corporate polluters, the media and a misinformed public Thursday night in an impassioned speech about the erosion of U.S. democracy and the global environment. "Democracy and the environment are intertwined," said Mr. Kennedy, who spoke in front of a crowd that half-filled the Zeiterion Performing Arts Center. "You can't separate one from the other." Mr. Kennedy, who serves as a chief prosecuting attorney for the Hudson Riverkeeper and president of Waterkeeper Alliance, also teaches law at Pace University in New York, writes books and co-hosts a weekly show...

There is no industry here in Highland County, a scenic outpost that local boosters call “Virginia’s Switzerland.” Just farming, timbering, some tourism and the mountains. And, of course, the wind. Lots of wind. Out here in the Allegheny Mountains, snug to the West Virginia line, the first commercial wind farm in Virginia is planned. As many as 22 turbines, each as tall as the Statue of Liberty, would churn out enough clean energy to power more than 12,000 homes a year, according to plans. If approved by regulators, it would be the highest wind development on the East Coast, atop...

The nation is watching as Senator Kennedy and Representative Delahunt continue to oppose Cape Wind, America's first off shore wind farm and a project that over 80% of Massachusetts residents support. This project will reduce global warming pollution and create jobs in Massachusetts. It's obvious by opposing Cape Wind, Senator Kennedy and Representative Delahunt aren't serious about addressing global warming and energy independence. See Video

N.Y. utility scrapping ocean wind park Long Island's utility company intends to dump plans to build a $700 million wind energy park in the Atlantic Ocean, a top official said. "It's just too expensive," Long Island Power Authority Chairman Kevin Law told The Associated Press. "It's not going to work. This is an economically based decision. We didn't even have to consider environmental or aesthetic concerns." The utility's board of directors will meet next month to officially vote on scrapping the project. Initially popular with environmental activists, politicians and residents, the project, which was to include 40 turbines in an...

Ventus Energy, which is building a new wind farm in West Cape near O'Leary, is trying to negotiate a longer-term share of green credits, but P.E.I. isn't willing to give them up. There's no market for green credits yet, but when that market becomes a reality it could generate another $10 million a year for the West Cape wind farm. The province hopes to use green credits to generate revenue from wind energy projects in the same way other provinces get royalties from oil and gas developments. P.E.I. is the only province to claim ownership of the wind in this...

Jason Jones dices and slices the corrupt Kennedy clan over their opposition to a wind farm. VERY funny!

Jim Gordon May Have an Answer to our Energy Problems An alternative to oil? Check. Completely green? Check. Economical? Check. So why has the entrepreneur been sued, pilloried, and lampooned? From: FastCompany.com | July 2007 | By: Kermit Pattison Jim Gordon has a vision. It moves him so much that he abandoned his chair about an hour ago and paces the corridors and rooms of his Boston offices. He stops at a map of Cape Cod and taps his finger in the middle of Nantucket Sound. He wants you to understand why it's the perfect site for America's first offshore...

When wind turbines began dotting the skyline around Dale Rankin's horse ranch near Abilene, he teamed up with other property owners to sue the company in charge of the project, FPL Energy. Brandon Wade: For the Chronicle JACKSBORO — The wind rustling the oak trees on the Squaw Mountain Ranch soon may be its undoing as a starkly empty, unspoiled corner of North Texas. Riding the boom that last year pushed Texas past California as the nation's leading wind energy producer, a wind power company wants to scatter 100 turbines across an area roughly nine miles long and two miles...

Massachusetts’ highest court has upheld a decision facilitating construction of an environmentally friendly "wind farm” that Sen. Ted Kennedy had opposed. The decision on Monday allows construction of 18-mile-long transmission lines to bring electricity from the Cape Wind project – a collection of energy-producing wind turbines – to shore. The Supreme Judicial Court affirmed a May 2005 decision by the state Energy Facilities Siting Board that was challenged by a group opposing the Cape Wind project, Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound. If it receives needed federal approval, Cape Wind would become the nation's first offshore wind farm. The developer seeks...

We cannot post from Bloomberg but you can read it here: Ted Kennedy, Gov. Mitt Romney, Birders Unite Against Wind Farm

SAN FRANCISCO The Sierra Club sued the Department of Defense in federal court Wednesday for allegedly halting construction of new wind farms across the United States by failing to complete a study on whether they interfere with military radar. The suit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco claimed that Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld and the Pentagon missed a deadline for completing a study that is holding up more than a dozen wind farm projects in the Midwest. "The end result is the wind industry is being crippled," said attorney Kristin Henry of the Sierra Club. The study...

WASHINGTON -- Key lawmakers have agreed to drop the idea of giving Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney veto power over a proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm, adopting a compromise that could boost the project's prospects. The proposed gubernatorial veto power was widely seen as a crippling blow to the project, which would be located about six miles off Cape Cod. The proposal has stirred controversy for five years. The new bill, breaking weeks of stalemate on Capitol Hill, also ensures the Coast Guard a primary role in deciding the fate of the offshore wind farm — a group of 130 turbines...

The military is studying whether the turbines interfere with its radar systems. Some say the study is politically motivated. More than $500 million in wind farm developments in Minnesota face potential delays because of a federal directive to study the effects of wind turbines on military radar installations. At least four wind projects in the state—and more than a dozen elsewhere in the Upper Midwest—have been temporarily denied safety permits from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Instead, the FAA has sent notices of "presumed hazard" that effectively prohibit construction until the wind farm proposals are reviewed further... Congress ordered the...

Sen. Ted Kennedy, D-Mass., has a new ally in his effort to torpedo an environmentally friendly "wind farm” off the coast from the Kennedy compound in Hyannis – the Pentagon. The Defense Department has begun a study to find out if wind turbine projects designed to produce energy could interfere with military radar – even though wind farms are already operating in military radar areas. The study is threatening not only the Cape Wind project off the coast of Massachusetts, but other wind farm projects around the country as well. The study was inserted in the 2006 Defense Authorization Act...

NEW BEDFORD, Massachusetts (Reuters) - Location. Location. Location. The axiom usually cited in valuing real estate could just as easily apply to offshore wind-power farms, it seems. After a battle over plans to build the world's largest offshore wind-power farm within view of some of the wealthiest communities in Massachusetts' Cape Cod resort region, a new proposal for a rival project in view of more working-class areas is drawing stronger support. Boston construction contractor Jay Cashman Inc. on Tuesday submitted formal plans to build a $750 million offshore wind turbine project in Buzzards Bay near Cape Cod that could generate...

Ted Kennedy has reportedly dropped his long-running blocking of the turbine wind farm that was proposed for Nantucket Sound in 1997. The turbines were estimated to be able to supply Cape Cod with most of their electricity needs. He is reported to have said that he will allow the Coast Guard to decide whether it should be built. The Coast Guard decides such things? Call me cynical, but it seems more likely that he has secured assurances rom others that they will block the wind farm for him.

AUSTIN, Texas - The nation's largest offshore wind farm will be built off the Padre Island seashore, a critical migratory bird flyway, Texas officials announced Thursday. Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson lauded what he said would be an 40,000-acre span of turbines about 400 feet tall able to generate energy to power 125,000 homes. "The wind rush is on," Patterson said. "We want to be number one. We want to attract the businesses that build the turbines, that build the blades. ... We want to be the leader in the United States, if not the world." Superior Renewable Energy Inc.,...

WASHINGTON --Four Massachusetts congressmen say they will vote for a measure that could kill the proposed Nantucket Sound wind farm as the faceoff over the project intensifies on Capitol Hill. U.S. Reps. William Delahunt, Barney Frank, Edward Markey and Richard Neal plan to vote for the provision, according to a survey of the state's delegation by The Associated Press over the past several days. They say the state deserves a strong say in the approval process. A fifth lawmaker, U.S. Rep. Michael Capuano, is a probable "yes" vote. The rest of the 10-member House delegation was either undecided or refused...

WASHINGTON -- The Bush administration and two influential senators weighed in Friday against a provision that would block a 130-turbine wind farm off Cape Cod, where some of Washington's most powerful have vacation retreats. The wind farm, which would be located in Nantucket Sound about six miles off shore, has been a focus of controversy for five years. Developers won favorable environmental reviews and hoped to have it completed in 2009. A provision tucked into a bill authorizing activities for the U.S. Coast Guard would give Massachusetts' governor a veto over the project, although the turbines would be located in...

WASHINGTON -- Rich, oceanfront residents of Cape Cod do not want their view of Nantucket Sound faintly obstructed by offshore protrusions of a proposed wind farm. So, they have hired high-priced lobbyists to kill Cape Wind, a project providing an environmentally sound source of energy. Their most important ally in this venture is a fellow wealthy Cape Cod landowner, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy. Opposition to America's first offshore wind farm seems a peculiar posture for the liberal lion of the Senate. The self-indulgent squires of Cape Cod likewise seem a strange set of friends for Teddy Kennedy. He is also...

Fans of U.S. Sen. Edward Kennedy have long argued that he has fought the good fight ... But today, he is defending the indefensible: special interest legislation, tucked into a Coast Guard authorization bill, that would give Gov. Mitt Romney the power to veto the proposed Cape Wind energy project, even though it would be in federal waters. The project... more than five miles offshore of Cape Cod. The equivalent of burning 113 million barrels of oil per year. Proponents of Cape Wind say it is an important source of alternative, renewable energy, and it has the backing of such...

See for example this thread first. It strikes me somehow as quite odd To oppose wind farms off of Cape Cod. Just for Teddy's sake. Let's build them, and take the wind out of his sails, by God!

YARMOUTH, Massachusetts (Reuters) - A plan to build the world largest offshore wind-power farm off Massachusetts is dividing residents of the Cape Cod resort region, in a debate involving million-dollar ocean views, migrating birds and soaring energy bills. Opponents seeking to block the $900 million project include Democratic Sen. Ted Kennedy, whose family's Hyannisport compound is in sight of it. Kennedy's brother, former president John F. Kennedy, created the Cape Cod National Seashore in 1961. After several years of intense lobbying on both sides, many Cape Cod residents are deeply divided as Congress approaches a vote as early as next...

Opponents of a plan to build the first offshore U.S. wind farm in Nantucket Sound off Massachusetts were a step closer on Friday to blocking the $900 million project. Negotiators in the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate agreed late on Thursday to give Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney the power to block a plan by Cape Wind Associates LLC to put 130 giant wind turbines near the resort islands of Martha's Vineyard and Nantucket. Backers say the project could generate enough electricity for most of Cape Cod and nearby islands. Opponents include wealthy residents with yachts and shorefront property near...

Feathers fly over wind farm ban By Liz Minchin, Nassim Khadem and Peter Ker April 6, 2006 THE future of wind energy in Australia is under a cloud after the Federal Government blocked a proposed $220 million wind farm in South Gippsland to protect a rare parrot — despite a report showing that the bird has rarely flown near the site. Federal Environment Minister Ian Campbell yesterday sparked a slanging match after overturning the Victorian Government's approval of the Bald Hills wind farm, near Tarwin Lower, on the grounds that it may affect the endangered orange-bellied parrot. Senator Campbell said...

BOSTON A leading opponent of the controversial Cape Wind development proposed for Nantucket Sound has come out against a pending move to kill the project in Congress. And there’s a twist. The call for withdrawal of the so-called Young amendment, which would ban wind turbines within 1.5 nautical miles of ferry and shipping lanes, comes from the nephew of one of Cape Wind’s key political adversaries, Sen. Ted Kennedy. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., an environmental lawyer and staunch public critic of the 130-turbine Cape Wind project, has written a letter to members of a congressional conference committee denouncing the move...

Self-proclaimed alternative energy proponent Sen. Ted Kennedy has strongly opposed an environmentally friendly "wind farm” off the coast of Massachusetts – and now it appears Kennedy will have his way. A proposal before Congress would limit the construction of wind turbines and most likely doom plans for the Cape Wind Project, the nation’s first offshore wind farm. [Editor’s Note: Read the book that first exposed Sen. Kennedy’s hypocrisy -- Go Here Now.] "This is a dire moment for us,” declared Mark Rodgers, a Cape Wind Associates spokesman, who said the proposal "would be totally fatal” for the project. The Cape...

Given to environmentalist lawyer Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whose fight for "green" energy apparently stops as soon as the results might spoil his view. Kennedy penned an irate New York Times op-ed in December, condemning the proposed building of wind turbines around the Nantucket Sound. While Kennedy criss-crosses the country in his jet-fuel-burning private plane stumping for alternative energy sources, he wants an exception for his own backyard. Greenpeace spokesman Chris Miller was not pleased, saying: "It's about a vision for healthy oceans, not the view from the Kennedy compound."

Within the space of a single week, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Sen. Edward Kennedy have managed to mangle reality with op-ed pieces in two of the nation's leading newspapers. ''As an environmentalist, I support wind power,'' began RFK Jr.'s op-ed piece in the New York Times, ... Then he proceeded to once again propagate the inaccuracies repeated like mantras by those opposed to the Nantucket Sound wind farm. ''The noise of the turbines will be audible onshore. A transformer substation would house...40,000 gallons of potentially hazardous oil... The Humane Society estimates the whirling turbines could every year kill thousands...

One of the nation's largest wind farms will soon be constructed... 200 giant turbines will dot the high plains landscape over a 30 square-mile area. Some will stand more than 300 feet in height. The new wind farm is expected to generate enough electricity to power more than 90-thousand homes. Headed by Greenlight Energy Inc. of Charlottesville, Virginia. Xcel Energy plans to purchase electricity from the project.

Uber environmentalist Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is trying to put the kibosh on plans to build the kind of wind-farm he regularly touts as an environmentally sound alternative to fossil fuels, saying it would block views of Nantucket Sound from Cape Cod - which just happens to be home to the Kennedy family compound in Hyannis port.