windwatch

[windwatch]

Wind Farms: Is There a Hidden Health Hazard?

(video archive) KATU, Oregon: investigative report on wind turbine syndrome https://wind-watch.org/video-katu-windturbinesyndrome.php

[windwatch]

No wind farm in our backyard thanks #AUS

Yet another country town has unwillingly been enlisted to the frontline of the wind farm battle – this time it’s Molong. Like other towns faced with similar battles, the community of Molong wants the government to consider the cumulative impacts these projects have on rural communities as more projects come through the pipeline. The Molong community is rallying on Monday to voice concerns about the proposed Kerrs Creek Wind Farm project by developer, RES, which will include 63 wind towers . . . https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/15/no-wind-farm-in-our-backyard-thanks/

[windwatch]

Meeker County Board approves alternative energy moratorium #MN

The proposed moratorium mentions an “emergency situation” that demands “a temporary emergency moratorium” to “protect public health, safety, and general welfare until public hearings can be conducted on a long-term ordinance.” https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/15/meeker-county-board-approves-alternative-energy-moratorium/

[windwatch]

Wind turbine base

(image archive) https://www.wind-watch.org/pix/displayimage.php?pid=861

[windwatch]

EZT wind farm proposal draws grassroots opposition #ON

The overwhelming message shared by attendees was to say no to Prowind. A new grassroots organization in East Zorra-Tavistock is raising concerns about a wind farm project proposed for the Cassel area. Davis Cunningham and Rick Hommes, both farmers who live within the proposed wind farm area, launched the group this month with a meeting at a local church attended by roughly 60 farmers and landowners. Cunningham said the overwhelming message shared by attendees was to say no to Prowind, . . . https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/14/ezt-wind-farm-proposal-draws-grassroots-opposition/

[windwatch]

Madison County considering moratorium on new wind farms #IN

The Madison County Plan Commission would like to place a moratorium on any future wind farm developments. The Plan Commission Tuesday amended the county’s wind farm ordinance that was adopted in 2002. Larry Strange, executive director of the Planning Department, wanted to make the application process for future wind farm developments similar to the procedures adopted in the county’s new solar energy ordinance. “The wind ordinance should have the same level of scrutiny,” he said. “There should be a site . . . https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/14/madison-county-considering-moratorium-on-new-wind-farms/

[windwatch]

La Croix Carrel, near Valsonne, France

(image archive) https://www.wind-watch.org/pix/displayimage.php?pid=923

[windwatch]

Oil stains on a turbine in the Kumeyaay wind facility on the Campo Indian Reservation

(image archive) https://www.wind-watch.org/pix/displayimage.php?pid=560

[windwatch]

Midwest states taking power to ban wind and solar projects away from local communities #IL #MI

As the number of wind and solar farms increases, so does opposition in the rural areas where they’re being built. While more counties and townships passed restrictions in the last year, some states are responding by passing laws making it harder for local governments to say no to wind and solar. The land in Piatt County in central Illinois is flat, and it’s easy to see for miles around Jerry Edwards’ house in a rural area north of Mansfield. In . . . https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/12/midwest-states-taking-power-to-ban-wind-and-solar-projects-away-from-local-communities/

[windwatch]

Pro–wind energy lawyer decries NIMBYs, backs Senate bill; Ridgeline wind opponent Annette Smith says bill threatens fundamental rights #VT

Vermont’s renewable power industry is promoting a Senate bill, now under committee review, that would weaken local communities’ say during the state approval process for renewable power projects. S.236 would “limit adjoining landowner participation in 30 V.S.A. § 248 [Public Utilities Commission energy project licensing] cases to public health and safety and traffic and to remove the aesthetics criteria.” The PUC is the state’s ‘energy court,’ resolving all questions dealing with energy projects, including licensing. State law currently requires that . . . https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/12/pro-wind-energy-lawyer-decries-nimbys-backs-senate-bill-ridgeline-wind-opponent-annette-smith-says-bill-threatens-fundamental-rights/

[windwatch]

Wind Turbine Sound – Field Recording

(video archive) Wind turbine sound – field recording, Denmark https://wind-watch.org/video-denmark-noise.php

[windwatch]

Cabinet admits delays, poor performance, denies cost overruns for “arctic” wind turbines

Cabinet admitted an Arctic green energy program is running behind schedule, but it denied millions in cost overruns, according to Blacklock’s Reporter. “Delays in projects occur for a variety of reasons,” said cabinet in an inquiry of ministry tabled in the House of Commons. “While the specific reasons for such delays are not collected systematically in the Department of Infrastructure’s reporting system, they are monitored.” Local authorities have sought to install a wind turbine on the tundra outside Inuvik, NU, . . . https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/12/cabinet-admits-delays-poor-performance-denies-cost-overruns-for-arctic-wind-turbines/

[windwatch]

Councillors recommended to reject plans for wind farm with 200 metre high turbines #WLS

Planning officers have advised a council’s planning committee to object to proposals for a wind farm consisting of nine 200-metre-high wind turbines. RWE Renewables UK have submitted a statutory pre-application consultation to Conwy’s planning department, seeking backing for the huge wind turbines at Alwen Forest Wind Farm, a 738-hectare site located 4km north-west of Cerrigydrudion. If permission is granted, six of the proposed wind turbines would be located in Conwy county within the coniferous woodland, forming a ridge between Alwen . . . https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/12/councillors-recommended-to-reject-plans-for-wind-farm-with-200-metre-high-turbines/

[windwatch]

Dreading life among turbines #NZL

Frustration is mounting in a small Tararua community just over the hill from Palmerston North about the prospect of being surrounded by wind farms. International energy company Yinsen and its agents Aurecon have provided brief, updated plans for the Pahīatua wind farm on Makomako Rd. Although there have been changes since draft plans were first unveiled at a community drop-in session in October, resident Gareth Bestor said they simply made the situation “less worse” for some, and “more worse” for . . . https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/11/dreading-life-among-turbines/

[windwatch]

Plans to build Washington’s largest wind farm held up again amid local controversy #WA

Nestled between the Yakima Valley and the Columbia River in southeast Washington, the fate of a wind-whipped range of hills has been subject to a yearslong dispute about energy, tourism, the past and the future. That stretch of land in wine country near the Tri-Cities may become home to the state’s largest wind farm, dotting miles of rolling hillside with more than 100 white turbines. In 2021, Colorado-based company Scout Clean Energy asked the state for permission to build the . . . https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/11/plans-to-build-washingtons-largest-wind-farm-held-up-again-amid-local-controversy/

[windwatch]

Some Australians still need convincing the country’s future lies in renewable energy #AUS

Last year, the Energy Minister asked the Energy Infrastructure Commissioner to investigate regional pockets of stubborn resistance and recommend ways of getting the doubters onside. Andrew Dyer’s Community Engagement Review Report makes the bold assumption that Chris Bowen’s renewable energy plan can be put back on track, that his target of installing a 7MW wind turbine every 18 hours and 22,000 solar panels a day until 2030 is not as fanciful as it sounds. Opposition in the regions can be . . . https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2024/02/11/some-australians-still-need-convincing-the-countrys-future-lies-in-renewable-energy/

[windwatch]

Protest by Friends of Lincoln Lake at January commissioning ceremony, Stetson Mountain, Maine

(image archive) https://www.wind-watch.org/pix/displayimage.php?pid=490