WIND JAMBER

Wind Power Backfires on Rhode Island

2011-02-23T09:28:00.002-05:00

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WPRI) - Deepwater Wind's initial project will raise state and local governments' electric bills by a combined $1.5 million in its first year, according to documents reviewed by the Target 12 Investigators.

Municipal electric bills will increase by a total of $1 million while state government's bill will rise by $476,630, according to an estimate commissioned by National Grid from Energy Security Analysis Inc. The cost would rise by 3.5 percent every year for the next two decades.

The estimate was included in a document National Grid asked the R.I. Public Utilities Commission to seal from the public view as the panel weighed whether to approve a controversial 20-year contract between Deepwater and Grid. The PUC denied that request, opening the town-by-town breakdown up for public inspection.

Wind power will cost RI taxpayers $1.5M: wpri.com

2011-02-19T20:25:00.002-05:00

McCann Appraisal, LLC Written Testimony Re: Wind Turbine Setbacks & Property Values June/ 8/ 2010

Cape Vincent ~ Special ~Town Board Meeting

2010-08-16T09:06:00.001-04:00

Cape Vincent ~Special Town Board Meeting~
SPECIAL BOARD MEETING

Where: Cape Vincent Rec. Park

When: 7:00 pm, Tuesday August 17, 2010

What: The town of CV has called a special meeting,

"To discuss the AG investigation letter pertaining to allegations of misconduct, to map out the fulfillment of its requirements, and to call for the suspension of all actions pertaining to wind development until the AG has concluded and submitted the results of the investigation."

Nancy Madsen~Trillium Wind working without money promise

2010-07-10T07:31:00.004-04:00

Trillium Wind working without money promise
NANCY MADSEN / TIMES STAFF WRITER
First published: July 09, 2010 at 10:10 am
Last modified: July 09, 2010 at 10:16 am
Unlike the proposed offshore project at Wolfe Island, the offshore project near Main Duck Island is waiting to enroll in Ontario’s feed-in tariff program.

The program guarantees 18.5 cents per kilowatt for offshore wind power. The Wolfe Island project was in the first wave of announced projects that are guaranteed the tariff. That announcement came in April and gave Windstream Energy Inc. 20 years of firm income for the Wolfe Island Shoals Project. more...

Watertown Daily Times | Turbine rules adopted in LeRay

2010-07-10T07:29:00.001-04:00

Watertown Daily Times | Turbine rules adopted in LeRay

Watertown Daily Times | Canadian wind project draws ire

2010-07-10T07:15:00.001-04:00

Watertown Daily Times | Canadian wind project draws ire

PROTESTERS ATTEND CAPE SESSION: Trillium Power presents its plan for an offshore farm in Lake Ontario
By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
FRIDAY, JULY 9, 2010

CAPE VINCENT — Sharp questions and protesters greeted a Canadian wind development company that crossed the border to describe its project.

Trillium Power Wind Corp., Toronto, is proposing Trillium Power Wind 1, a 414-megawatt project. The project would cover about 16,000 acres in the shoals south and west of Main Duck Island, 16.8 miles from Cape Vincent in Lake Ontario.

Trillium officials came to Cape Vincent Elementary School on Thursday night. The corporation must follow the environmental review process in Canada, but is not required to hold public meetings in the U.S.

Watertown Daily Times | Wind study hits a snag

2010-07-10T07:13:00.000-04:00

Watertown Daily Times | Wind study hits a snag

North American Platform Against Windpower

2010-05-18T12:33:00.000-04:00

North American Platform Against Windpower

Yorke Peninsula Country Times - Company withdraws interest in wind farm

2010-05-18T12:32:00.000-04:00

Yorke Peninsula Country Times - Company withdraws interest in wind farm

Watertown Daily Times | Wind farm going up off Wolfe Island

2010-04-13T07:39:00.002-04:00

Watertown Daily Times | Wind farm going up off Wolfe Island
48,000 ACRES IN WATER: Canadian company subsidiary is awarded contract by Ontario Power Authority
By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
TUESDAY, APRIL 13, 2010

CAPE VINCENT — More turbines are coming.

Windstream Wolfe Island Shoals Inc. was awarded a contract with the Ontario Power Authority to buy power from a 300-megawatt wind project in the waters west of Wolfe Island.

The company is a subsidiary of Windstream Energy Inc., Burlington, Ontario

BP to Start Building Three U.S. Wind Farms This Year and Next - Bloomberg.com

2010-03-04T13:05:00.001-05:00

BP to Start Building Three U.S. Wind Farms This Year and Next - Bloomberg.com

The Great American Bubble Machine : Rolling Stone

2010-02-25T08:16:00.001-05:00

The Great American Bubble Machine : Rolling Stone

Three Major Firms Pull Out of Climate Change Alliance

2010-02-18T08:48:00.002-05:00

FOXNews.com - Three Major Firms Pull Out of Climate Change Alliance
FOXNews.com

ConocoPhillips, BP America and Caterpillar pulled out of a leading alliance of businesses and environmental groups pushing for climate change legislation on Tuesday, citing complaints that the bills under consideration are unfair to American industry.

Cape Vincent - Government - In - action

2009-12-19T22:20:00.005-05:00

Thomas Reinbeck tries to deny the citizens of Cape Vincent their rights under open meeting laws. "First Part"

Cape Vincent Town Supervisor calls police on citizen recording meeting part 1

Cape Vincent Town Supervisor calls police on citizen recording meeting part 2
Thomas Reinbeck tries to deny the citizens of Cape Vincent their rights under open meeting laws. " Second part"

Cape Vincent’s Unethical Black Hole

2009-12-19T22:18:00.000-05:00

there is only one truth: Cape Vincent’s Unethical Black Hole

•NYS Senator Darrel Aubertine — Has contract with Acciona/AES.Wrote letter to Cape officials advising to disregard conflicts of interest.Former Cape Vincent town councilmanVoted at state level on legislation which could influence his wind contractSister married to John Wiley, member of Zoning Board of Appeals

• Joe Wood — Town Board, has wind contractWife Debra Wood, Deputy Town ClerkSister Karen Bourcy on Planning BoardBrother Alan Wood, Zoning Enforement Officer, partner in Wood Farm LLC,which has contractAnother brother is partner in Wood Farm LLC, which has a contract2 nephew partners in Wood Farm LLC, which has wind contract

Marty Mason •— Town Board, has 3 wind contractsSister Jerri Mason is Town ClerkCousin Donald Mason, Town Board, has wind contract

• Donald Mason — Town Board, has wind contractCousin Marty Mason, Town Board, has 3 wind contractsCousin Jerri Mason, Town Clerk

• Richard Edsall — Planning Board Chairman, has wind contractWife’s parents have wind contractBrother-in-law has wind contract

• Andrew Binsley — Planning Board2 brothers-in-law and a nephew have wind contract

• Karen Bourcy — Planning BoardSon, Partner in Wood Farm LLC, which has wind
contractBrother Joe Wood, Town Board, has wind contractBrother Alan Wood, Zoning Enforcement Office, partner in Wood Farm LLC, which has a wind contractNephew, partner in Wood Farm LLC, which has wind contract1 additional brother partner in Wood Farm LLC, which has wind contract

To:James H. Madden — Cape Vincent Wind Farm — British Petroleum

Peter E. Zedick — St. Lawrence Wind Farm — Acciona/AES

Many Cape Vincent citizens are deeply disturbed by your companies’ insistence on developing wind projects by putting such a high burden on the ethics of our town officers.

You have entered into contracts with many of our town’s officials and their families knowing this would create blatant conflicts of interest. This is a violation of the town’s ethics code and NY State law. A similar situation has led to investigations by the NY Attorney General and a district attorney in other parts of the state.

You claim high minded ideals of clean energy and prosperity. Yet involving town officials in your projects has resulted in an ethical nightmare. This has created an atmosphere of distrust and bitterness in a once peaceful and friendly community.

You have made it difficult for these officials to make responsible health, safety, and environmental decisions, since they now have a financial incentive to look the other way.
As a result, you have taken hostage our town’s political system and citizens are paying a high ransom of a badly divided community.

Despite knowing this, you sit quietly by with one agenda of pushing through your wind projects as quickly as possible. You show no objection or remorse for the unethical situation and bitter community your projects have created.

* Information from official town and state records, and other research. *

THE WIND POWER ETHICS GROUP
We encourage our state and local officials to investigate these matters

Inquiry: Wind turbine threat to RAF fighter jets - Peterborough Today

2009-11-26T17:28:00.001-05:00

Inquiry: Wind turbine threat to RAF fighter jets - Peterborough Today

Silobreaker: BRIEF-RESEARCH ALERT-Citigroup downgrades Acciona,...

2009-09-26T12:27:00.000-04:00

Silobreaker: BRIEF-RESEARCH ALERT-Citigroup downgrades Acciona,...

News 10 Now | 24 Hour Local News | TOP STORIES | Moving forward after police called to Cape Vincent town council meeting

2009-08-18T11:17:00.001-04:00

News 10 Now | 24 Hour Local News | TOP STORIES | Moving forward after police called to Cape Vincent town council meeting

A Quiet Night With The Turbines

2009-07-12T10:43:00.004-04:00

Windmills Blow

This is the latest post from a blog titled ~ WINDMILLS BLOW ~
“An ongoing blog, sometimes irreverent, about a small community that has allowed big business to $weet talk them into becoming an industrial wind farm”

Saturday, July 11, 2009

WOLFE ISLAND, CANADA

It's not yet midnight. The sky is clear, except for a few small clouds moving across the sky. I am standing on my back deck and I am in awe of the ominous, deep rumblings of the closest windmill. It is a kilometre away. This is the sound they told us did not exist.
Just like the ones I saw in Loweville, the turbines sound like a jet--too high to be seen, but close enough to hear. The difference is, the jet passes over, and the silence of the night resumes. In the case of the turbines, the noise continues into the night, and then into the day.

When I went back into the house and went to bed, I could still here the noise coming through my open window. What was it that made the noise particularly thunderous last night? There was a soft breeze , the air was clear, atmospheric conditions, who knows? My hearing isn't always the best, so I know I'm I am not overly sensitive.
Many years ago, I originally came to Wolfe Island to escape the sounds of the city. On my first night sleeping here, I was amazed at the silence. I relished the sounds of nature, frogs, crickets, and the intermittent howl of coyotes. After decades of listening to sirens, drunks, and screaming tires, the peacefulness of Wolfe Island was heavenly.

Residents who opposed the placement of turbines on Wolfe Island were assured that there would be no noise, which to me made not sense, everyone knows that when a stick, a whip, a skipping rope is lashed, there is a distinct whooshing sound. Cap'n Mike laughed at our concerns, telling us that one could stand right under a turbine and not hear a sound. Of course, standing under a windmill is like standing under a gigantic speaker--the noise radiates out, underneath is probably the quietest place to stand. We were even told that quite often, people like to picnic under them! Yes indeed Mr. Jablonicky and we are all idiots!

I do not feel that I should change my way of living in order to block out the sound of the turbines. I do not want to close my windows at night; I do not want to run something that makes white noise to mask the noise; I do not want to move. What I want is an apology, an admission from the corporations that they did in fact lie. I want to launch a class action suit against them. I want everyone who was so eager to put a windmill on their property to go crazy from the noise and the guilt that were it not for their greed to get money from nothing, Wolfe Island would still be a peaceful oasis in a world of noise and confusion.

For a video of what turbines really sound like, go to http://www.wind-watch.org/documents/what-wind-turbines-sound-like/

Labels: noise, wind turbines, windmills, Wolfe Island

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Study to determine health effects of turbines - The Globe and Mail

2009-07-09T11:12:00.003-04:00

Study to determine health effects of turbines - The Globe and Mail

By now, the residents of Wolfe Island, Ont., are getting used to the whirr and thump of wind turbines overhead. By next year, they'll get a glimpse of whether those whirrs and thumps could be damaging their health.

Researchers at nearby Queen's University have embarked on the first study to probe whether wind turbines built over communities can cause adverse health effects. The study measures residents' health and well-being before the turbines arrived on the island, again when the turbines were built but not yet operational and again after they'd been operating for a few months.

People living close to turbines in other regions have reported nausea, headaches, dizziness, anxiety, sleep deprivation and tinnitus - an incessant ringing in a person's ears.

However, there has yet to be any substantive research linking those ailments to the presence of windmills, says lead study author Neal Michelutti, a research scientist in the Queen's University biology department.

"To our knowledge, this is the first time that people have acquired a snapshot of community health prior to wind turbines," he says. "It gives us [a sense of] community health that we can use in a before-and-after comparison."

U.S. Congressman overwhelmed by wind turbine noise complaints

2009-05-20T09:11:00.001-04:00

U.S. Congressman overwhelmed by wind turbine noise complaints

Transcript of AM 1480 WLEA (Hornell, NY) interview with U. S. Congressman Eric Massa (D, NY) on April 25, 2009, talking about the “virtual flood of constituents,” and even non-constituents, complaining about wind turbine noise.

Brian: Hi, and welcome to Connections with Brian O’Neil, on the phone today with Congressman Eric Massa. Congressman, good morning.

Congressman Massa: Good morning, and thank you for having me with you today.

Brian: Well, it’s always great to be on the line with you Eric.

Congressman Massa: How can I help?

Brian: Well, Congressman, one of the big stories lately on AM 1480 WLEA and, of course, the Corning Leader is what’s been going on in Prattsburgh. On Friday, you met with two Prattsburgh town board members Steve Kula and Chuck Schick. Now, having attended the last few Prattsburgh meetings myself, I’m guessing your meeting had something to do with the controversy over wind energy in Prattsburgh?

Congressman Massa: Well ,yes, and as some listeners may remember and certainly you might remember, for almost three years of my candidacy, and certainly since I have become an incumbent, I have been very focused on the challenges this area faces as foreign-owned industrial wind turbine corporations attempt to build thousands of these 450 foot tall towers on virtually every hill in western New York State, despite the fact that the United States Meteorological Service has stated very clearly we simply don’t have the wind in this area of the world to economically justify this.

Watertown Daily Times | Public divided on wind study

2009-05-17T08:28:00.004-04:00

Watertown Daily Times | Public divided on wind study

By NANCY MADSEN
TIMES STAFF WRITER
SUNDAY, MAY 17, 2009

CAPE VINCENT — Members of the public were of a divided mind Saturday — calling for more studies and saying the time for studying is over on the St. Lawrence Wind Farm.

About 150 people attended a public hearing at Cape Vincent Recreation Park and 36 made comments on the supplemental environmental impact statement, an update of the draft environmental impact statement the Planning Board required on June 28, 2007. Acciona is looking to build the 53-turbine project in the northern agricultural district of the town.

Twenty-four comments asked for more studies on subjects including wildlife, health effects or noise, or opposed the project entirely. Another 12 people found the supplemental statement to be complete and asked that the project move forward to the next stage.

On wildlife, Gerald A. Smith, a local ornithologist, said the recent statement "failed miserably" to account for the effects of the turbines on songbird and raptor population

"In the 2006-07 winter, I saw dozens of short-eared owls in the project's footprint," he said. "And yet the consultant has never seen one? There is a problem."

He said in both the raptor migration study and the breeding bird study, the developer spent insufficient time. He cited the 63 hours spent on a raptor study and 6 minutes on each of 20 points in 20 square miles for the breeding bird survey.

"You can't draw conclusions on that," Mr. Smith said.

On health, Theresa M. Ciocci, a nurse who works on a medical planning board, asked for more time to consider effects.

"Uncertainty of harm is a good reason not to proceed with the project," she said.

She said the health effects from sleep deprivation and dirt-and-dust inhalation should be considered. Other speakers mentioned low-frequency noise and ties to vibro-acoustic disease, which causes hardening of tissue in the body.

"I suffer from migraine headaches," Cape Vincent resident L. Sam DeLong said. "When I drive down the roadway in Lowville, I get severe vertigo. I feel it inhibits my safety when I drive and the safety of others on the road."

On noise, Clifford P. Schneider, Cape Vincent, said noise consultant Hessler Associates, Haymarket, Va., told Acciona what it wanted to hear. The ambient background noise level in winter is reported at 37 decibels in the statement.

Mr. Schneider, who has done sound studies of his own in the town, said the actual ambient noise is about 25 decibels.

"Having the ambient noise at least 10 decibels too high results in all kinds of negative impacts," he said.

Hessler predicts a projectwide noise level of 42 decibels, plus or minus 5 decibels, during normal operation. If the ambient noise level were 37 decibels, that would comply with a state Department of Environmental Conservation guideline that generated noise not exceed ambient by more than 6 decibels. If the ambient noise level were quieter, the generated noise from turbines would be significantly more than the guideline and be considered "objectionable."

Thomas E. Brown, retired regional director for DEC, said, "The evaluation of alternative project sites was not done properly."

He said the statement should be found unacceptable and sent back for consideration of other sites.

ON THE NET

St.Lawrence wind.com

Republicans push nuclear energy to lower costs - AOL Money & Finance

2009-04-26T10:21:00.001-04:00

Republicans push nuclear energy to lower costs - AOL Money & Finance

WASHINGTON -The U.S. should build 100 more nuclear plants rather than spend "billions in subsidies" for renewable energy if it is truly committed to lowering electric bills and having clean air, the Republicans say.

In the party's weekly radio and Internet address, Sen. Lamar Alexander said the United States should follow the example of France, which promoted nuclear power decades ago. Today, nuclear plants provide 80 percent of France's electricity, and the country has one of the lowest electric rates and carbon emissions in Europe, he said.

In contrast, renewable electricity provides roughly 1.5 percent of electricity in the U.S., according to Republicans. Double it or triple it, and "we still don't have much," the Tennessee Republican said.

"There is a potentially a dangerous energy gap between the renewable electricity we want and the reliable electricity we must have," he said.

In contrast to Democrats, Alexander said Republicans:

_Start with conservation and efficiency. "We have so much electricity at night, for example we could electrify half our cars and trucks and plug them in while we sleep without building one new power plant."

_Seek to keep bills down. "Democrats say, put a big new national sales tax on electric bills and gasoline."

_Wish to find more natural gas and oil offshore. "Farmers, homeowners and factories must have the natural gas. And more of the oil we'll still need should be ours, instead of sending billions overseas."

Wind Turbine Lease Considerations for Landowners

2009-04-15T10:17:00.001-04:00

Wind Turbine Lease Considerations for Landowners
EC-1394, February 2009

Dwight Aakre, Farm Management Specialist
Ron Haugen, Farm Management Specialist

Adobe Acrobat PDF file suitable for printing. (680KB)

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Legal, binding contracts between landowners and wind energy development companies are a necessary part of any wind farm development project. The tendency may be to streamline the development process to move the project ahead faster. Landowners may be told the contracts they are being asked to sign are standard contracts for wind projects and the terms of the contract are fixed and the same for everyone. However, until a contract is signed, any and all of the contract provisions are negotiable.

Once signed, all parties involved have given written approval of the provisions of that contract and are legally bound to fulfill their part. Therefore, if you don't like something about a contract, negotiate a change before signing. The difficult part is knowing to what degree the various components of the contract can be changed. Talking with other people involved in the project is helpful and, most importantly, seek competent legal advice before signing.

Before you sign on the dotted line, these are some questions you should ask:

How much of my land will be tied up and for how long?
How much will I be paid and how will I receive payments?
Are the proposed payments adequate now and will they be adequate in the future?
Have all liability issues been considered?
Have I considered all contract specifications?
Are there any other considerations?

A picture is worth a thousand words

2009-04-13T16:43:00.003-04:00

But this one leaves me speechless

Moratorium on Wind Energy Development in Northern NY Petition

2009-04-06T22:39:00.003-04:00

Moratorium on Wind Energy Development in Northern NY Petition

Published by WPEG on Apr 06, 2009
Category: Government
Region: United States of America

Target: Governor Paterson

Web site: http://www.wind-watch.org/alerts/wp-content/upload...

Background (Preamble):

Dear Governor Paterson,
During a visit to Watertown, NY a few months ago you expressed concerns that we must be very careful when it involves the placement of industrial wind complexes near New York State’s environmental treasures. Myself and the people included on this letter share your concerns and are asking you to take immediate action that will preserve these special places, and forever protect them from the rampant Klondike like wind rush that is overtaking our state, and is poisoned with unethical behavior.

It would be terribly unfortunate if the legacy that followed you was one of allowing the uncontrolled industrialization of our most treasure places. Consider this quote from a Draft Environmental Impact Study done by British Petroleum in Cape Vincent at the 1000 Islands.

“The cumulative effect of the adjacent St. Lawrence and Cape Vincent Projects would be very much the same as if either project were essentially doubled in size. On a regional level, the effect of the four wind projects will be to create a continuous swath approximately 25-30 miles east to west, from Evans Mill all the way onto mainland Canada, where wind turbines will be ubiquitous.

”This is the future BP sees for an area that has traditionally been one of NY’s prime environmental and recreational resources. Is this the future you envision for the 1000 Island region or the rest of NY? This amounts to an unacceptable sudden and uncontrolled environmental transformation of an entire region of New York State driven by corporate greed and questionable ethics.

Your idea is for wind energy to play and important role in NY’s energy future. However, it will be increasingly difficult to site wind energy projects when town’s and expanding anti-wind groups see these actions as the prime example of wind company behavior, and the perception becomes that state officials have the inability to control it.

Sadly the decisions being made in Cape Vincent by town officials, who should be the stewards of these sensitive resources, is poisoned with conflicts of interest with two wind developers. Neither developer at this writing has signed onto Attorney General Cuomo’s Wind Energy Ethics Code. Six out of ten officers hold wind energy leases in violation of their own town ethics code. The very people who should be protecting this area have deep financial incentives to do otherwise. There exists a clear blatant trend of actions that show their financial incentives have precluded them from carrying out their sacred oath to protect both citizens and the environment. Cape Vincent is the worst example, but other local town’s suffer from similar symptoms as well.

The entire atmosphere that surrounds wind energy development in Northern NY has become unacceptable and intolerable by any reasonable standard, unless you are a wind developer or a wind lease holder. Your office or the Attorney General can no longer ignore this situation for political expediency.

Petition:

We, the undersigned,

• Request that an immediate moratorium be placed on wind energy development for two years to sort out all the evolving and constantly changing issues surrounding this new technology which carries so many potential negative impacts.

• Request that you direct the Attorney General to modify his wind ethics code to mandatory from the current voluntary participation, and be unyielding in its enforcement.

• Request that you direct the Attorney General to immediately investigate the Cape Vincent ethics situation to ensure that this beautiful and precious area gets the protection it deserves, and that these officers are held accountable for their actions.

• Request that you be aggressive in the protection of New York’s treasured places by banning this questionable high impact use from such areas and those areas immediate adjacent so they receive the protections they deserve for future generations.

• Many of N.NY citizens have been intimately involved on these issues in their respective towns for some time. We are requesting a meeting with you and your staff with a representative group to discuss these matters and bring clarity to the threats that face our communities and environment.Thank you for your consideration of this extremely urgent matter.

Sign the petition

Noble Spinning - Editorials News Story - WPTZ Plattsburgh

2009-03-26T08:30:00.001-04:00

Noble Spinning - Editorials News Story - WPTZ Plattsburgh

Not exactly positive spin.
A giant wind turbine comes crashing down. People are worried. What happened? How? Is there more danger?
We'd probably all like to know the answers to those questions.
Unfortunately, we won’t get them from Noble Environmental Power.
It was Noble's windmill that fell to earth a few
=cm.suv_ga_R;btg=cm.weeks back. The most the company will say: There was a "wiring anomaly."
That's reassuring. That statement also came days after the event. Noble held no news conferences, took no reporters to see the damage, didn't go on camera to discuss the accident.
Maybe they were hoping the story would just blow over.
Noble needs to learn something about damage control and open communications.
It's not that difficult. When things go wrong…and they will…be prepared. Tell the public what happened. Show them what happened. Answer questions as best you can, in person. Take responsibility.
You won't hurt yourself that way. But Noble has hurt itself---and the wind industry, too---by hiding.
That’s our opinion. What’s yours?
Aired by President/General Manager, Paul A. Sands

The Bastardization of Rural Ontario

2009-03-25T20:37:00.004-04:00

A power struggle - The Whig Standard - Ontario, CA

2009-03-19T17:39:00.002-04:00

A power struggle - The Whig Standard - Ontario, CA

Posted By JENNIFER PRITCHETT
Posted 5 days ago

Brian and Janice Scovill's comfortable two-storey home sits in the heart of the farmland where one of Canada's largest wind-power plants is under construction.

Most of the project's 86 turbines are located within three kilometres of their property. One turbine is about 450 metres away from their back door, which is closer than it is to the house of the farmer on whose land the turbine is located.

Unlike the farmer, however, the Scovills receive no compensation.

The Scovills don't mind living in the midst of the 125-metre-high machines, which are expected to be turned on at the end of June, when the $475-million project is completed.

They support the wind project and they see the economic benefits for the island and the environment, but they wish they'd been involved in the process in a more meaningful way.

"If you're going to build it in my backyard, come and talk to me in a frank, open way," Brian Scovill said. "I talked to [Canadian Hydro officials] at public meetings, but never did anyone from the company come and knock on my door. "

With the provincial government ushering in a new green-energy era and pushing forward with its plans to reduce emissions by revamping the province's electricity system, concern is growing that the Ontario government may soon pay even less attention to the opinions of people like the Scovills.

Premier Dalton McGuinty says when it comes to renewable energy projects, he's not prepared to tolerate objections from residents simply because they don't want something built close to their home.

Community concerns must prevail over health, safety and environmental considerations of individuals and the government has made it clear it plans to fast track the green-energy initiatives outlined in the Green Energy Act announced last month.

Because of the image of selfishness it has come to represent, the acronym NIMBY - Not In My Back Yard - has become a term with which no one wants to be associated but Frank de Jong, leader of the Green Party of Ontario, said he doesn't believe in NIMBYism.

Instead, he sees the input from neighbours as an important part of the process when it comes to developments such as the wind-power project on Wolfe Island.

People who raise concerns shouldn't be dismissed as NIMBYs, he said.

"People who live in an area care very deeply about that area and they should be consulted in the most democratic way," de Jong said. "When you're called a NIMBY because you're proud of your community and you're rooted in it, that's not fair and it's not right."

de Jong's party supports green energy but he believes the Liberals' comments on NIMBYism are too "heavy-handed." He sees them as an affront to the democratic process.

"They're running roughshod over local opposition," he said. "I don't like how the government is shoving this down our throat ... Democracy is becoming a casualty in Ontario's electricity development. Green energy is important but so is democracy. One shouldn't trump the other."

Ontario's environment minister, Kingston and the Islands MPP John Gerretsen, said the province needs to get on with the business of developing green energy projects and can't allow those efforts to get bogged down by people who simply don't like the look of wind turbines.

"There should be voice given to certain concerns, but I do not have any time for NIMBYism," he said.

"When hydro first started 100 years ago or so, I'm sure there were a heck of a lot of people who didn't like power lines coming down their streets with ugly poles and ugly lines, but the bottom line is that we all turn on our electricity at night and we all expect it to be there."

Despite the government's stance on NIMBYism, Gerretsen said the province must still address legitimate issues when they're raised. He doesn't consider the aesthetics of wind turbines a legitimate issue.

Issues such as noise, setbacks -the distance between turbines and buildings and roads -as well as things like odour from biomass facilities will be carefully considered over the next few months, he said, as the Ministry of the Environment develops the regulations that will become part of the new Green Energy Act.

"Our work is only just beginning," Gerretsen said.

The ministry will hold consultation meetings across the province to give the public an opportunity to provide feedback on those new regulations.

"But as the premier has said, NIMBYism is something we're just not going to listen to," Gerretsen said.

"We believe in renewable energy and if you believe in renewable energy and you want to shut down the coal-fired energy plants, then yes, there are going to be more wind turbines that may be affecting some peoples' views.

"It's no different than when the first hydro lines were first put down our streets. We all received the benefit from it."

*

A look back half a century reveals an event when several thousand citizens east of Kingston along the St Lawrence River paid a steep personal price for the common good.

Jane Craig was 15 year old when she was one of 6,500 people living in six villages and three hamlets west of Cornwall that were flooded to accommodate the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Her family lost their home and their business, a hotel, in Moulinette when the land was flooded on July 1, 1958.

Over the course of about four years before the flooding, roughly 500 homes were either moved or re-built. Those that could be moved, were, and those that weren't structurally sound enough for the move had to be demolished and rebuilt.

Craig and her family were relocated to Long Sault, where they re-built their home and their business. Hydro paid her family about $50,000 to move but three years later, her father died from a heart condition that her mother blamed on the stress of the move.

"My mother died a bitter woman," Craig said.

Many people mourned the loss of their properties and hometowns. It affected people deeply, Craig said.

Fifty years later, the people who were resettled are still called the "survivors."

"We endured it. We went through it," Craig said. "There was a lot of heartache for a lot of people."

Perspectives have changed over the past five decades. Most people today view it as having been a necessary change, said Craig, who is now president of the Lost Villages Historical Society, which chronicles the history of the resettlement.

Despite the disruption to her family that the construction caused, she has accepted it.

"I love where I live," she said. "We went to a new village that had a new arena, new schools, new churches, new streets, new sidewalks. It had everything."

The only thing that upsets Craig is that she can't take her children and grandchildren back to her hometown, to show them her childhood home or where she played hockey.

"It's gone. It's all underwater," she said. Still, she doesn't look back on what her family lost because of the construction of the seaway. Instead, she recognizes the necessity of the project. She sees the construction of wind farms as no different.

"People say, 'It's going to devalue my home property' and it's going to do this and that. Well, we lost everything. Period," she said, "but we were well compensated."

There was no real protest when the seaway was built. The term NIMBY was unknown.

"Back then, when the government said, 'Jump,' you jumped," Craig said.

Ultimately, Craig feels that the role of the public should be limited to raising concerns about serious impacts such as health, safety and environment.

"I know it's going to be disruptive, but things have to change and they're going to change," she said. "We couldn't have stopped the St. Lawrence Seaway and nor should we have. Our outcome was good and I hope theirs is, too."

*

The premier's recent comments about NIMBYism have raised the ire of at least one Wolfe Island politician.

Denis Doyle, councillor for the Township of Frontenac Islands, said McGuinty is simply "covering up for past mistakes."

"The province left us high and dry," he said. "When the project on Wolfe Island started, it was like it was the first place in the world ever to do this."

Doyle, who was elected two years into the planning process for the wind farm, decries the lack of support he says Wolfe Island received from the provincial government as the small, rural municipality manoeuvred its way through complicated issues associated with the turbines.

He believes that the province's relatively recent readiness to develop and include standardized regulations in the proposed Green Energy Act is the result of how some planning decisions on Wolfe Island drew public opposition and caused delays for the project.

The issue of setbacks ended up going to the Ontario Municipal Board in the summer of 2007.

"The province could have fixed the setback distances long ago," Doyle said. "To a large extent, the province let us be the guinea pigs. We were left on our own to figure it out."

Small municipalities like the Township of Frontenac Islands don't have the expertise or the money to hire consultants, he said, to determine the best way to proceed with such contentious and complex issues as setbacks, noise limits and other environmental concerns.

The new Green Energy Act will establish those standards and make it easier for other municipalities, Doyle said.

"The province is going in the right direction, but it's just too bad for Wolfe Island," he said. "I'm pleased that other communities won't have to go through what Wolfe Island went through."

*

Sometimes, Green party leader de Jong said, public response that often gets labelled as NIMBYism can result in a more sustainable, more community-accepted project.

Some European researchers have agreed. At a conference of geographers in the mid-1990s, researchers for the International Geographical Union found that NIMBYism can be progressive. It can result in discussions that can prevent poor planning decisions and protect the broader interests of the community. The researchers found after studying instances of NIMBYism in Spain and Australia that three out of four cases had been a positive, democratic force.

de Jong would like to see a new formula for compensation for landowners and communities who host alternative-energy projects.

"The host landowner [for a turbine] gets in the neighbourhood of $7,000, $8,000, $9,000 a year, but the neighbours don't get anything," he said. "The revenue from wind turbines should be shared more equitably among the neighbours and the community. That probably would help a lot."

de Jong said the Green Party would like wind farm installations like the one on Wolfe Island to be community-owned.

"If it was owned locally, then you would have a lot more buy-in because the benefit and control would remain local," he said.

The Wolfe Island project is principally owned by Calgarybased Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. The amenities agreement between Canadian Hydro and the township gives the municipality $7,500 per turbine and 1.25 per cent of the company's gross annual revenue rate for the first 20 years. Those rates increase slightly to $14,500.00 per turbine and three per cent of Canadian Hydro's gross annual revenue in years 31 to 40 of the agreement.

Geoff Carnegie, Canadian Hydro's development manager, said there was about a six-year history of public involvement with the Wolfe Island project, including public meetings, landowners meetings and meetings with the municipal council. The public remains involved through a community liaison group, he said.

"The role of the public has been long and storied on this particular project," Carnegie said. "All residents on Wolfe Island, participating and non-participating, [were] sent notices for public meetings, notices about our web site being set up, e-mails, phone numbers and fax numbers. We're definitely available."

Still, de Jong said, the problem with many alternative-energy projects today in Ontario is that they're being "forced on communities ... and are owned by far-away interests.

"The provincial government is being a bully... they're giving wind power and green electricity a bad name by forcing it upon people as if it's a bitter pill we have to swallow," he said.

"It's not. Green electricity is the most wonderful thing if it's done properly with the consent of the community. What we need is informed consent and for the benefits of green electricity to be spread among the community "

Stefan Gsanger, secretary general of the World Wind Energy Association, is based in Bonn, Germany. He said Germany - the world leader in wind energy -has learned that the community- based approach is the most effective way to get people on board with individual projects.

"Local people who are living close to wind farms are, in quite a few cases, also shareholders of it and that, of course, makes it much more likely that people will say they like the wind turbine," he said.

"It's important that the majority supports it and I believe it's important that the majority understands that it's for their benefit, and the best benefit is that people can earn money from it."

In a case where an investor is coming in from outside the community, he recommends that the company offer shares to the local people as a way of getting them to support the project.

"There is clear empirical evidence that shows the more community power you have, the more citizen ownership you have, the less NIMBY attitudes you have."

*

All the Scovills ever wanted was to be included in the planning process because their property was due to be surrounded by turbines. They did write letters to Canadian Hydro, but have never been satisfied with the company's response.

Brian Scovill believes Canadian Hydro didn't made any effort to talk to him because it feared a hassle from a landowner who wasn't going to get an option.

"They didn't want any more complications," he said.

Instead, the Scovills wound up being surrounded by turbines on land that has been optioned by their neighbours.

They say it's not just about how the view from their front veranda has changed -you can now count 24 turbines from their front veranda in what were once farmers' fields. Brian Scovill is concerned about the noise the turbines are going to make once they're moving and the flickering light that may reflect off the blades as the sun sets behind them.

"It's the intimidation and the size [of the turbines] with the fact that we're surrounded," he said. "With the size and the proximity, there's a sense that they're encroaching on us."

He would like to see governments and Canadian Hydro recognize how close their home is to the turbines and offer them some kind of compensation.

"I'm not talking about financial, necessarily," Scovill said. "It might be a paved road or maybe a tax break. They're putting millions into this. Surely they could even put up some trees"

He pointed out that it doesn't seem like a lot to ask in connection with a project that's going to cost nearly half a billion dollars.

"We never wanted to stop or hold up the project," he said. "We just wanted to be involved somehow."

2009-03-18T10:37:00.006-04:00

Letters to the Editor :

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Now that industrial wind energy is back in the news in Cherry Valley, it might be good to take a look at recent developments regarding noise from wind turbines.
A “windfarm” in Cohocton began operation a couple of months ago, and now complaints are coming in from residents (including those who favored the project) that noise is penetrating their homes and disturbing sleep.
In Allegany, acoustic expert Charles Ebbing gave a presentation to the planning board. He said turbine noise in rural areas can vary from inaudible to neutral to unhealthy, depending on wind, weather and terrain.
He stressed the need to do extensive testing at all times of the day and in different seasons to determine common noise levels before a project is permitted.
Rural ambient sound levels are typically around 30 decibels. (Measurements taken at the Fenner wind project fluctuated around 70 decibels at a nearby home on a windy day.)
Infrasound, inaudible to humans at frequencies below 20 cycles per second and present near large turbines, cause the cells to shake and produce a collagen that stiffens the arteries, Mr. Ebbing also warned.
In Michigan, acoustic expert Rick James also said wind laws did not allow for adequate pre-construction testing to determine ambient sound levels at neighboring properties.
Even with sound levels arrived at accurately, he recommended setbacks of a mile as a protection against low frequency noise because any complaint process could drag on for years.
A new wind project came on line in Mayville, Wisc., last year with local families saying they are experiencing significant sound problems. They’ve asked what the company is going to do about it, with the reply coming, “We built the project thinking that wouldn’t happen.”
From Somerset County, Pennsylvania, a home 1,390-1,500 feet from new turbines has been recording readings of 55 to 70 decibels at night.
And yet, shouldn’t I be able to do with my property what I want? Even with documented readings of low frequency noise from wind turbines and ill-health effects from such noise having been studied for the past 30 years, shouldn’t I be able to say to my neighbor with a heart condition that they’ll just have to live with it?
On a related matter, the news continues to report that tax breaks in the form of PILOT programs are being granted to industrial wind developers, even though the tax breaks are only meant for the creation of significant employment.
A moderate size “wind farm” might employ 2-3 workers for monitoring and security. The state comptroller just this week complained that IDAs have been giving more tax breaks than ever in the past year while creating fewer jobs.
NEIL DRISCOLL
West Fulton

Wolfe Island is sacrificial lamb of green energy policy - The Whig Standard - Ontario, CA

2009-03-17T19:59:00.001-04:00

Wolfe Island is sacrificial lamb of green energy policy - The Whig Standard - Ontario, CA

Re: "A power struggle: Couple supports the wind project that surrounds their home. They do wonder why they were never approached" (March 14).

With the Green Energy and Green Economy Act, it actually seems as though Ontarians are being asked to "buy in" to having no say as to what happens in their "backyard." The wind turbine development on Wolfe Island is not only unsightly on what was once a beautiful, peaceful and pastoral island but it will provide insignificant power to the grid at only intermittent intervals. When it fails to provide the promised energy, the province will then be able to say "I tried" and go ahead with the nuclear installations that they know will solve the problem. In the meantime, developers have bulldozed wetlands and destroyed habitat and offer only "mitigation" after the fact. How can you "mitigate" the destruction of a community? Wolfe Island will be the sacrificial lamb and will only serve to create even more concern and uproar about the merits of this energy source.

To place a wind turbine 450 metres from a residence is wrong. When European countries, after many years of wind experience, are advocating 1,500-metre setbacks, why are these wind turbine developers getting away with minimal setbacks? What do they or Premier Dalton McGuinty know that those with experience don't?

I am a strong believer in alternative energy, and I believe we should be putting our efforts into researching and implementing the best methods out there. But I also believe that wind turbines should not be placed in anybody's "backyard." The health implications and environmental impact of these turbine installations are devastating.

McGuinty and Energy Minister George Smitherman are trying to take away our right to determine what is good for our own community by taking control away from municipalities. This is not right. This is not democracy.

Janet Grace Kingston

Noble Environmental Power Confirms Altona Turbine Collapse

2009-03-06T18:52:00.002-05:00

ALTONA, N.Y. -- Noble Environmental Power has confirmed that a turbine collapsed at its Altona, N.Y., wind park Friday morning, but said no one was injured in the collapse and ensuing fire.

In a statement released by the company Friday, company spokeswoman Maggy Wisniewski confirmed one turbine had collapsed and that a small fire resulted, but she refused to speak on the record with a NewsChannel 5 reporter.

Local fire departments were notified and are at the scene, according to the statement. The site has been completely secured and all Noble employees have been accounted for, the statement says.

The statement also says the entire Noble wind park has been shut down pending further investigation and there is no danger to the public due to the collapse.

"Noble values the safety of its employees and neighbors above all else. Noble has committed its full resources to understanding the cause of this incident. We will keep you informed as we learn more information," Noble CEO Walt Howard is quoted as saying in the statement.

Residents reported large explosions from the scene at about 9:30 a.m. NewsChannel 5 went to the scene off Purdy Road, which leads to the wind farm, and found Noble trucks blocking the roadway. Noble officials at the scene would not provide access to the area and offered no information about the situation at that time.

Residents in the area told Newschannel 5 they heard what sounded like a large explosion and said the loud noises lasted for several minutes. Others equated the sound to an earthquake and speculated one of the company's large windmills may have thrown a blade. Another local resident told NewsChannel 5 she could see flames coming from Noble.

High winds have been reported throughout the North Country Friday.

NewsChannel 5 will provide more detail on this story as it comes available. Check back here at WPTZ.com for the latest on this story.

BP Cuts Runs at Texas City Oil Refinery

2009-03-03T20:32:00.002-05:00

Bloomberg.com: U.K. & Ireland

BP Shuts Units, Cuts Runs at Texas City Oil Refinery

By Nidaa Bakhsh and Aaron Clark

March 3 (Bloomberg) -- BP Plc was forced to shut units and curtail operations because of a malfunction at its Texas City refinery, the fourth-largest in the U.S.

BP is still determining how long the units will be off line, spokeswoman Sheila Williams said today by telephone from London, where BP, Europe’s second-largest oil company, is based. The malfunction occurred in a sulfur recovery plant early yesterday morning, Williams said.

Production rates from units that produce large amounts of sulfur, such as cokers and hydrotreaters, have been reduced, a person familiar with the refinery operations said.

The fault may reduce supplies of gasoline as demand recovers before the peak summer driving season. The Texas City refinery, which can process 475,000 barrels of oil a day and is BP’s largest, returned to normal operations at the end of 2008 after a blast killed 15 people three years earlier.

BP expects to flare, or burn off gases into the air, until 2:30 a.m. local time tomorrow, according to a filing with state environmental regulators. An estimated 30,000 pounds of sulfur dioxide may be emitted during the flaring, which began at 2:30 a.m. yesterday, the filing showed.

Gasoline for April settlement rose $1.08, or 0.8 percent, to $1.297 a gallon at 7:02 a.m. local time on the New York Mercantile Exchange.

Flares are safety devices that prevent excessive pressure from building up in processing units that are being shut down or started up. Sulfur-recovery plants capture and hold sulfur removed in fuel-processing.

To contact the reporter on this story: Nidaa Bakhsh in London at nbakhsh@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: March 3, 2009 11:15 EST
Advertisement: dbFX: Online FX Trading from Deutsche Bank

Watertown Daily Times | Cape supervisor is degrading government

2009-02-24T08:56:00.002-05:00

Watertown Daily Times | Cape supervisor is degrading government

TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 24, 2009

A recent newspaper article brought the best of our town supervisor Tom Rienbeck. He reportedly is angered by an ad placed in the Watertown Daily Times by the Wind Power Ethics Group. The ad lists the members of the town board and Planning Board who have conflicts of interest relating to wind power in the town of Cape Vincent.

Mr. Rienbeck is not angry because the information is inaccurate and untruthful. This information was quietly disclosed back in July of 2008. Apparently the disclosures were supposed to "remain under the radar" never to be discussed again. Mr. Rienbeck said the ad was "pretty upsetting" and that "it felt like a slap in the face ... it's an attempt to degrade the town government."

How does the publication of factual information slap someone in the face and degrade the town government? Is it because Mr. Rienbeck wanted the board to vote on the new wind power zoning law while most people were completely unaware of the deep conflicts of interest of three of the board members? Very, very, clever. Now who's degrading town government?

Mr. Rienbeck also said, "I heard comments by opponents of wind power and they were somewhat happy with what we put together. As much as they've said they're in favor of wind power, this makes it look more like they're not in favor." Say what?

First of all, what is somewhat happy? Is it 25 percent happy, or 50 percent happy? In the first sentence, Mr. Rienbeck mentions opponents of wind power and in the second sentence Mr. Rienbeck referred to these same people as being in favor of wind power. Isn't that referred to as double-talk?

He concludes that since WPEG ran the ad in the newspaper, WPEG members are not in favor of wind power. That conclusion couldn't be further from the truth. I know several WPEG members who are in favor of wind turbines so long as they are properly sighted. Apparently Mr. Rienbeck thinks WPEG should overlook the illegal and unethical conflicts of interest of these particular board members so that we can have a wind power zoning law on the books. Hmmm. What an interesting concept of town government.

Finally, Rienbeck says he is considering halting the process of writing a new zoning law because of what WPEG did. He's going to punish the whole community because WPEG informed the whole community about the widespread conflicts of interest of town officials. Now who's degrading town government?

Tom Gormel

Cape Vincent

Power grid operator: no power so far to state grid from Cohocton - Hornell, NY - Hornell Evening Tribune

2009-02-22T20:52:00.001-05:00

Power grid operator: no power so far to state grid from Cohocton - Hornell, NY - Hornell Evening Tribune

After years of development, construction, anxiety and lawsuits, the hills surrounding Cohocton have sprouted 50 commercial wind turbines.

Now that First Wind has wrapped up its construction in Cohocton and the turbines are now spinning in the breeze, is that energy being sold?

According to the grid operator, no. And that’s not expected to change anytime soon.

Richard Barlette, manager of government affairs for the New York Independent System Operator — the not-for-profit company that moderates the state’s power grid and gives all power projects the green light — said no power generated at the site has been sold for consumption.

“They’re currently under the connection process,” he said. “As far as ‘flipping the switch,’ a ball park figure is December 2010.”

That connection process contains several steps, Barlette said, which are long and complicated.

“It’s not just sticking a turbine in the ground one day and producing electricity,” he said. “Every plant you build goes through the process.”

The biggest test, he said, is seeing if the grid can handle the extra power — 125 megawatts, in Cohocton’s case.

“We need to know the impact and reliability on the grid. We need to make sure it doesn’t negatively affect the grid.”

NYISO’s word comes in contrast to what town officials have heard from First Wind in the past.

Jack Zigenfus, Cohocton town supervisor, was last told by First Wind that the project was ready to transmit power and he thought it was.

“I received a letter that it had met all the criteria from all the regulatory agencies,” Zigenfus said. “They have to be operating to be obligated to pay the town.”

Zigenfus said the town has received at least $1.81 million from the project so far. The first payment — of $725,000 — came to the town in 2007 from the project as part of the community host agreement, with an additional $937,500 entering the town’s coffers by the end of 2008. First Wind also transfered to the town $150,000 for historical remediation, which the town and village boards hope to put towards renovating the Larrowe House, which currently houses the town and village clerk offices.

He also said he heard from officials at the Wayland-Cohocton Central School District it received the first Payment in Lieu of Taxes check from First Wind.

Cohocton officials applauded First Wind for “throwing the switch” on the 50-turbine wind energy development in December, while according to John Lamontagne, director of corporate communications for First Wind, the project was believed to be up and running in 2008.

"The time frame was to be by the end of the year,” he said in a Dec. 16, 2008 phone interview.

According to company officials in 2007 — when the company was known as UPC Wind — the project was expected to be up and running about a year after construction began.

Dirt first started moving on the project Sept. 18, 2007, with tower construction commencing in November. Work on the first two towers, complete with turbine blades, was finished Jan. 3. Of the 50 towers, 47 are spread across Lent, Pine and Dutch hills, dominating much of the view around Cohocton, North Cohocton and Atlanta. The three remaining turbines are on Brown Hill to the south of the village, where the project connects to the regional energy grid.

First Wind officials did not immediately return messages for comment.

BP to pay millions over pollution

2009-02-22T20:33:00.004-05:00

.: Capital News :.

BP to pay millions over pollution
BY AGENCE FRANCE PRESSE
Update 2days and 17 hours and 42 minutes ago

CHICAGO, Feb 20 - Oil giant BP agreed to pay 179 million dollars to settle a federal lawsuit over pollution at its Texas City plant, the site of a deadly explosion, officials said on Thursday.

BP Products North America Inc agreed to spend more than 167 million dollars on pollution controls and enhanced monitoring to resolve violations of the Clean Air Act, the Department of Justice said.

The company will also pay a 12-million-dollar civil penalty.
"The Department of Justice and the EPA will aggressively pursue those who fail to comply with the laws that protect our environment, and we will hold them accountable," said John Cruden, Acting Assistant Attorney General for the Justice Department's Environment and Natural Resources Division.

"This new agreement requires stringent new measures to protect air quality and public health in Texas beyond those originally required at the Texas City Refinery."

The EPA discovered the violations during a series of inspections following a March 2005 explosion that killed 15 people and injured 170 others.

In October 2007, the company pleaded guilty to a felony violation of the Clean Air Act and agreed to pay a 50-million-dollar fine, the largest criminal fine ever assessed against a corporation for Clean Air Act violations.
That plea is still under review and this settlement does not address any claims arising from the March 2005 explosion, officials said.

The settlement addresses BP's failure to comply with rules requiring strict controls on benzene - a hazardous air pollutant that causes cancer and nerve damage - generated during petroleum refining.

Pollution control upgrades required under the settlement are expected to reduce emissions of benzene and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs) by approximately 6,000 pounds annually.

The settlement will also eliminate the release of approximately 51,000 pounds of ozone-depleting hydrochlorofluorocarbons (HCFCs) from leaking cooling appliances after BP retrofits industrial and commercial cooling appliances.

BP will also spend six million dollars to convert approximately 100 diesel municipal vehicles to natural gas in order to reduce air pollution in the area.

"We are pleased to have achieved this settlement and will work to continue reducing emissions and to ensure regulatory compliance at Texas City," BP said in a statement.

Conflicts of interest in Cape Vincent

2009-02-21T12:48:00.001-05:00

Conflicts of interest in Cape Vincent

Wind energy claims to be clean. Unfortunately, we can’t say that about wind company ethics and some local town officials entangled in wind issues. There’s a deafening silence from leaders entrusted with the public welfare. Conflicts of interest between wind companies and town boards appear to be a regular occurrence in small communities hypnotized by financial gain.

In Cape Vincent, town officials appear to have conflicts of interest with wind companies, yet the town has no public record of these contracts. There is only hearsay, conveniently enabling town officials to cloud the question while remaining in office. Remember that the Jefferson County Ethics Board recommended that these officials should recuse themselves from voting on wind power issues.

Cape Vincent officials with apparent conflicts stated they will continue voting on wind issues, letting the legal chips fall where they may. If Cape Vincent gets wind power money, will town funds drain away in a cesspool of legal battles over potential corruption?

The conflict question goes higher. Assemblyman Darrel Aubertine, running against Assemblyman Will Barclay, has some explaining to do. The draft environmental document map, part of the environmental study mandated by state law on wind projects, shows Aubertine having wind turbines slated for his farm in Cape Vincent. Does Mr. Aubertine have a conflict? He sits on the state energy committee, as well as voted for the new Article 10 law that reduces local control and lets the state control new power plant placement, including wind power. Mr. Aubertine owes it to the public to break his silence and set the record straight on this issue.

With these potential conflicts, why are official watchdogs sleeping? Where is Jefferson County District Attorney Cindy Intschert? Where are Attorney General Andrew Cuomo and his local representative John T. Sullivan, who have been notified of these conflicts? Why is attorney Mark Gebo tolerating these conflicts as legal adviser to Cape Vincent?

Wind power is a critical issue facing Jefferson County. Why aren’t county legislators exercising oversight of wind power? And what about New York General Municipal Law, Article 18, Section 809, that requires town officials to disclose potential conflicts with an applicant (wind companies) requesting a zoning action?

While officials sit silently, fearing controversy or hoping to get through an election, citizens fill the void spending thousands of dollars protecting themselves and seeking answers, as wind power ravages their county.

Art Pundt

Cape Vincent

Conflicts of interest in Cape Vincent

9 February 2008

Windmills Blow: WELL THAT'S A SURPRISE

2009-02-19T08:53:00.000-05:00

Windmills Blow: WELL THAT'S A SURPRISE

Political IV: Trouble At The Hacienda

2009-02-19T08:50:00.000-05:00

Political IV: Trouble At The Hacienda

Watertown Daily Times | Ethics have official angry

2009-02-17T06:28:00.001-05:00

Watertown Daily Times | Ethics have official angry

Cape Vincent’s Unethical Black Hole

2009-02-15T23:03:00.005-05:00

BP axes staff as it prunes green plans | Mail Online

2009-02-06T08:58:00.002-05:00

BP axes staff as it prunes green plans | Mail Online

BP is axing jobs in its alternative energy division as it trims back its green empire.
Employees drawing up strategy and working on wind power developments have been shown the door after the firm decided returns in Britain are unattractive.

Green budgets across BP's global operations could also come under scrutiny as the firm grapples with tumbling energy prices.

The firm declined to comment.

Chief executive Tony Hayward is likely to confirm pared-back alternative energy plans when he presents the firm's latest results today.

Profits are expected to have slumped 20 per cent in the fourth quarter to $3.1billion (£2.1billion) because of sharp declines in the oil price.

A number of firms have been curtailing their UK renewables activities because of Whitehall's incoherent strategy and snail's pace planning regime.

An industry source said: 'There has been anxiety within the industry about the government's alternative energy policy.

It hasn't always put its money where its mouth is. Companies are responding accordingly.'

Hayward is now targeting Brazil's biofuels sector, America's wind industry, and solar energy in continental Europe and China.

Vivienne Cox, head of BP Alternative Energy, is to remain in London in charge of a truncated complement of staff. Last month she admitted it would be 'foolish' to claim there are no limits on BP's carbon-friendly spending given the difficult economic climate.

But capital spending in traditional oil and gas projects could also come under pressure in coming months.

BP's only alternative energy project in Britain is now a £280billion biofuels plant in Hull, which is being built with Associated British Foods and DuPont.
It has scrapped plans for wind development and pulled out of a government-sponsored carbon-capture project.

BP controversially adopted the brand 'Beyond Petroleum' under previous chief Lord Browne. It has continued with aggressive marketing of its green activities under his successor, Hayward, despite a decision to invest in environmentally destructive oil

Wind farm developer drops oil-spill appeal - The Whig Standard - Ontario, CA

2009-01-31T20:54:00.005-05:00

Wind farm developer drops oil-spill appeal - The Whig Standard - Ontario, CA

The company building the wind plant on Wolfe Island has withdrawn an appeal it had launched to avoid being held responsible for a diesel spill that occurred last fall.

Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. had appealed to the Environmental Review Tribunal, an independent provincial agency, after failing to comply with a director's order the Ministry of the Environment issued as a result of the spill. The firm launched the appeal in an effort to have its name removed from the order.

"Our appeal was to have our name removed from the order because we felt we were inappropriately named on the order," he said. "Now that the order is closed, we felt that the need to have ourselves removed is gone.

In an earlier interview with the Whig Standard, Carnegie said Canadian Hydro "absolutely feels it was not responsible [for the spill]."

Canadian Hydro instead feels that one of its contractors, Nadro Marine Services of Port Dover, Ont., was responsible and the director's order should have been issued to that company.

Nadro Marine was contracted by Canadian Hydro to haul barges daily from Ogdensburg, N. Y., carrying the project's 86 wind turbines. It was operating a tugboat on Oct. 1, 2008, adjacent to the island winter ferry dock near Dawson Point when roughly 700 litres of diesel leaked into the surrounding waters.

"It was the right thing for the ministry to stand up for the small community of Wolfe Island," he said. "It will be key for them to continue to do so.

"By withdrawing their appeal, [Canadian Hydro has] agreed to accept the responsibility that the ministry burdened them with, that is they are responsible for these sorts of accidents and they just can't hide behind contractors."

Carnegie declined to comment on whether Canadian Hydro would launch similar appeals in the future.

"I can't speculate on that because we don't know what the incident could be, we don't know what the circumstances would be," he said.

WIND PIRATES YAAARRRR!!

2009-01-30T18:32:00.007-05:00

Windmills Blow: WIND PIRATES YAAARRRR!!

Wolfe Islander III, the lifeline to residents of the island

This is a blog I found,its writer lives across the St.Lawrence and our communities have much in common. I guess I am at the believing they will never appear stage. Or denial stage.

WINDMILLS Blow
An ongoing blog, sometimes irreverent, about a small community that has allowed big business to $weet talk them into becoming an industrial windfarm

I guess I never really believed they would appear, let alone stay. Yet each day there are more. No longer can people pretend to ignore them; no longer can people who live across the river in Kingston fool themselves into thinking they won't be affected by them; no longer can local politicians and businesses involved in 'greed energy' pretend they won't scar the fabric of the environment. The wind turbines, about 30 so far--slightly more than one third of the total, are commanding the horizon of our small island.

As the turbines increase, so does the arrogance of those in charge. They know they've won this battle, and they are no longer kowtowing and bending over backwards to appease the fears of the residents who were never comfortable with the project. They are changing the very fiber of the community, and doing it in ways never thought imaginable.

For example, our lifeline to the mainland is a 55 car ferry, The Wolfe Islander III. She takes us to work each morning and brings us back safely at night. The boat is sometimes the only constant in the lives of islanders, getting us to work, to school, to appointments on time. Throughout the ice storm in 1998, the ferry never missed a trip, even though we had no electricity for a week. The boat carries the ambulance over to Kingston when islanders are in need of emergency treatment--cancer patients, accident victims, newborn babies. The Wolfe Island Ferry is our link to the outside world.

Each winter, when the lake freezes over, the ferry goes to an alternate dock, three miles outside the village of Marysville. It's a pain in the ass sometimes, but it is reliable. This year, the winter dock is being used by CREC, the company that is in charge of the turbine project. There is a bubble system going from Kingston to the winter dock to keep the channel open until the spring thaw. Since it has been a cold winter this year, we normally would be utilizing the alternate dock, but no. CREC has made a deal with the devil, or maybe the town council, to continue to use the winter dock, while our ferry continues to crash through the ice without the aid of a bubble system. With the exuberance of Micky Rooney declaring that he's putting on a show, CREC hollered, "We'll pay for it!"

CREC has magnanimously promised us the use of a tug boat to help clear the ice, but the only time I have seen this tug was when it was accompanying the CREC barge. Our boat bangs and crashes and tears through the ever thickening ice, and you know that can't be good. CREC has managed somehow to take over our boat and hold it hostage. Each morning, the boat arrives later and later. Residents, tax-paying residents of course, are arriving later and later at their jobs. Why are we putting up with this? Why don't people stand up and say "Enough is enough". Are people so naive (out of politeness I won't use the term I really want) that they don't know when they are are being used? Give us back our boat, our island, our lives.

CREC likes to be called C-REC. Sea Wreck. Now I know why.

Wind Power hits economic storm, while Nevada fails to move on projects

2009-01-29T15:33:00.002-05:00

Wind Power hits economic storm, while Nevada fails to move on projects - KRNV-TV- msnbc.com

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Wind power has seen historic growth and the blessing of President Barack Obama -- but it's far from recession proof.

The American Wind Energy Association reports that the amount of electricity generated by wind turbines grew by 50 percent last year and 55 new manufacturing facilities were built to make turbine components.

Interest in wind power also is on the rise in Nevada, including one proposal to erect 69 windmills in the mountains north of Carson City and west of Virginia City.

That proposal has failed the approval from the Storey County Commissioners because the turbines would detract from the historic mining town's charm and hurt the local economy.

Another proposal in Washoe County, which includes Reno, was put on hold by the county's planning commission last week.

And the national association sees more storm clouds ahead.

Denise Bode, the group's top executive, says "the financial downturn has begun to take a serious toll on new wind development," with layoffs reported at a number of manufacturingplants.

Last year, the industry gained 13,000 jobs. But the association says hundreds of people have recently lost their jobs because the credit crunch is delaying wind projects.

-The Associated Press and News 4 reports.

Watertown Daily Times | Create an agency to oversee energy claims

2009-01-22T07:42:00.001-05:00

Watertown Daily Times Create an agency to oversee energy claims

Imagine this scenario: pharmaceutical companies selling any drug they feel like, having no scientific testing to support their drug's efficacy, making any claim that's in their financial interest, and having no federal or state oversight

(e.g. Food and Drug Adminsitration) regarding any of these matters.

Would that make any sense at all?

Would we be healthier under that setup?

Would you be surprised that bogus products would proliferate?

Well, that is exactly the absurd situation we currently have with electrical energy.

The FDA exists because health is a top priority — but energy and health now significantly overlap.

For instance some energy pollutants (e.g. from coal facilities) are known carcinogens.

More importantly, many believe that the sum effect of energy contaminants will result in the human species demise.

What trumps that?

Currently electrical energy profiteers can sell essentially any "alternative" source of energy they feel like, have no independent scientific testing to support its efficacy, and make almost any assertion that's in their financial interest.

Wind power is an example.

Shut up and pay for your windmill

2009-01-15T12:51:00.003-05:00

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper

It’s not only local landowners and vacationers who are expected to shut up. It’s taxpayers as well.
Here we come to item (1),

the huge cash giveaway.

The big inconvenient truth about “green power” is that it is hugely costly — triple the cost of coal power, almost double the cost of nuclear.

Advocates of green power insist that the price will soon decline.

This promise never comes to pass, for reasons that should be obvious after a moment’s thought.

The big costs involved in a wind and solar projects are not the turbines and solar panels, although they are very expensive in their own right.

The big costs are

(i) acquisition of the vast amounts of land required to site the turbines and panels and

(ii) the stringing of wires from thousands of small-scale power generators to the power distribution grid.

These costs are more likely to rise than to fall.

In the United States, wind power has been incentivized with lucrative tax credits:

2 US cents per kilowatt hour.

(To put that subsidy in perspective, electricity from coal costs about 3 US cents per kilowatt hour.)

America’s lavish wind subsidy has been in place since 1992, yet even so, wind cannot compete:

In 2007, wind provided less than 5% of America’s electricity supply.

A Chill Blows Through Wind Power - BusinessWeek

2009-01-12T22:48:00.001-05:00

A Chill Blows Through Wind Power - BusinessWeek

High Cost of Capital
For European players, the toughest problem now is rising financing costs that render many wind projects no longer cost-effective.

Industry watchers figure the cost of capital has jumped by up to 200 basis points (two percentage points) over the past six months as banks embraced more conservative lending practices.

The increase particularly has hurt scores of speculative developers who jumped into the wind power generation business but lacked the deep pockets of utilities.

Late last year, for instance, U.S. entrepreneur T. Boone Pickens said he would scale back a planned 4,000-megawatt wind farm in Texas due to the high cost of capital.

It's not just small producers cutting back on wind investment.

Capital costs for large, cash-rich European utilities, such as France's EDF (EDF.PA) and Germany's E.ON (EONGN.DE), have also risen by roughly 50 basis points since September 2008. In response, Spain's Iberdrola, which owns the second-largest wind energy company in the U.S., has cut its expansion plans by almost one-third, as has smaller Spanish player Acciona (ANA.F).

Paterson: slow down on wind power

2009-01-11T20:40:00.001-05:00

Paterson: slow down on wind power - Newswatch50.com... We're Always On!

The St. Lawrence River is too precious to be marred by poorly-conceived wind power projects, Governor David Paterson said Sunday.

The Governor fielded questions from a packed house at the Northside Improvement League as part of his budget tour of the state.Asked by a Hammond resident about his views on wind power development, Paterson indicated he thinks the industry is moving too quickly.

"Particularly in that area, and because of its cultural and historic value, and particularly because it's a place people come to see, that we have to be a lot more careful about the siting of wind turbine facilities," Paterson said, generating a smattering of applause.

Don't be fooled about free wind energy

2009-01-11T10:52:00.002-05:00

Don't be fooled about wind energy livingstondaily.com Livingston Daily

Several people, including Gov. Jennifer Granholm, promote erecting windmills, which will generate electrical energy. Will our tax dollars be tapped for that venture?
Probably.

Proponents tell us that windmills will capture a free source of energy. They say that it already exists; nobody makes it.

Natural gas also exists, too. Nobody makes it, either.

But it is not free to any of us who use it.

The bottom line is that we'll realize significant increases to our home energy costs.

By the time it gets to our houses, the energy from free wind will be far from free

Slowdown Seen in Upstate Wind Farm Plans

2008-11-29T18:03:00.000-05:00

http://cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/11/25/headwinds-hit-green-energy-plans-upstate/

In a few brief years, New York State has become famous for its wind farms. Thanks to government subsidies and aggressive targets for the production of clean energy, hundreds of turbines now dot the landscape upstate. But the planning and building of wind farms may be slowing.

Low-frequency noise linked to heart attacks

2008-11-28T08:24:00.001-05:00

Watertown Daily Times Low-frequency noise linked to heart attacks

In an Oct. 9 letter to the Watertown Daily Times, I presented an article from the European Heart Journal authored by Dr. Stefan Willich et al. that suggested low-frequency noise may be related to heart attacks and that women seemed disproportionately at risk.

Dawn M. Munk of Three Mile Bay responded to my letter by bringing to our attention a critique by Dr. Wolfgang Babish (Oct. 25). Dr. Babish found fault with the way Dr. Willich's group had managed their data and took issue with the suggestion that noise affected women to a greater extent than men. In the meantime, Dr. Babish published a study suggesting men are at greater risk of heart attacks related to noise than women (Epidemiology, volume 16, 33-44, 2005).

Ms. Munk furthermore criticizes my letter with, "There has never been a single peer-reviewed study linking wind turbines to ill health effects in those living nearby." This statement is at odds with our National Institutes of Health (NIH), since its representatives have stated, "Wind energy will undoubtedly create noise, which increases stress, which in turn increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and cancer." (Environmental Health Perspectives, volume 116, pages A237-238, 2008.) The NIH is not known to make strong statements without sufficient evidence.

The last word on this issue should not be a few letters to the editor of the WDT, mine included.
Dr. Ralph H. Janicki
Cape Vincent
Dr. Janicki, M.D., Ph.D., is a fellow of the American College of Cardiology.

Even advocates advise caution on green projects

2008-11-24T15:06:00.001-05:00

Ill wind blows for turbines

As Toronto residents gather this evening to debate a plan to erect wind turbines along the city's waterfront, there is a mounting debate over how to spark a green energy boom without ceding too much control to private developers.

Worried by rising fuel costs and keen to demonstrate concern about climate change, politicians across Canada are devoted to renewable energy. But even some environmentalists are questioning whether the push to introduce such energy sources -- and particularly wind power -- has overtaken the responsibility to prudently plan.

Iran wants OPEC to cut output

2008-11-15T08:04:00.000-05:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/worldNews/idUSTRE4AE1P820081115?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews

Iran wants OPEC to cut oil output by a further 1 to 1.5 million barrels per day when it meets in Cairo later this month, the Islamic Republic's representative to the cartel was quoted on Saturday as saying.
OPEC countries are calling for action to halt oil's slide as they face reduced revenues and a struggle to finance domestic projects. Oil prices have tumbled more than 60 percent from a record level of $147 per barrel in July.

reportonbusiness.com: HAS THE SUN SET ON CLEAN TECH?

2008-11-14T16:28:00.001-05:00

reportonbusiness.com: HAS THE SUN SET ON CLEAN TECH?

Once a booming industry thanks to sky-high oil prices, the feel-good trend, carbon reduction and subsidies, the financial crisis has pushed investors to give up on green energies, and like the dot-com bubble of 2000, some analysts say it's about to burst

Wind farm takes a toll

2008-11-14T08:24:00.001-05:00

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1296441

The road to a cleaner, greener energy future is fraught with strife on Wolfe Island. The disruption and dust caused by the construction of 86 massive windmills has forced at least one couple to pack up and leave their island home of 17 years.

Dawn and Dean Wallace lived on the road travelled regularly all summer by the huge dump trucks and tractor-trailers carrying equipment and construction material to the west end of the island where most of the windmills will be located.

Though the project is scheduled for completion this April, the couple couldn't cope any longer.

"It's a green project without a green process," Dawn Wallace told the Whig-Standard.
Many islanders describe a community divided by the burgeoning wind farm.

There are the landowners who will benefit financially from providing land to Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. And there are those who won't, though the township will receive an annual fee that will help with the island tax base.

There are west-end residents like the Wallaces who have had their lives disrupted. And there are those who live away from the epicentre of development, free from the upheaval.

There are the environmentalists who see the giant turbines providing clean energy to the provincial electrical grid long into the future. And there are those who are concerned about the windmills' potential negative effects on migrating birds, bats, other wildlife and wetlands.

Everpower must detail how wind turbines will affect potential neighborhoods

2008-11-14T08:22:00.001-05:00

http://www.oleantimesherald.com/articles/2008/11/11/news/doc49199918b57b2267819770.txt

ALLEGANY - The Allegany Town Planning Board formally decided Monday night that a proposed wind turbine project will have an environmental impact.The decision furthered the environmental review process which began last month for a proposed project of 32 wind turbines in the Chipmonk Ridge area. New York-based energy company Everpower Renewables submitted an application for a site plan review and land use variance for the project in August.
Everpower now has to prepare a draft environmental impact statement, a lengthy document that shows the various studies that the company has completed on various environmental impacts the project has and planned mitigation methods. There is no set timeline on when this has to be completed.

Wind farm moratorium eyed : Southern Suburbs : The Buffalo News

2008-11-13T17:55:00.002-05:00

Wind farm moratorium eyed : Southern Suburbs : The Buffalo News

The Holland Town Board, in the initial stages of writing a law on wind farms in the town, may adopt a moratorium on such entities as early as next month.
Wednesday, the board unanimously approved a public hearing for 8 p. m. Dec. 10 to impose a moratorium on wind farms until a local law regulating them has been adopted.

Turbines making a big difference to land values in Gippsland

2008-11-13T08:09:00.002-05:00

http://sj.farmonline.com.au/news/nationalrural/property/general/turbines-making-a-big-difference-to-land-values-in-gippsland/1359551.aspx

John Jess has been valuing properties in Gippsland, Vic, since 1982 and says wind turbines are having a significant impact on values for both farmland and residential property.

Having conducted valuations for a panel hearing on proposed wind farms, Mr Jess said farming properties appear to drop 10-15 pc near turbines.

There is stronger evidence to suggest rural-residential values drop by 30-40pc near wind turbines.

Wolfe Island Wind Farm Project set to deliver power by spring

2008-11-08T08:38:00.000-05:00

http://dcnonl.com/article/id31280

Just after Thanksgiving, specialists from countries including Canada, Norway, and Australia laid approximately 8,000 metres of submarine electrical cable to connect Ontario’s Wolfe Island Wind Farm Project to the mainland.
The installation of the cable, believed to be the world’s first designed to carry 230 kilovolts under water, is a significant step in the activation of 86 wind turbines on the island, located directly opposite the City of Kingston at the entrance to the St. Lawrence River.

Political battle brews over fate of Lee Memorial Hospital

2008-11-01T22:27:00.002-04:00

http://www.valleynewsonline.com/print_story.php?newsid=83946

Political battle brews over fate of Lee Memorial Hospital
by Carol ThompsonA letter sent to Senator Darrel Aubertine by Oswego County Legislator Louella LeClair has evoked a response from the Aubertine campaign suggesting that Ms. LeClair is part of the David Renzi campaign team.

Legislator LeClair, who represents the City of Fulton’s District 25, sent a letter to Aubertine Oct. 29 claiming he has misled the community with his political advertisements in which he states that he saved the A.L. Lee Memorial Hospital from closure.

She followed her letter with an Oct. 30 press release that she issued herself.In her press release, Ms. LeClair wrote, “In June, Darrel Aubertine said he was working every day to save our hospital, our jobs, and our access to health care, but officials said he had done nothing to help.”It continues, “Now he continues to air political commercials taking credit for saving the hospital when the job still isn’t done.

”Ms. LeClair said she is not a part of the Renzi campaign; however, the Aubertine campaign countered her correspondence to the senator with a press release headlined, “Why is Renzi rooting against Lee Memorial Hospital?”“Dave Renzi’s campaign has become so desperate that they have resorted to declaring and cheering for the closure of Lee Memorial in an attempt to undermine the hard work of state Sen. Darrel J. Aubertine and others to save A.L. Lee Memorial hospital in Fulton,” the news release states.

The Renzi campaign issued no statements on the hospital closure during the campaign for the 48th District Senate seat, but did counter with a press release noting that the Aubertine campaign is attempting to shift the blame.
The Aubertine press release also accuses Ms. LeClair of being critical of the hospital and its administration, something that neither her letter nor press release address.

“Now the campaign is openly declaring Lee’s closure and distributing a release and letter critical of the hospital and its administration,” Aubertine’s release states.Ms. LeClair said she sent Aubertine the letter after seeing a letter from the New York State Department of Health that was published in the Oct. 22 issue of The Valley News.

Her decision to send Aubertine a letter, she said, was her own and had nothing to do with the senate campaign.James W. Clyne, Jr., deputy commissioner of the state Office of Health Systems Management, noted in a letter to hospital officials that their closure plan has been approved. Clyne also recommended the hospital file for its certificate to operate as an urgent care center “immediately.”

The news came as a shock to Legislator LeClair, and evidently to a number of constituents, who said they were led to believe the hospital would remain open for acute care based on Aubertine’s campaign mailers and television spots.

“I am not a member of the Renzi campaign,” Ms. LeClair said. “I haven’t even contributed anything to his campaign.”Ms. LeClair was angered over Aubertine’s statement that she was critical of the hospital and it’s administration.

“I have never been critical of Lee Memorial Hospital. My goal has always been the health care of our community,” Ms. LeClair said. “I am and have always been 100 percent in support of Lee Memorial, Dennis Casey and the employees. To say that I’m not supportive of Lee Memorial is ludicrous.”Ms. LeClair said she wrote to Aubertine because she is angered that he has been misleading the community.

“Mr. Aubertine tells us that he’s saved the hospital,” she said. “Tell us what you’ve done. Prove to the people of Fulton what you’ve done. It’s plain and simple.”She added, “The people in Albany tell us it’s not saved. He (Aubertine) says it is. Someone’s not telling the truth.”

Ms. LeClair said the senator first misled the community earlier this year when he issued a press release announcing a merger between Lee Memorial and Oswego Health. There was no merger agreement as Oswego Health cleared up in a subsequent press release.

“I was so excited when I read Aubertine’s release that the two hospital’s had merged,” she said, adding that she immediately made a call to one of Oswego Health’s board members only to be told no such merger had occurred.

“He wasn’t even involved with those talks,” she added, “and there was no merger.”Ms. LeClair also criticized Aubertine for making the hospital issue political and said it should not be a part of his campaign.

“He hasn’t done anything,” she said. “This has nothing to do with the Renzi campaign. Mr. Aubertine’s making this into a political football. It’s not about politics, it’s about our health care.”

The hospital has sought to merge with another hospital since late November of 2006 when the New York State Commission on Health Care Facilities in the 21st Century, also known as the Berger Commission, recommended that the Fulton facility be converted into an outpatient diagnostic and treatment urgent-care center operating under New York State Article 28 licensure.

The state granted the hospital a one-year extension that expires June 30, 2009.Aubertine’s campaign stressed that Aubertine worked with hospital and the state health department to grant Lee Memorial a one-year extension and continues to work on behalf of the hospital.

“The one-year extension was progress, and now Darrel is working with the hospital to turn every stone to keep these jobs and keep this facility open for even longer,” said Aubertine spokesperson Drew Mangione.

As of Wednesday afternoon, the state health department said it has received no other plans for different options for the hospital.

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO ESTABLISHES CODE OF CONDUCT FOR WIND ENERGY COMPANIES OPERATING IN NEW YORK

2008-10-30T14:17:00.001-04:00

ATTORNEY GENERAL CUOMO ESTABLISHES CODE OF CONDUCT FOR WIND ENERGY COMPANIES OPERATING IN NEW YORK

ALBANY, N.Y. (October 30, 2008) – Attorney General Andrew M. Cuomo today announced a new Wind Industry Ethics Code that establishes guidelines to facilitate the development of alternative energy in New York while assuring the public the wind power industry is acting properly and within the law. The Code calls for new oversight through a multi-agency Task Force, and establishes unprecedented transparency that will deter any improper relationships between wind development companies and local government officials.

The first companies to sign the Attorney General’s Wind Industry Ethics Code are Essex, Connecticut-based Noble Environmental Power, LLC and Newton, Massachusetts-based First Wind (formerly known as UPC Wind). Both companies currently operate wind farms in New York and have several others in development.
“Wind power is an exciting industry for the state that will be a cornerstone of our energy future.

But it is important to make sure that this alternative energy sector develops in a way that maintains the public’s confidence, and that is what this new Code of Conduct does,” said Attorney General Cuomo. “I commend Noble and First Wind for taking the lead by adopting this Code, and we fully expect other companies that want to develop wind farms in New York to follow suit.”

Texas study cites high cost of harnessing wind

2008-10-28T20:27:00.001-04:00

Texas study cites high cost of harnessing wind Environment Reuters

HOUSTON (Reuters) - Texas consumers and taxpayers could pay more than $2.2 billion a year in subsidies and higher transmission costs to take advantage of the state's abundant wind-generation resources, a free-market research group said on Tuesday.
The state's current push to accelerate use of wind-generated electricity is "costing, not saving, Texans billions of dollars," said Bill Peacock, director of the Texas Public Policy Foundation's Center for Economic Freedom,

Pickens investors ask for exit: report

2008-10-28T08:33:00.000-04:00

http://www.reuters.com/article/businessNews/idUSTRE49R25F20081028?feedType=RSS&feedName=businessNews

(Reuters) - About half of the investors in T. Boone Pickens' energy-oriented equity hedge fund have asked to withdraw their money on the heels of losses of about 60 percent this year, the Wall Street Journal said, citing people close to the matter.
Pickens and his investment fund have lost $2 billion since peaking in late June, Pickens told the CBS program '60 Minutes' on Sunday.

Winds of change headed for Hilltowns

2008-10-26T18:38:00.002-04:00

Winds of change headed for Hilltowns -- Page 1 -- Times Union - Albany NY

Push for renewable energy sure to affect Albany County's higher altitudes.

KNOX -There is a feeling atop these beautiful hills that construction of an industrial-size wind farm one day may be inevitable.

After all, with an energy crisis brewing worldwide and worries over global warming, clean wind energy is being touted as a savior for New York state, which wants one fourth of its electricity supply to come from renewable sources like wind by 2013.

Either way, the Hilltowns will never be the same

"It's like the gold rush with no boundaries," said Berne Town Supervisor Kevin Crosier, who wants the state Attorney General's office to investigate.

Wind power is changing the landscape in WNY

2008-10-26T15:02:00.001-04:00

http://www.buffalonews.com/home/story/474579.html

Within a few years, $1 billion worth of wind turbines could be spinning

SHELDON –Wyoming County, the farming community that’s home to Letchworth State Park and the state’s leading dairy region, now lays claim as the wind capital of Western New York.
Wind has brought a whole new industry to Wyoming County, with $655 million spent so far on three projects already built and at least three more on the books.
It’s conceivable that within the next few years, the wind industry will have spent $1 billion on wind turbines in Wyoming County.

Holy Breaking Wind Turbines! « Earth2Tech

2008-10-25T13:03:00.004-04:00

Holy Breaking Wind Turbines! « Earth2Tech

A Suzlon wind turbine in Wyanet, Ill.,

had one of its 140-foot long blades break off this week (via Environmental Capital ).

The Indian turbine maker is still investigating this turbine failure but it appears to be related to the blade recall

announced in March

which requires the retrofitting 1,251 (417 sets) blades, mostly in the U.S., because of a design flaw that leads to blade cracking. The recall problem has

already cost the company millions in canceled orders.

NYISO pushes for more transmission lines, wind power

2008-10-25T10:03:00.002-04:00

New York state faces a number of challenges as it attempts to reach goals of 25-percent clean energy by 2013 and a 15 percent reduction in overall energy use by 2015, the CEO of New York Independent System Operator said Wednesday.

One critical issue is finding ways to install the transmission lines “without taking people’s houses,” he said.

Collapse of blade on wind turbine raises questions of safety

2008-10-25T09:42:00.002-04:00

Wind out of their sails - Peoria, IL - pjstar.com

What property owner Richard Schertz described as the thunderous sound of a wind turbine blade crashing down into his cornfield Wednesday apparently echoed around the world.

BP Wind & Solar CEO: Project Money 'Completely Dried Up'

2008-10-24T20:01:00.002-04:00

BP Wind & Solar CEO: Project Money 'Completely Dried Up' - TheStreet.com

Financing for wind farms has disappeared and fewer companies will be able to develop the kind of "mega projects" needed to feed the growing demand for energy, said Reyad Fezzani, CEO of BP's (BP Quote - Cramer on BP - Stock Picks) wind and solar operations, at the Dow Jones Alternative Energy Innovations conference Wednesday.

Alt Energy Stocks Crushed As Oil Bubble Pops

2008-10-24T19:56:00.002-04:00

Alt Energy Projects Suffer
So what happens to big, green energy endeavors now that oil is trading in the low $70s? At these prices, options like wind and solar are no longer at the level where they'll save you money. It was easy to believe in Super Spikes and Hubbert's Peaks when oil was going up every day, but now even oil uber-bull Goldman Sachs sees oil going back to $50.

Alternative Energy Suddenly Faces Headwinds - NYTimes.com

2008-10-21T11:12:00.001-04:00

Alternative Energy Suddenly Faces Headwinds - NYTimes.com

By CLIFFORD KRAUSS

Published: October 20, 2008
HOUSTON — For all the support that the presidential candidates are expressing for renewable energy, alternative energies like wind and solar are facing big new challenges because of the credit freeze and the plunge in oil and natural gas prices.

Shortage of turbines puts the brakes on wind power industry .

2008-10-17T12:54:00.003-04:00

http://www.canada.com/vancouversun/news/story.html?id=79e64e0c-ed48-4a78-8d6a-79dc97769e2e

Scott Simpson, Vancouver SunPublished: Friday, October 17, 2008

Canada's booming wind energy sector is becoming a victim of its own success, says a spokesman for the Canadian Wind Energy Association.
A global surge in wind energy development is making it difficult for proponents to secure equipment for new projects, and waiting times for turbine blades and other components are increasing.

IJC Reject Plan for Great Lakes Water

2008-10-13T18:58:00.000-04:00

International Commission Scraps Its Own Widely Criticized Plan 2007TORONTO, ONTARIO - Lake Ontario Waterkeeper, along with dozens of other Canadian and US environmental organizations, celebrates the announcement by the International Joint Commission (IJC) to shelve its Plan 2007. The IJC cited input by the public and organizations like Waterkeeper in their decision to halt implementation.

Greens Exploit Wall Street Bailout

2008-10-03T22:04:00.001-04:00

JunkScience.com -- Steven Milloy, Publisher

By Steven MilloyOctober 2, 2008

Will the Wall Street bailout be the beginning of the New (Green) Deal?
Environmental activists are trying to figure out ways to advance their global-warming-regulation agenda by exploiting the current financial crisis, including the Wall Street bailout bill to be voted on by the House.
The good news for them is that they may not need to succeed, since someone with a very Green agenda will be in charge of implementing the bill should it become law.
As reported by Carbon Control News (Sep. 24), "Environmentalists and some Democrats are seizing upon the financial sector crisis to call for major federal investments in energy efficiency and improvements in the electricity grid as a way to address climate change and spur a lagging economy."

Bush signs agreement to protect Great Lakes water - USATODAY.com

2008-10-03T21:47:00.001-04:00

Bush signs agreement to protect Great Lakes water - USATODAY.com

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Great Lakes water cannot be diverted to thirsty areas elsewhere in the United States and abroad under an agreement approved Friday by President Bush.
Approval of the Great Lakes Compact was the final step in a nearly decade-long quest to strengthen legal protections for the use of water from the five Great Lakes, their connecting channels and the St. Lawrence River. It received bipartisan support and the backing of business and environmental groups and both presidential candidates.

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper

2008-10-02T21:20:00.001-04:00

Lake Ontario Waterkeeper

Diesel spill leaves islanders without water
by Jennifer Pritchett, The Kingston Whig Standard
October 02, 2008
Agencies called in to assess damage after 700 litres of fuel discharged into Lake Ontario
Island residents who live along a two-kilometre stretch of the St. Lawrence River have been advised not to drink the water from their shore wells because of a diesel spill yesterday from a boat linked to the island's wind-power project.
The tugboat, operated by Nadro Marine Services Ltd. of Port Dover, Ont., was sitting at the island's winter ferry dock near Dawson Point, just east of the main ferry dock, when as much as 700 litres of diesel fuel spilled into the surrounding waters.

Vestas Drops the Most in Two Years on Stock Downgrade (Update1)

2008-09-26T11:52:00.000-04:00

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601085&sid=a6wB9c5MTMhU&refer=europe

By Marianne Stigset

Sept. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Vestas Wind Systems A/S, the world's biggest wind-turbine maker, declined the most in more than two years in Copenhagen trading after Morgan Stanley reduced its recommendation on the stock.

JS Online: House OKs Great Lakes cleanup bill

2008-09-22T18:14:00.005-04:00

JS Online: House OKs Great Lakes cleanup bill

Act would triple funding

By DIANA MARRERO
dmarrero@journalsentinel.com

Posted: Sept. 18, 2008

Washington - The House approved a measure Thursday that could help clean up pollution in the Great Lakes.

The Great Lakes Legacy Act, passed 371-20, authorizes $150 million a year for cleanup efforts by the Environmental Protection Agency.

Science News / A 'novel' Chemistry To Make Fuel From Sugar

2008-09-21T23:35:00.001-04:00

Science News / A 'novel' Chemistry To Make Fuel From Sugar
By Patrick BarryWeb edition : Thursday, September 18th, 2008

Nano-sized metal particles help convert plant sugar into conventional fuels, such as gasoline.
It’s not alchemy, but it might sound like it: a new way to transform sugars from plants into gasoline, diesel or even jet fuel by passing the sugars over exotic materials.

Acciona threatens to withdraw wind generating investment in Spain - Forbes.com

2008-09-19T21:27:00.001-04:00

Acciona threatens to withdraw wind generating investment in Spain - Forbes.com
MADRID (AFX) - Acciona SA has threatened to withdraw its investment in Spain's wind parks if the government continues with its plans to withdraw support for the industry, Expansion reported, citing general director Estaban Morras.

Lake Ontario Studied (Video)

2008-09-17T18:13:00.002-04:00

by Jay Capers, The Democrat and Chronicle September 17, 2008

US and Canadian researchers are trying to determine why water quality far offshore in Lake Ontario is the best it has been in nearly forty years, yet near shore the water is almost as bad as it was in the 1960' and 1970's.

U.S.and Canadian reaserchers are determining Lake Ontario's health this year

Rejection of regulation may benefit institute

2008-09-17T18:10:00.001-04:00

http://www.waterkeeper.ca/content/fish/rejection_of_regulation_may_be.php

The Kingston Whig Standard
September 17, 2008

Restoring conditions closer to a natural flow of water in the St. Lawrence could mean an even more important role for the St. Lawrence River Institute of Environmental Sciences.
"We find this exciting," said Jeff Ridal, the institute's executive director and chief scientist.

Lake Ontario water flow plan sunk

2008-09-17T18:06:00.001-04:00

http://www.waterkeeper.ca/content/drink/lake_ontario_water_flow_plan_s.php

by Greg Pekerenboom, The Kingston Whig Standard
September 17, 2008

An international proposal to restrict water flow from Lake Ontario is being sent back to the drawing board.
The International Joint Commission has bowed to public pressure and is abandoning its proposal, called Plan 2007.
"There was little support for regulation [of] Plan 2007," stated a letter from the commission to Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister David Emerson and U. S. Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice, citing complaints during recent public hearings and submissions to the commission this summer.
"There was also a broad, strong interest in returning to more natural flows," the letter reads.

Silver, Skelos: Reform Empire Zone program

2008-09-17T17:36:00.000-04:00

http://www.bizjournals.com/buffalo/stories/2008/09/15/daily32.html?ana=from_rss

Wednesday, September 17, 2008 - 3:02 PM EDT Modified:

Silver, Skelos: Reform Empire Zone program
Senate Majority Leader Dean Skelos, a downstate Republican, unveiled a plan today that would cut taxes, create tax credits for small businesses and manufacturers and revamp the state’s Empire Zone program.

Skelos made his announcement in Buffalo, at the annual convention of The Business Council of New York State Inc.,

Skelos also talked about the need to reform the state’s Empire Zone program, which awards tax credits for businesses creating jobs and making investments in the area. He said he wants to enact stronger oversight and accountability measures into the program, to ensure that “all the state’s incentives to attract businesses return equal value in terms of job creation.”

Silver briefly mentioned the need to enact new legislation that streamlines and speeds the process of siting a power plant in the state. The state has been without such a process since 2003.

Schumer to meet with head of FERC to sort out energy mess

2008-09-16T18:55:00.000-04:00

http://www.pressrepublican.com/0100_news/local_story_258213030.html

By JOE LoTEMPLIO
Staff Writer

PLATTSBURGH -- U.S. Sen. Charles Schumer will meet with the head of the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission about a problem he says has cost state communities millions.
"We must get to the bottom of this greedy scheme," Schumer said in a statement.
Between January and July of this year, energy-market traders were using deceptive trading practices, the senator said, which slammed consumers with millions of dollars in unnecessary, additional fees and put the state at risk for blackouts.

Great Lakes Study demands validation

2008-09-16T18:48:00.000-04:00

http://www.waterkeeper.ca/content/drink/great_lakes_study_demands_vali.php

by Editor, South Bend Tribune
September 16, 2008
A seven-year effort by the Centers for Disease Control to analyze possible health effects from pollution in the Great Lakes region was scuttled last week by an independent review panel.
The Institute of Medicine was called in by the CDC because of concerns about the report of its own Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry. The institute concluded the findings were not sufficiently backed up by evidence. For example, environmental data from specific contaminated sites were lumped together with health data for entire counties — and at different times.

Britain's worst polluters set for windfall of millions

2008-09-14T16:01:00.000-04:00

A flagship European scheme designed to fight global warming is set to benefit companies in almost all sectors of the British economy, a Guardian investigation has revealed

David Adam, environment correspondent
guardian.co.uk,
Friday September 12 2008 18:08 BST

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2008/sep/12/emissionstrading

A flagship European scheme designed to fight global warming is set to hand hundreds of millions of pounds to some of Britain's most polluting companies, with little or no benefit to the environment, an investigation by the Guardian has revealed.
Dozens of multinational firms stand to benefit from the windfall, which comes from the over-allocation of carbon permits under the European emissions trading scheme.

Birds and windmills don’t mix

2008-09-14T11:18:00.000-04:00

BY BEN WOLFGANGSTAFF WRITER

http://www.republicanherald.com/articles/2008/09/14/news/local_news/pr_republican.20080914.a.pg1.pr14birds_s1.1942921_top3.txt

Published: Sunday, September 14, 2008 4:19 AM EDT

Location is everything.

While the open sky is big enough for 400-foot-high wind turbines and migratory birds, animal conservationists are airing their concerns about the threat windmills pose to wildlife.“Any place thinking about installation (of wind turbines) should take years studying the issue,” Keith Bildstein, director of conservation science at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, said Friday. “That is a prescription the wind industry apparently finds distasteful.”

Windfarms: One of the great deceptions of our time

2008-09-14T10:39:00.000-04:00

The total power generated by all the 2,300 turbines so far built in Britain, is less than that contributed by a single medium-size conventional power station.

By Christopher Booker Last Updated : 7:32 PM BST 13 Sep 2008

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/politics/2910741/Windfarms-One-of-the-great-deceptions-of-our-time.html

I long had no particular views on wind farms one way or the other. But six years ago, when I first seriously looked at what they actually contribute to our energy needs and our environment, I had a profound shock. It was clear that the craze for wind energy had become one of the greatest self-deceptions of our time.

Man decries "intimidation tactic"

2008-09-13T18:15:00.000-04:00

http://www.thewhig.com/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1196362

Critic of Wolfe Island wind plant issued cease-and-desist order

Posted By JENNIFER PRITCHETT WHIG-STANDARD STAFF WRITER
Posted 1 day ago

The Calgary-based company building a $410-million wind plant on Wolfe Island has issued a cease-and-desist letter to a citizen it claims is spreading "false and defamatory statements."
Canadian Hydro Developers Inc. sent the letter in connection with a statement made by Wolfe Island resident Chris Brown, an outspoken
critic of some aspects of the project.
Brown, a local musician, is one of a handful of citizens who sit on a community liaison committee Canadian Hydro set up last year to answer local concerns about the project.
Brown regards the letter as an attempt to gag critics of the project.
"It's an intimidation tactic," he said.

MOE grants water taking licence for Wolfe Island Wind cement plant

2008-09-10T21:59:00.000-04:00

http://www.waterkeeper.ca/content/fish/moe_grants_water_taking_licenc.php
EBR Posting
September 09, 2008
Any resident of Ontario may seek leave to appeal this decision, by serving written Notice, by September 19, 2008
Permit To Take Water Number (3316-7FAH7C) was issued to Lafarge Canada Inc. on August 18, 2008.
The approved water taking information is the same as requested: Source name: Lake Ontario Purpose: Construction Maximum rate per minute: 400 litres Maximum number of hours of taking a day: 24 Maximum volume per day: 576,000 litres Maximum number of days of taking in a year: 365 Earliest calendar date of taking (mm/dd/yy): 06/01/08Latest calendar date of taking (mm/dd/yy): 06/01/09 Duration of taking: 1 year

Iberdola accepts conditions on Energy East deal

2008-09-10T21:57:00.000-04:00

Iberdola accepts conditions on Energy East deal

Energy deal could save customers $40 annually | democratandchronicle.com | Democrat and Chronicle

2008-09-07T12:00:00.000-04:00

Energy deal could save customers $40 annually democratandchronicle.com Democrat and Chronicle

Better Plan: The Trouble With Industrial Wind Farms: Rock County Wisconsin - Wisconsin Farmer Regrets Saying Yes To Turbines

2008-09-06T08:23:00.000-04:00

Better Plan: The Trouble With Industrial Wind Farms: Rock County Wisconsin - Wisconsin Farmer Regrets Saying Yes To Turbines

Wind panel corrects errors; No turbines will be allowed in lakefront, riverfront districts

2008-09-05T07:54:00.000-04:00

Wind panel corrects errors; No turbines will be allowed in lakefront, riverfront districts

Energy panel approves sales of utilities to Iberdrola

2008-09-04T08:15:00.000-04:00

Energy panel approves sales of utilities to Iberdrola

Investigation into business practices fails to derail Noble IPO

2008-09-03T14:53:00.000-04:00

Investigation into business practices fails to derail Noble IPO

Wind energy unreliable, says power company | Business News | Energy Digital

2008-09-03T14:50:00.000-04:00

Wind energy unreliable, says power company Business News Energy Digital

www.windaction.org | NY leaders overestimating benefit of Iberdrola $2 billion wind farm investment

2008-09-03T14:45:00.000-04:00

http://www.windaction.org/documents/17786