Better Plan, Wisconsin

We would like to thank the Rock County Conservationists for hosting the presentation today.

We enjoyed Mr. Hulsey's presentation on renewable energy options for Rock County with an emphasis on the energy potential of prairie grass and other forms of biomass.

He also breifly discussed manure digestors, a subject which interests the BPRC research nerd very much. Though they are costly to build, manure digestors actually solve environmental problems while creating energy. 

They capture methane, transform a problematic material into clean biomass which can be used in a number of ways, and most importantly, they keep nitrates out of our waterways. The fact that they generate electricity on top of that means the cost of creating manure digestors may be far less than it first appears. Wisconsin is in the perfect position to lead the way in promoting the only renewable energy source we know of that also takes care of other environmental problems as it works.

 After Mr. Hulsey's presentation we stayed for the RCC meeting and had the of pleasure finding ourselves in the presence of three people who shepherd Wisconsin's endangered ornate box turtle. (Read more about these turtles at the Wisconsin DNR site by clicking here) These volunteers provide a safe environment where the turtle eggs can hatch and the young turtles can have a chance to grow to a size that will help them be able to survive once they are returned to the wild.  Sometimes pet stores try to sell these endangered creatures. The picture on the left is of an ornate box turtle rescued by the DNR from a petshop in Milwaukee. What happened to the turtle after that?  Click here to read about the Wildlife In Need Center 

We also learned of the outreach work of the Rock County Conservationists which includes grants for up to $250.00 per school for conservation related activities. They urged us to let any interested teachers know about this program.

 Attending this presentation was it was a great way to spend a March afternoon, and we are grateful to the RCC for making it possible. For more information about the Rock County Conservationist events and membership, send an email to lonerockprairienursery@gmail.com

Saturday, March 15th, 1pm, Beloit College

The Rock County Conservationists invite you to join them for their March 15th  program at Beloit College, as it welcomes Brett Hulsey, author of Cellulose Prairie, Biomass Fuel Potential in Wisconsin and the Midwest. (click here to download it) Come and learn what this emerging field of renewable biofuel energy could mean for Rock County. The program is free and open to the public, and will be on March 15th, from 1pm to 3pm, on the Beloit College campus, in the Richardson Auditorium, in the Morse-Ingersol Building, at the corner of Emerson and College streets.  

Biofuel is all around us in the base form of biomass. Wisconsin is blessed with a rich and diverse natural heritage that creates a lot of biomass annually. This rich natural heritage is expressed today in our scenic beauty, diverse natural areas, and agricultural wealth. Biomass sources include native tallgrass and prairie plants, crop residues and animal manures, grass clippings, invasive weed species and diseased trees in parks and natural areas, and methane recapture from landfills and waste water treatment facilities. The biomass and biofuel potential of Wisconsin and Rock County is enormous, with the state’s potential reaching 13,336,273 tons in excess biomass, 250-500 thousand tons of that coming from Rock County.

“Excess biomass like switchgrass, corn stover, wood waste, and manure are the convenient solutions to the ‘Inconvenient Truth’ of global warming. Investing in more biofuel purchase, pilot plants, business startups, and research could produce electricity and fuel and reduce the largest sources of greenhouse air pollutants in Wisconsin and America,” said Brett Hulsey, president Better Environmental Solutions, report author.

Burning biomass is a convenient, cost-effective solution to reduce global warming and extreme  climate changes. The U.S. EPA identified three main sources of U.S. greenhouse gases: burning  fossil fuels for electricity, burning petroleum fuels for transportation, and other sources like  agricultural fertilizer and tillage.  

Three near term, proven solutions are:   1.  Use energy more efficiently to save money;  2.  Burn biomass with or instead of coal for more renewable electricity, and   3.  Burn low carbon biofuels with or instead of gasoline and diesel in vehicles.

Wisconsin’s excess biomass, could produce 1.3 billion gallons of ethanol per year and displace 40% of the gasoline we consumed last year, in addition to Wisconsin’s 252 million gallons of current corn ethanol production.  This excess biomass could be burned to replace 15 million tons of coal, equivalent to 56% of Wisconsin’s total coal use.  Notably, these biomass materials are excess or surplus and can be harvested sustainably to maintain forest and soil health.

“With investments, Wisconsin can be a cellulose prairie and forest for bioenergy like Silicon Valley is for high technology,” said Hulsey. “We are well positioned because Wisconsin leads the nation now in converting wood to electricity. This is just one step away from cleaner biofuels like cellulosic ethanol.”

This is important because Wisconsin is also almost totally energy dependent, importing $18.5 billion of energy.  Two-thirds of this money leaves the state, resulting in a loss of $12 billion and 300,000 jobs.  Expanding biofuel production will reduce this job and income drain, and create better markets for Wisconsin’s agricultural and forest productions.

For more information on this report, contact author, Brett Hulsey, at Brett@BetterEnvironmentalSolutions.com, 608-238-6070.               

ROCK COUNTY CONSERVATIONISTS’ ANNUAL MEETING & PROGRAM
WISCONSIN’S & ROCK COUNTY’S  BIOFUEL and BIOENERGY POTENTIAL

Date: Saturday, March 15th, 2008
Time: 1pm to 3pm
Place: Beloit College, Richardson Auditorium, Morse-Ingersol Building, at the corner of Emerson and College streets

Speaker:  Brett Hulsey, Author of Cellulose Prairie, Biomass Fuel Potential in Wisconsin and the Midwest

Note: The first half hour of the program will be the RCC annual meeting

STAY OF EXECUTION!!

The BPRC Research Nerds are delighted to report that the 11th hour bill before the Wisconsin state senate was not passed today! It was sent back to the authors of the bill thanks to the words of several senators to whom we owe a great debt of gratitude! Please take a moment to thank these senators for speaking against this bill ASAP!

District Number 31
Senator Kathleen Vinehout
Sen.Vinehout@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-8546   Capitol 104 South

 District Number 2
 Senator Robert Cowles  Sen.cowles@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-0484   Capitol 319 South

 District Number 17
 Senator Dale Schultz  Sen.schultz@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-0703   Capitol 127 South

 District Number 9
 Senator Joe Leibham  Sen.leibham@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-2056   Capitol 5 South

 District Number 1
 Senator Alan Lasee  Sen.lasee@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-3512   Capitol 130 South


And please send an e-spanking to the senator who told us he would not support this legislation but turned on us:

 District Number 27
 Senator Jon Erpenbach  Sen.erpenbach@legis.wisconsin.gov
(608) 266-6670   Capitol 8 South

Want to read what they are saying in Green Bay? CLICK HERE 

How about what they are saying in Milwaukee? CLICK HERE

Today, SB 544, --the bill that will take away the power of your local government in Wisconsin to have a say about how close a 40 story turbine can be placed to your home will go to the senate floor for a vote. If it passes, the Public Service Commission will take that power. They believe 1000 feet from your door is a safe set back. 

You must call your senator today to let them know you oppose this bill. You can also call or email every senator in the state to let them know you oppose this bill because their vote will affect you. You can find the contact information by clicking here:

 You can also scroll down to the end of this post and find contact information for legislators in Rock County

The BPRC research nerds are heading to the state capitol first thing in the morning to visit every Senator's offce to ask them to  oppose this bill in person.  We ask that you take a moment to make a phone call. It's free! It's easy! It takes just a minute. The turbines will be here for the next 30 years. Tell the person who answers the phone you are calling to ask the senator not to vote for the turbine siting reform bill, SB 544 because it takes away the power of your local government.

They will ask for your name, address and phone number and will record your request that the senator not support this bill. And that's it. It's that simple. And it makes all the difference in the world.

If you decide to email instead, you'll need to include this information as well.

Below is a copy of the letter the BPRC research nerds are bringing to the senators today:

Reasons to Vote NO on SB544/AB899

1. Neither the PSC, DOA, or Wind Lobbyists have used any Health or Safety research in creating their state draft model wind siting ordinance, or in SB544/AB899.

The proposed setback distance of a 400-foot tall wind turbine from residence or occupied building is only 1000 feet. This is to cover the collapse of the turbine. There is no protection from turbine noise, or the sub-sonic "thud" created as the blades cross in front of the turbine tower. Most noise can be mitigated with a setback of at least one ½ mile, but multiple turbines compound the problem exponentially. Subsonic waves travel 1 ½ miles.

2.The Wind Lobby, utilities, and the PSC have made a false claim that industrial wind turbines are required in order for Wisconsin to reach its Renewable Portfolio Standards'(RPS) goals of 10% renewable energy generation by 2015, and 25% renewable energy by 2025. Wisconsin'snaturally occurring excess biomass, in the forms of crop residues, animal manures, native prairie grasses, and waste wood resources can replace up to 50% of  the imported coal used for energy generation, saving the state close to $6 billion in imported coal costs. But, since electricity generation accounts for only 40% of our state's green house gas emissions, ½ or 25%  of the biomass reserves could go towards cellulosic ethanol production, or replacing fossil fuels for heat generation.
    Solar energy, like biomass, can be used for both electricity generation and heating. Solar is constantly becoming more economical, efficient, and discrete. The same cannot be said for industrial scale wind power, especially when taking into account the heavy amount of Federal tax incentives, which is shouldered by taxpayers. (see below)

3. There has been no open accounting of, or audit of, the actual usefulness of wind energy in Wisconsin's electrical grid. The Wind Industry and their lobbyists talk in fuzzy numbers that are averaged over an entire year, or selected events. There is no audit of day-to-day, or hour-to-hour electricity demands and existing wind turbines supplying the necessary generation to keep the grid functioning.
There is concern over how wind generation is used in the grid and sold as green energy. For example, the following quote is from MG&E's, Environmental Responsibility Report, page 4, under MG&E's 2015 Plan:
"Our wind capacity will grow by nearly eight times– from 11 to 86 megawatts(MW)… A portion of this energy will be included in our overall electric mix. The other part will be used to more than triple the amount of renewable energy in our green pricing program. This allows more customers to take direct environmental action by purchasing renewable energy and offsetting greenhouse gas emissions from their homes or businesses."
What are consumers buying if only a'portion' of the wind energy is used in MG&E's grid mix? Used or not, wind turbine operators get to sell all of a turbine's capacity.

4. Taxpayers pick up the bill for industrial wind turbines, while farmers with turbine leases receive only pennies on the dollar for the energy produced on their land. Industrial wind turbines enjoy Federal accelerated double depreciating tax structures that allow wind turbine owners to write-off the expense of the turbine in six years. The unused portion of the depreciation can be transferred to third parties, which can utilize the depreciation against their federal tax obligations. Wind turbines also receive a Production Tax Credit (PTC) which covers the income received from selling the 'green energy'mentioned above. Wind industry proponents say an average lease of $5,000 per turbine  will 'keep farmers farming', while at the same time say the wind turbines generate a meager $200,000 per year. That is a payout of only 2.5%.

    Most of the Wind financing comes from the selling or shifting of the depreciation, PTC, and 'green energy'. The generation income is all gravy, so shouldn't farmers who own the land with the resource get more? For farmers, whether you own the crop or the machine that harvests it, one should get half of the value. That means a farmer should receive $100,000 per turbine not $5,000.

Dear Senator,
My family has just learned the senate will be voting on SB544 (turbine siting reform) in the last days of this session. The passage of this bill means we will have to leave our farm. There is a lot of misery in our house right now because of it. And we will not be the only ones in Wisconsin who will have to find a new place to live.

All we are asking is that this bill not be rushed through at the last minute.

It takes away the power of our local government and hands it to the PSC.

We need a legislative council study committee to look into why so many local governments have come same conclusion when writing ordinances about the siting of wind turbines. In the state’s head-long rush toward industrial wind farms, we don’t feel our legislators are hearing our voices at all.  

Here in Rock County, we’ve spent the last six months researching proper siting for industrial wind turbines. Why? Because we wanted to make sure our family would be safe if the wind farm proposed near our home goes in at the 1000 foot setbacks the PSC recommends.

We now know we won’t be. Many county and township governments understand this too and are recommending set backs that will help protect us. This bill will take that protection away.

I hope you’re aware of what went on during the two 10 hour-long hearings on AB899/SB544 on Tuesday and Wednesday.  We were there both days. We heard nearly 20 hours of testimony.

The room packed with citizens who took time off of work and traveled from all over Wisconsin with less than 48 hours notice to testify against this bill that will change our lives and rural landscapes forever.
 
Those testifying against this bill were by far the majority in attendance.

They were working people, farmers, local government officials, ecologists, college students, engineers, audiologists, builders, business people, jet pilots, conservationists, and the head of the Madison chapter of the Audubon society.  

Even a Franciscan nun came to testify.

She was the head of her township’s wind turbine study committee and had also spent six months studying the issue. She came to the same conclusion so many of us have. A 40 story turbine placed 1000 feet from a home is not safe. The noise limits the PSC would impose are not safe.

She asked the PSC to challenge the research that supports their local ordinance.

She asked that the Governors Task Force on Global Warming to challenge it.

Will all her work, and the work of hundreds of others, be slapped down without even looking into it?

If you’d like a dramatic example of why so many of our local governments have created wind turbine siting ordinances that require a set back that is larger than the current state recommedation of 1000 feet, please click here  to watch a turbine blowing apart. It was shown at the hearing on Tuesday.

It happened in Denmark and it was the second one to go down in the last two weeks. If you like watching explosions, this one is notable. The brakes failed during a wind storm. You’ll see what happened next. Denmark has strict setbacks of 3/4 of a mile so no one was hurt.

During the hearing, the developers, lobbyists, power companies and PSC had the first slots and spoke for as long as they wished. They made it known they have a low opinion of the capabilities of rural people and local government. They called us confused, and uneducated, and incapable of making important decisions in our own communities.

This bill basically gives a legislative second to that opinion.

And directly after the last of the paid proponents of this bill finished speaking, a 3 minute limit was suddenly imposed.

I can't tell you how stunned and angry we were at that. What a blatant slap in the face  after sitting there all day being told our local governments were too dumb to figure this out and how much better it would be if the PSC had full power over this issue. It hurt.

Local governments are the bedrock of our democracy. We're not a bunch of dumb farmers.  We've studied the issue and know that there are big problems with siting turbines too close to residences and farms. We can't understand how you don't know this.
 
The PSC says a 1000 foot setback is safe but can't tell us where they got the number and why they believe it's safe.

Local governments who have studied the issue can immediately tell you why it's not safe and provide you with reliable documentation that backs it up.
 
The PSC can't give you a single piece of documentation which backs up the safety the Wisconsin Draft Model ordinance, yet they are not questioned about this.
 
This bill was drafted without any input at all from the public or local governments.

After testimony was given by Richard Stadleman saying the Towns Association Board supported the bill, some people quit the association. Right then and there. They told us so in the hearing room. None of them were aware of the Towns Association Board’s decision to support the bill.

Later Mr. Stadleman told me he wouldn’t want a turbine near his house either. What is going on here? HELP!!!
 
There are much better renewable energy choices for Wisconsin.

If manure digesters had the same federal production tax credit and tax incentives as wind energy, we’d be able to solve a lot of environmental problems at once.

Don't force wind power on us when it's been proven to be inefficient and unsafe and tears our rural communities apart.

Even if I’m not in your district, I ask you oppose this bill. and to look into why so many local governments have come same conclusion about the siting of wind turbines.

Thank You.

URGENT CALL FOR PEOPLE TO ATTEND A PUBLIC HEARING AT THE CAPITOL IN MADISON ON WEDNESDAY MARCH 5TH AT 12:30 PM. It is scheduled for room 330 Southwest, but you may want the ASK AT THE INFORMATION DESK FOR THE HEARING ROOM FOR SB-544.

Please come. Your being there will make all the difference. If this bill passes, your local goverment will lose all power to decide where industrial wind farms can be located in your community and it will give this power to the state.

WHAT YOU CAN DO THIS MINUTE: CALL THE GOVERNOR'S OFFICE AND YOUR LEGISLATORS TODAY! (Scroll down for telephone contact information at the end of this post)

THREE SIMPLE PHONE CALL CAN MAKE ALL THE DIFFERENCE! WHEN YOU CALL: 

Tell your senator not to rush to pass SB544 this session.

Tell your representative not to rush pass AB899 this session.

(The two bills are identical, one goes before the senate and one goes before the assembly. Click here to download the bill.)

What's this bill about? What should I say when I call?

Tell them you oppose this bill because

a) It takes away the power of your local goverment to say where industrial wind turbines may be placed in our community and gives it to the state.

b) There are known health and safety concerns with industrial wind turbines and this must not be rushed through at the end of this session. It deserves the time and examination by a bi-partisan legislative council study committee. 

Why?
This bill takes away your local government's power to have a say about where industrial wind farms can be placed in your community and hands this power to the state via the Public Service Commission. It means the PSC will decide how close a 40 story tall industrial wind turbine can be placed to your home, and where power lines can go in your community.

It allows the state to go with the unsafe setbacks in the Wisconsin draft wind ordinance which uses a set back of 1000 feet.  Scientific and medical studies shows that any setback that is less than half a mile from a residence, at minimum, is unsafe.

Let them know they can access this scientific and medical documentation easily by reading the report by the Town Of Union's Large Wind Turbine Study Committee. (CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD IT)

An open records request by the committee has shown there was no scientific or medical data used to determine this setback for Wisconsin. The 1000 foot set back recommendation seems to have come from a power company in Florida.

Tell them there are much better renewable energy options for Wisconsin. Ones that won't require our local government to give up power, won't tear up our farmlands, and won't bring misery to our community.

 A phone call is a lot easier than you think! Each office has an assistant ready to take your name and write down your concern! It only takes a moment! The turbines in our community will be here for 30 years. Be brave! Fight for your community! Pick up the phone and call-----

Your Governor:

Jim Doyle
608-266-1212
Click here for Governor Doyle's Online E-Mail Form

YOUR SENATORS: 
Townships of: ALBANY, BROOKLYN, DECATUR, MAGNOLIA, UNION: 
Senate District 27
Senator Jon Erpenbach
608) 266-6670
Sen.erpenbach@legis.wisconsin.gov  (click here to email directly)

Townships of: AVON, BRADFORD, CENTER, CLINTON, HARMONY, JANESVILLE, JOHNSTOWN,LA PRAIRIE, LIMA, MILTON, NEWARK, PLYMOUTH, RICHMOND, ROCK, SPRING VALLEY, WHITEWATER: 

Senate District Number 15
Senator Judy Robson
(608) 266-2253
Sen.robson@legis.wisconsin.gov (click here to email directly)

YOUR REPRESENTATIVES:

Townships of: ALBANY, BROOKLYN, DECATUR, MAGNOLIA, UNION:

District Number 80
Representative Brett Davis
(608)266-1192
Rep.davis@legis.wisconsin.gov (click here to email directly)

Townships of: CENTER, FULTON, JANESVILLE, PLYMOUTH, PORTER, ROCK, SPRING VALLEY:

Assembly District 43
Representative Kim Hixson
(608) 266-9650
Rep.Hixson@legis.wisconsin.gov (click here to email directly)

IF YOUR TOWNSHIP ISN'T LISTED:

Please Click Here to find out who your legislators are and how to contact them. 

A NOTE FROM THE RESEARCH NERD: Why do setbacks from industrial  wind turbines matter? 

Two turbines have collapsed in Europe just this week. One threw wreckage in every direction. A farmer who lives near by said:  'I drive my tractor and my wife rides horses out there,' he said. 'Just think if we'd been out there when it happened.' (Click here for source)

 (Watch Footage of the recent turbine collapse by clicking here)

 Why is wind power's unreliability an issue?

Read about what happened on February 26th to the grid in Texas when the wind fell while energy demand grew. Why is it important? It forced the Electric Reliability Council of Texas Inc.  to declare emergency conditions. (Click here to read the story from the Houston Business Journal)

New to the issue? 

Need to know more? 

The BPRC Research Nerd recommends these websites :

Industrial Wind Action Group (click here to visit) 

National Wind Watch (click here to visit) 

Here is are two letters from a BPRC members that lays our position pretty well. Please feel free to use them or quote them.

Letter #1

What happens when the state takes control from local government and electricity becomes more important than the health of our residents?
What happens if bill AB899  passes?

It will take away my local government’s power to have any say about where industrial wind turbines can be placed in my community and hand it to the state via the Public Service Commission.
It will allow the PSC to place a 40 story tall turbine as close as 1000 feet from my home. Scientific and medical studies show they must be sited at least half a mile from a home or they are unsafe. An open records request reveals no scientific or medical data was used to determine Wisconsin’s recommended 1000 foot setback. It seems to come from a power company in Florida.

Laws that change the rest of our lives must not be rushed. Local government must not have its power taken away.
We want renewable energy choices that don’t take power from local governments, or tear up our farmlands or bring misery to our community.

Letter #2 

“Local ordinances that restrict wind power could make it harder to reach the goal required by state law, for Wisconsin to generate 10% of it’s power from renewable sources …”, is a misleading statement by members of the state’s Task Force on Global Warming. Wind industry lobbyists, like Michael Vickerman, who sits on the panel, use vagaries, intimidation, and green (or greed) speak to push their business agenda.

Wisconsin’s renewable energy options are rich and varied, and do not require the destruction of rural Wisconsin with unsafe 400 foot tall industrial wind turbines.

Solar energy is a safer and more reliable zero emission technology for Wisconsin. Solar panels are safe, quiet, enhance a home’s property value, and help control energy expenses.

Manure digestion and biogas technologies for our agri-businesses, food industries, and municipal waste and compost facilities capture green house gas emissions, and turn an environmental liability into a new renewable energy resource.

Native Wisconsin prairie grasses, urban and rural waste wood resources can be co-fired with coal, in existing coal fired power plants, to offset 10-20% of that plant’s fossil fuel emissions now! Today!

Local ordinances keep people in rural communities safe. The wind industry cares about money, not human safety. That is why they include no human health and safety research in their state draft model wind ordinance.

Do not pass bill AB899 or SB544 this legislative session. This issue needs more consideration and must not be rushed.

Letter #2

The Town of Union Large Wind Turbine Citizen's Committee has submitted its draft wind ordinance and 318 pages of back up documentation. You can download the entire pdf by clicking here

Those of us who were lucky enough to attend the February 21st meeting at the Magnolia Township hall had a chance to hear them speak and to ask them questions. I think everyone in attendance would agree it was the most informational meeting so far. Wisconsin communities will benefit greatly from the exhaustive work they have put into this report, and Better Plan, Rock County is looking forward to focussing on different aspects of it in the coming weeks.

One thing that was stressed at the meeting was that careful planning must be done in the beginning because after the turbines go up, there may be very little one can do if something goes wrong. How do you enforce the noise ordinance after the things are up and running? What do you do if a turbine is built closer to your house than the ordinance allows (click here to read about how this just happened in Wisconsin!) (Click here for what happened next!)

In McLean, Illinois Rene Taylor and her family have been living with that unanswered question since the turbines near her home became operational nine months ago.

In this 2/21/08 email to Better Plan, Rock County she describes the effects of living 1500 feet from wind turbines. Though the wind developers refuse to admit there are serious health and safety problems associated with living too close to wind turbines, scientific and medical studies tell us otherwise.

The BPRC wishes to thank the Taylor family for kind permission to post this email for our community.

"Our family is currently living in the shadows of 3 industrial turbines about 1500 feet from our home and a dozen or more within 1/2 mile.
 
I believe we are part of Dr. Pierpont's study and I have scheduled a follow up call with her this weekend.
 
We have had unofficial noise readings at the North wall of our home near 90dBA at times and have experienced headaches, sleeplessness, nausea, heart palpitations, increased blood pressure, a general feeling of being unwell, mild depression, and extreme pressure in our ears.
 
To make matters worse, my youngest son, (10), suffers from mild autism.  He seems to fixate on the noise, (sometimes noise the rest of us can't hear), and becomes fitful and difficult to deal with.  For lack of anything else to call it, he has uncontrollable tantrums and nothing we do, short of removing him from the home when it's bad, is helping.
 
I strongly urge Union Township to accept Dr. Pierpont's recommendations for set backs.  If you had even told me last fall, (the turbines near us have been operational since May, 2007), that we would be having the type of problems we are having, I wouldn't have believed it.  We knew last summer their were times it was uncomfortable, but the winter weather conditions have given me a whole new perspective of what it's like to live with turbines.
 
While Dr. Pierpont's articles and studies have not yet been published in national journals like JAMA for review, her work has been reviewed with interest by many in the medical and scientific community.  I have no doubt that when her current study is published, WTS will soon be found in all medical literature and become a recognized disease, or symptom of the disease VAD.
 
Rene Taylor 
 

SO WHAT'S IN THE 318 PAGE REPORT?

For today we'll just present the table of contents. Read it over. If there is something you'd like to look into, download the pdf of the full report and go to that page.

Summery of Key Points – page 3
Draft 04-23-07 WI Model Wind Ordinance Reference Guide Highlights –page 5
Wind Turbines Create Harmful Noise—page 8
Professional Opinions of Wind Turbines Noise Effects on People—page 22
Samples of Letters Contributing to our report---Page 32
Lincoln Township Letters of Concern and Noise Study After the Wind Turbines Were Installed—Page 47
Wind Turbine Sites Visited---85
Wind Speed Data---87
Wind Turbine Construction May Affect Ground Water Quality—88
Wind Turbines Can Create Harmful Shadow Flicker---88
Wind Turbines Capable of Throwing Ice/Parts at Dangerous Speeds & Distances –91
Wind Turbine Health and Safety Lawsuit Settlement------94
Other Legal Issues/Cases Related to Wind Turbines Ruled a “Nuisance”—94
Financial Compensation Paid to Residents Living Near Turbines: Neighbor Easement Agreements –95
Precedence for Larger Setbacks—97
Professional Recommendations Substantiating Larger Setbacks—101
Noise Effects Testimonials From Those Living Near Wind Turbines—105
Precedence For Larger Setbacks from Property Line---113
County & Township Examples for Larger Setbacks---115
Peer-Reviewed G.P. Van Den Berg “The Sound of High Winds” Summary--116
Wind Rights---120
Significant Permitting Change in Minnesota---122
Property Values and Miscellaneous—122
Public Service Commission Records Request Part 1—125
Public Service Commission Records Request Part 2--142
EcoEnergy Questionnaire –199
WPPI Questionnaire---234
Evansville Water & Light Questionnaire---244
Public Service Commission Questionnaire---255
National Academy of Sciences, NRC Report May 2007 pp 157-177,180-218----260
Final Recommendation---307
Credentials of Professionals Who Advised our Committee----308
References and Footnotes---316

Thanks to the Evansville Observer you can also watch committee chairman Judge Tom Alisankus presenting a summary of the report by clicking Part one, Part two, Part three

To watch a video of the kinds of problems with turbines we need to be protected against, CLICK HERE

THANK YOU TO ALL OF THE COMMITTEE MEMBERS WHO CAME TO SPEAK TO US On THURSDAY NIGHT!