When Kathy Habgood looks through her front window toward the rolling farmland just beyond Cook Road, she sees uncertainty.

An avid birdwatcher, Habgood enjoys the Canada geese, hummingbirds, turkey vultures, orioles and other songbirds that flock to her yard. She's afraid the birds might stop coming if developers move forward with plans for a 50-turbine wind farm across from her home.

"This is such a rich area for birds, so near the shore," she said. "Anything that would deter them would be terrible."

Editor,

I am writing in response to a letter from Roger Thurber in the February 19th edition of the Daily News. Among his praises for electric power, he refers to electricity as "the cheapest hired hand" that he could hire on the farm. Let's examine the wind power he favors so much in just those terms - as an employee, or "hired hand", of the electrical grid.

Wind power is intermittent, so this hired hand would show up, and leave, at any given time. This would happen so often that you really couldn't rely on this hired hand to get the job done. Consequently, you would have to keep other hands working at the same time (reliable, reserve power plants). In fact, if you tried to look up references on this hired hand, you wouldn't be able to find any proof that he had done any work at all, despite the great estimates he had given you on the amount of work he 'might' do.

Webster Town Supervisor Ron Nesbitt says the town could potentially reap big savings by installing a wind turbine at the Phillips Road water treatment plant. A test tower went up in December to determine if the conditions at the plant are right for wind energy. Right now, it costs the town about $200,000 a year to power that facility using electricity.

"What we've been told is that we could save 30 to 40 percent of that bill by installing a windmill," said Nesbitt.

Please show your support in favor of the moratorium on the wind turbine issue at the next Town meeting on Monday, March 12 at 7 pm at the Hamlin Town Hall on Lake Road.

What is a Moratorium?

A moratorium is a legal authorization to delay action, in the case at hand we, The Hamlin Preservation Group, are in support of a moratorium on the placement of industrial wind turbines within the town of Hamlin.

If you live in the town of Hamlin and are concerned about the real possiblity of wind developers targeting your neighborhood (the majority of Hamlin is zoned low-residence, agricultural), please contact Renee Cliff at HPGinfo@rochester.rr.com to get involved.

This is a story about two men who forged a friendship at a nuclear power plant protest and then went on to collaborate on several sustainable energy projects, including three of the best known modern hydro projects in Vermont, over a 30-year period.

Recently, the two separately embarked on wind projects in New York and Vermont. The fate of these projects couldn't be more different: The New York wind turbines will be built this summer, while the East Haven Wind Farm in the Northeast Kingdom is effectively dead.

Kenneth D. Visser, associate professor of Mechanical and Aeronautical Engineering at Clarkson University, likes to work with air. From teaching undergraduate aircraft design and developing devices to reduce drag and increase fuel efficiency on tractor trailers, to helping bring about a new generation of small wind turbines, he applies his understanding of the intricacies of air motion to modern day problems.

As we all know, building something is the easy part. It’s the maintenance and then the removal that is the real problem.

As a nation, for many years we have loved our automobiles. The looks of a bright shiny new car can set one’s heart fluttering. But when that same car has reached the end of it’s life and it no longer runs and is severely rusted, then what? Our solution has been to create sprawling junk yards full of these hulks. Even the best kept are certainly an eyesore. Recycle them, you say. We try and a certain number are indeed exposed to this solution, but only a few. Disposal of the unit after it has served it’s purpose is a paramount problem.