wind farms

WIND ENERGY COMPANY FINED FOR DEATHS OF 150 EAGLES, PLEADS GUILTY TO CRIMINAL CHARGES

By Miriam Raftery

Photo: Bald Eagle in East County by Scott Lagace

April 16, 2022 (San Diego’s East County) – Opponents of wind farms in San Diego’s East County have long voiced concerns over potentially deadly impacts on eagles. Now a major wind energy company, NextEra Energy, a subsidiary of ESI Energy, has pleaded guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and killing 150 eagles at multiple wind energy facilities.


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READER'S EDITORIAL: HIDING EVIDENCE OF THE MASSACRE

 

By Mark Duchamp, Save the Eagles International

Photo courtesy Ontario Wind Resistance


September 12, 2016 (San Diego's East County) - News of bird and bat deaths at wind farms have reduced to a trickle. Does that mean that a solution has been found? Yes, it has, but it's not what you think. Wind turbines are every year more numerous and the massacre they cause is ever increasing. What has changed is that the cover up is now effective at 100%, or just about.

The following news sheds light on the latest technique for making mortality data unavailable to the public (and the media):


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FEDERAL RULE CHANGE WILL HARM EAGLES, CHARGES LOCAL CONSERVATION GROUP

 



San Diego and Imperial County Eagles Are at Risk

January 5, 2014 (San Diego’s East County)  -- In December, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) released its final decision to weaken a key rule that protects Bald and Golden Eagles, in order to more quickly develop renewable energy.

The Protect Our Communities Foundation (POC), a nonprofit community organization in San Diego’s East County, opposes this rule change stating it would harm eagles, has not been adequately studied, and violates federal law. Two local  wind projects would be affected by the change.

“Eagles symbolize America’s national heritage and deserve more protection, not less. This rule change will make it harder to protect the remaining eagles that San Diegans love,” said Donna Tisdale, POC’s Secretary.


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SECOND DUST STORM STRIKES OCOTILLO; COULD DESERT ENERGY PROJECTS BE THE CAUSE?

 

 

An ECM special investigation continues, finding links between rise in dust storms across outhwest, Valley Fever epidemic, and installation of large-scale desert solar and wind projects

By Miriam Raftery

 

August 26, 2013 (Ocotillo)--A second dust storm has struck Ocotillo on Auugust 25, just two days after an earlier dust storm swept through the desert community.  Dust billowed thousands of feet into the air, dwarfing  a 500 foot tall wind turbines scarcely visible in the above photo.  East County Magazine photographer Jim Pelley was in the midst of the storm and shot videos: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B7Jz2KQmVZs&feature=youtu.be

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2ViBPc25iIE&feature=youtu.be


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RESPONSE TO SUPERVISOR DAVE ROBERTS' COMMENTS ABOUT RENEWABLE PROJECTS IN EAST COUNTY

 

Originally posted Saturday, June 15 at San Diego Loves Green

(Image left: courtesy East County Magazine)

By Roy L. Hales

June 18, 2013 (San Diego’s East County) – I disagree with one of the statements County Supervisor Dave Roberts made in his recent editorial. I do not think the County Board of Supervisors is as powerless, in regard to the final decision about wind farms going onto the Federal and tribal lands in East County, as he seems to think. I suspect that, if they were willing, the Board could bring a lot of assistance to the East County residents fighting to preserve their quality of life.


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WIND TURBINES, THE POWER OF DENIAL AND THREATENED ERADICATION OF A SPECIES

 

Originally posted Sunday, June 2, 2013 at San Diego Loves Green.

By Roy L. Hales

(Image left: Jim Wiegand, of Save the Eagles, sent me this amplification of an image from Google Earth with the explanation, “The blades hung out past the search area. They only looked in the cleared/gravel area around the turbine.”)

Some people are reminiscent of Old Testament Prophets speaking to a people that do not want to listen. While they may not speak in the name of God, they know something is wrong and dedicate their lives to righting it. Jim Wiegand has assumed that mantle in his defense of America’s eagle population. He sometimes uses words like “fraud” and “complacency,” which I find difficult to hear – we often underestimate the extent to which denial, lack of responsibility and hard heartedness guide decisions – but I am also beginning to wonder if they are appropriate. There are very definitely appear to be forces at work to trying stop us from making a conscious choice.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: STOP POISONING OUR COMMUNITY! HERBICIDE SPRAYING IS WIND INDUSTRY’S TOXIC SECRET

 

 

“Pattern Energy is going to pollute what it couldn't destroy… Monsanto’s Roundup is an herbicde cousin  to Agent Orange--the defoliant sprayed in Viet Nam that harmed a generation of veterans and their children… This herbicide—a neurotoxin--is going to get carried downwind. Did Pattern fail to notice that there is still a community with children here in spite of its industrialization of the area with 112 turbines and a substation?”

By Linda Ewing, Ocotillo resident

Photo: Sahara mustard, a “weed” the BLM wants to eradicate with toxic herbicides

May 14, 2013 (Ocotillo) -- Herbicide Mitigation? What is that? I heard these two disturbing words and felt panic.

I knew instinctively that it was going to have something to do with this Ocotillo Wind Energy Facility because nothing good has come from this controversial project since the day Pattern Energy uttered its first words of deception to the town of Ocotillo. Since the day the company first tried to convince us that its massive 438 foot-tall industrial-sized wind turbines were good for the economy.  And yes, the very same day we realized that human lives were disposable and irrelevant in the statistical world of giant wind turbine developers.


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WHERE IS THE WIND? VIDEO LINKS SUGGEST OCOTILLO WIND FARM IS UNDER-PERFORMING

By Miriam Raftery

View our full investigative report here. 

January 23, 2013 (Ocotillo) -- Videos shot by award winning photojournalist and engineer Jim Pelley suggest that the Ocotillo Wind Express Facility is thus far not living up to projects made by Pattern Energy, which claimed in early December that "with wind forecasts looking favorable" it expected to power 125,000 homes, News 8 reported.

It takes sustained winds of 8 to 10 mph before wind turbines are productive.  Thus far there is little evidence of any such sustained wind speeds in Ocotillo during the first seven weeks of the wind facility's operations--not even on a day when high winds were forcecast for the region.  View videos below.  Such underperformance is not unusual, an ECM investigation has found.  Watch for more details soon.


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ECM WORLD WATCH: GLOBAL AND NATIONAL NEWS

November1, 2012 --  (San Diego’s East County) – ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflecting all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:

U.S.

  • Sandy blamed for 157 deaths (CNN)
  • Impact by state: States pick up pieces as Sandy fades (CNN)
  • Hurricane Sandy blows election off course (Reuters)
  • Obama on storm recovery: We will not quit until this is done (CNN)
  • Romney’s challenge: How to campaign after Sandy (CBS)
  • Romney ties to voting machine company that could decide the election causing concerns (Forbes)
  • Romney’s lax regulation may have fueled meningitis outbreak (Salon)
  • Did U.S. go too far in secret surveillance of citizens? Case heads to Supreme Court  (Christian Science Monitor)
  • U.S. sues Bank America for mortgage fraud (NPR)
  • Citing food safety concerns, Kroger calls it quits on sprouts (NPR)
  • Bloomberg Backs Obama, Citing Fallout From Storm

WORLD

  • Death knell for wind farms: Enough is enough, says Energy Minister in Britain (UK Telegraph)
  • In world first, biggest refugee camp gets university (Christian Science Monitor)
  • In vitro fertilization increases risk of birth defects (Jerusalem Post)
  • AP interview: Japan nuke plant water worries rise (U-T San Diego)
  • Did Israel just blow up an Iranian weapons factory in Sudan? (Christian Science Monitor)
  • Death toll tops 100 in ethnic strife in Myanmar (NPR)

Read more for excerpts and links to full stories.


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MILITARY SEEKS TO BLOCK WIND INDUSTRY NEAR DESERT BASES

 

By Miriam Raftery

May 25, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – The military has dealt a major blow to the wind industry, announcing that it may soon oppose  wind projects in the Mojave desert due to interference with military radar tracking aircraft.


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DOCUMENTARY "WINDFALL" SHOWS TONIGHT AT 7 PM: EXLORATION OF INDUSTRIAL WIND IMPACTS ON A RURAL COMMUNITY

 

"I thought wind energy was something I could believe in. This film suggests it's just another corporate flim-flam game. - Film critic Rogert Ebert


May 10, 2012 (San Diego)  A special free showing of the award-winning documentary ‘Windfall,’ an exploration of industrial wind impacts on a rural community, will lbe held tonight at 7 p.m. at the Landmark Theater in Hillcrest. The showing is cosponsored by Backcountry Against Dumps and The Protect Our Communities Foundation.

Hundreds of industrial wind turbines are currently proposed for public, private and tribal lands in East County with 400-800 thousand acres of Wind Resource Area proposed for designation in the County's Wind Energy Ordinance & Plan Amendment DEIR.


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DO WIND TURBINES HARM ANIMALS?

 

By Mia Myklebust and Miriam Raftery

May 10, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – With an increasing number of industrial-scale wind turbines around the world,  numerous reports are surfacing to suggest that noise, infrasound and stray voltage (dirty energy) may be harmful to livestock and wildlife. 


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ECM WORLD WATCH: GLOBAL AND NATIONAL NEWS

 
May 9, 2012 --  (San Diego’s East County) – ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflecting all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:   
 
 
 
 
 
U.S.     
  • Gouged by the Wind Renewable fuel mandates are raising electricity prices in the states. 
  • Obama makes his case for another term
  • Should Mitt Romney worry about Ron Paul? (Christian Science Monitor)
  • How Ron Paul could mess with Romney at the GOP convention (Bloomberg)
  • Key 9-11 suspects to appear in court (BBC)
  • CIA thwarts new underwear bomb plot by al Qaeda (CBS)
  • U.N.:  U.S. should give back stolen lands to Indian tribes (UK Guardian)
  • U.S. unemployment falls to 8.1 percent, economy adds 115,000 new jobs (RawStory)
  • Wind farms warming Texas (Discovery News)
WORLD
  • Thousands rejoice as Japan shuts off nuclear power (NPR)
  • Socialists celebrate as French vote nears close (Reuters)
  • Socialist Hollande in, Sarkozy out as France elects new president (CNN)
  • Greek’s governing parties lose majority at polls (BBC)
  • Putin returns to presidency in a changed Russia (UT San Diego)
  • Rupert Murdoch declared unfit to lead: The price of half-truths? (Christian Science Monitor)
  • Running blind: Chinese activist’s dramatic escape (UT San Diego/AP)
  • Ahmadinejad’s support crumbles in Iran runoff (UT San Diego)
  • The sorry lessons of green power subsidies (Globe and Mail)
  • Antarctic ice melting from below – video (Christian Science Monitor)
 
Scroll down for excerpts and links to full stories.  

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ECM WORLD WATCH: GLOBAL AND NATIONAL NEWS

 
May 2, 2012 --  (San Diego’s East County) – ECM World Watch helps you be an informed citizen about important issues globally and nationally. As part of our commitment to reflecting all voices and views, we include links to a wide variety of news sources representing a broad spectrum of political, religious, and social views. Top world and U.S. headlines include:    
 
 
 
 
 
U.S.
  • Officials watch for body bombs on US bound planes (ABC news)
  • Occupy activists breathe new life into May Day (The Nation)
  • Why you should be worried about the California mad cow case (Mother Jones)
  • Number of painkiller addicted newborns soars (USA Today)
  • New world trade center surpasses Empire State Building (CBS News)
  • Why is safety a divisive issue for nuclear regulatory commission? (Los Angeles Times)
  • Wind farms warming earth in Texas: Turbines mixing air at night could affect local climate and farming (Discovery)
  • CMS:  Obama healthcare law has saved seniors $34 billion on prescription drugs (The Hill)
  • Romney: Osama hit was easy call (The Hill)
WORLD
  • Mexico passes crime victims’ law (BBC)
  • 2-horse race in final stretch for Egypt presidency (Reuters)
  • Ugandan army says Sudan is backingJoseph  Kony’s  LRA (BBC)
  • Tokyo soil samples would be considered nuclear waste in U.S. (Fairewinds)
  • Transcript: Obama hails 'light of a new day' in Afghanistan
 
Scroll down for excerpts and links to full stories. 

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PHOTOS OF THE WEEK: CITIZENS FIGHT BACK AGAINST OCOTILLO WIND PROJECT

 

May 17, 2012 (Ocotillo) –Robert Lundahl spotted these signs posted by residents and environmentalists, who are mobilizing to inform the public about negative impacts of the proposed Ocotillo Express wind energy facility.


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A WALK THROUGH THE WIND FARM WITH IBERDROLA

By Miriam Raftery

April 15, 2012 (McCain Valley) –Winds of change are blowing in McCain Valley, where Iberdrola Renewables hopes to build the 200 megawatt (MW) Tule Wind energy facility that could power an estimated 60,000 homes.  


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PROPERTY VALUE LOSSES NEAR WIND TURBINES GREATER THAN PREVIOUSLY THOUGHT, APPRAISERS FIND

Losses can be up to 40%; values affected 3 miles from turbine sites

By Billie Jo Jannen

For East County Magazine


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READER’S EDITORIAL: THE 28 YEAR WIND INDUSTRY COVER-UP, PART II

 
Why it's time to end subsidies for the wind industry
 
By Jim Wiegand

 March 28, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) -- In the first part of this wind industry cover-up story, it was pointed out how California Condors were trapped from the wild in the mid 1980s as an emergency response to save the quickly disappearing population from thousands of turbines that had been placed in the Tehachapi Pass region. 

What is not known is that during this same period of time in the 1980s, tens of thousands of other birds also perished at California wind farms. If one chooses not to believe any of this, then knowing how the industry responded in 1989 should convince anybody about the ongoing 28 year mortality cover-up by the wind industry.


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WIND STORM: WHISTLEBLOWER ALLEGES GAG ORDER PREVENTED STATE PARK EMPLOYEES FROM REVEALING HARM TO ANZA-BORREGO DESERT STATE PARK FROM PROPOSED OCOTILLO EXPRESS WIND PROJECT

Part II in ECM’s exclusive report on the Ocotillo Express Wind project, a joint investigation with ABC 10 News. (See the 10 News portion of this investigation, a report on environmental impacts of the project here:   10 News text: http://www.10news.com/news/30776233/detail.html; 10 News video: http://www.10news.com/video/30776306/index.html)

“To have the Governor’s office tell our park officials NOT to comment on Ocotillo,  OR ANY OTHER alternative energy projects adjacent to the Park, is a travesty, a violation of the trust between the citizens and the state.” – Mark Jorgensen, retired Superintendent, Anza Borrego Desert State Park in an e-mail to ECM

 “These allegations are not true.   No such directive came from the the Governor’s Office or the California Natural Resources Agency saying that State Parks could not comment on the Ocotillo Wind Express Project. “ -- Richard Stapler, Deputy Secretary for Communications, California Natural Resources Agency

By Miriam Raftery

March 27, 2012 (Anza-Borrego) – The former Superintendent of the Anza-Borrego Desert State Park (ABDSP) has contacted East County Magazine to allege a cover-up by the State Parks Department and the Governor of serious impacts that the proposed Ocotillo Express wind project would have on our largest state park and its natural resources.  The proposed wind project shares a five-mile border with ABSP and if approved, would erect up to 155 wind turbines each 456 feet tall—some just yards from the park.


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ADVOCATES OF ROOFTOP SOLAR RAISE VOICES IN PROTEST OVER INDUSTRIAL-SCALE DESERT SOLAR AND WIND PROJECTS

  

Story by Terry Weiner and Miriam Raftery

Videos by Jim Pelley

March 15, 2012 (Holtville)--Early Wednesday, rooftop solar activists and desert conservationists from Imperial Valley and San Diego County  convened outside the Barbara Worth Resort—site of the Imperial Valley Economic Development Corporation's three-day Renewable Energy Summit and Expo.

Protesters oppose tax credits going to giant energy companies and called for similar incentives to help property owners put solar on their roofs. They also objected to their viewpoint being excluded by conference coordinators. Participants voiced concerns over negative impacts of industrial-scale wind and solar projects. In some cases, wind turbines have been abandoned, left as rusting blights on the landscape. Other concerns include destruction of habitat for wildlife, noise, health impacts, loss of agricultural lands, and destruction of recreational areas on public lands.


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WIND ENERGY SET TO GROW SIX-FOLD IN CALIFORNIA, BUT CONCERNS ALSO RISE

 

By Miriam Raftery
 
March 10, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) –Wind power produces electricity from a renewable resource without generating greenhouse gas emissions. But wind turbines also generate controversies over bird kills, health impacts, visual blight, maintenance costs and who takes responsibility if turbines are damaged or abandoned.

 


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THIS LAND WAS YOUR LAND: EAST COUNTY SUFFERS LOSS OF OUR PUBLIC PROPERTIES

 

 

 

 

By Miriam Raftery

March 1, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – What are the cumulative impacts on our region from the loss of federal, state and county public lands?  In the span of just  a few short years, we’ve lost vast tracts of our most beautiful properties once set aside by the federal, state and county governments as preserves for future generations. Wildfires, budget cuts, and now, massive energy projects are destroying our region's scenic wonders. 

 East County Magazine has sent our photographers into the wilds of San Diego’s East County, as well as just over the border into neighboring Imperial County, to document the destruction of our inland treasures. 


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JACUMBA: A TOWN SURROUNDED

 

How many massive energy projects are too many for one rural community to absorb?

“They want to put these all out here, because we’re throwaway country people.” – Howard Cook

By Mia Myklebust and Miriam Raftery

February 16, 2012 (Jacumba) – Walking along the shores of Lake Jacumba, it’s clear that Howard Cook has big dreams for his community.  Chairman of the Lake Restoration Committee, he has wrested a pledge from the Audubon Society to restore the once-dry lake.

“We want to have fishing, boating, and recreation,” he says.  Cook is working with others who dream of “making this another Taos—art, wildlife, hiking, Indians and birds.”

But there’s trouble on the horizon.  Multiple industrial-scale wind and solar farms soon stand to surround this tiny town, jeopardizing its most cherished natural treasures. Sites include publicly owned recreation lands, notably a spectacular scenic gorge known to locals as “our Grand Canyon,” Cook points out.

Jacumba is a proverbial canary in the coal mine—a warning of what other publicly-owned preserves and rural communities across America may soon face. 


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GOLDEN EAGLES FACE EXTINCTION IN U.S. AS NUMBERS PLUMMET, NEW STUDIES REVEAL

“Wind farms are the main cause. The issuing of license to kill will accelerate the decline toward extinction.”—Save the Eagles International

 An East County Magazine Special Report

By Miriam Raftery

January 6, 2012 (San Diego’s East County) – San Diego County’s 48 pairs of nesting golden eagles and even rarer bald eagles could be in peril if proposed industrial-scale wind farms are built.  In a press release issued today,  Save the Eagles International (STEI) issued a dire warning, providing detailed documentation proving  that golden eagles and their nests are disappearing rapidly near wind farms across the U.S.

The group also blasted the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service for changing its mission from protecting wildlife to “catering to the interests of an industry” that is a “ruinous one to boot.”  


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CHANGES ARE IN THE WIND

 

December 23 deadline for public comment on County's proposed wind ordinance


By Caleb Trainer

December 12, 2011 (San Diego’s East County)--The eastern portions of San Diego County have become areas for increased interest in wind energy production. In response, County officials are proposing changes to current regulations that, in effect, will make it easier for wind energy development—including both wind farms with large-scale turbines and smaller scale residential windmills.


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COUNTY ISSUES DRAFT WIND ORDINANCE; BACKCOUNTRY LEADERS LEVEL HARSH CRITICISM

“The County is now officially doing the bidding of a well organized industrial wind lobby…Together, the County and the industry/government cabal are also getting ready to gut the Boulevard Community Plan, and the few protections they allowed us to retain.”—Donna Tisdale, Chair, Boulevard Planning Group


By Miriam Raftery
 

November 9, 2011 (San Diego’s EastCounty) – San Diego County has issued a draft ordinance for publication review (http://www.sdcounty.ca.gov/dplu/ceqa/POD1007.html. ) But critics say the plan decimates rural community planning authority and makes it easier for large wind farms to be built across broad swaths of East County.

 

Residents who already live near wind farms are speaking out—claiming they have suffered sleep deprivation and witnessed significant bird kills from existing turbines. They fear the impacts if multiple new wind farms are allowed to be erected across East County’s rural and scenic wilderness lands.


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LOCAL PARTICIPANTS SOUGHT FOR GLOBAL STUDY ON WIND FARM IMPACTS

 

Can chickens provide early warnings of wind turbine health dangers?

 

By Miriam Raftery
August 21, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) – Like those proverbial canaries in the coal mine, chickens near wind farms may provide early clues to potential harm to health of humans and animals. That’s the contention of Hamish Cumming, a farmer battling proposed wind turbines near his home in Australia.

 

He has written a letter to East County Magazine seeking help from people living near wind farms locally (and in other locations) to document cases of shell-less eggs, dead chickens, or other animals that suffer internal hemmorrhaging.


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READER’S EDITORIAL: AUGUST 4 DEADLINE FOR COMMENTS ON U.S. WIND ENERGY GUIDELINES: ASK THE USFS TO PROTECT EAGLES

By Mark Duchamp, CEO, European Platform Against Wind Farms www.epaw.org
President, Save the Eagles International www.savetheeaglesinternational.org
 

August 2, 2011 (Washington D.C.)--The US Fish and Wildlife Service is asking the public to send in their comments regarding its revised draft Land-based Wind Energy Guidelines. The deadline for sending your comments is August 4, 2011.


This concerns people from anywhere in the world, as these guidelines may inspire other countries and be used as justification for killing protected species.


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COMMENTS DEADLINE EXTENDED FOR TULE WIND, ECO SUBSTATION & RELATED PROJECT IN EAST COUNTY


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PROPERTY VALUES AND HEALTH IMPAIRED BY WIND TURBINES, EXPERTS TELL EAST COUNTY RESIDENTS

 

Appraiser says average loss in home values is 25 percent

 

By Billie Jo Jannen
For East County Magazine

 

January 28, 2011 (San Diego’s East County) --East County residents who oppose a growing collection of industrial wind turbines proposed near rural residences have discovered that they have much in common with wind farm neighbors in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Japan, Canada and other parts of the United States. Residents who have lived near windmills for years are now publicizing impacts to health and property values.

 

In fact, a standing-room-only crowd got an earful on those impacts last Wednesday, when experts from Illinois and Canada discussed them at the Boulevard Fire Station.


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Support community news in the public interest! As nonprofit news, we rely on donations from the public to fund our reporting -- not special interests. Please donate to sustain East County Magazine's local reporting and/or wildfire alerts at https://www.eastcountymedia.org/donate to help us keep people safe and informed across our region.

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