It is time for updates on the wind turbines too 

 I am not against wind turbines , I am just against putting them up in the middle of a major birding migrational flyway, and destroying any of our last remaining unspoiled  beauties and resources. Human ignorance has already cost us too much loss of our natural  lands and wildlifes .We can't afford to lose any more of our valued treasures. To millions of  birds this is their only known safe passage way and they  have used  it for migrating to and from  other parts of the world for decades. Many of these birds are already on the endangered and threatened list. Killing massive amounts of them and blocking their pathways, which they have survived by for years , will inevidably result in declined  populations of the birds and could even lead to the extinction of some species.

At risk :are multiple endangered and threatened species as identified by both federal government and Texas. The Laguna itself is one of only three hypersaline bays in the world - with precious nearby wetlands, and - in far greater concentrations than at any other existing wind farm in the United States. Unaccountable numbers of birds that fly three major migratory pathways all converging on this special place - like the Everglades and  no other comparable coastal zone - shows no lights at all when viewed at night.

Industrialization proposed: two wind energy generaton facilities. The first developement phase includes: 240 massive towers (over 400 feet tall, weighing 160+ tons, with rotor blades themselves each 300 feet in diameter spinning at six times the wind speed) ; each sitting on 1000 + tons of concrete plugging deep inb native soil; all interconnected by more than 20 miles of roads and transmittion lines with 150' to 300' rights of way thay would divide and destroy this coastal resource.

The following is the latest news article on this from

 AMERICAN-STATESMAN STAFF (Robert Elder)

Wednesday, December 05, 2007

The famed King Ranch and a coalition of environmental groups sued Texas Land Commissioner Jerry Patterson in federal court Tuesday, seeking to require extensive environmental review and public comment on two planned wind power projects along the Gulf Coast in Kenedy County.

The coalition, the Coastal Habitat Alliance, also sued over the wind project in state District Court in Travis County. That suit claims that the state's Public Utility Commission illegally denied the alliance's request to participate in permit hearings for the wind project's transmission line.

The lawsuits threaten to delay or stop the two massive wind projects, which could place more than 600 turbines on 60,000 acres near Laguna Madre, south of Corpus Christi. Part of the wind projects would place about 250 turbines just east of a portion of the sprawling King Ranch.

The federal suit, filed in U.S. Western District Court in Austin, said the turbines could kill untold numbers of migratory birds and damage the bay. It seeks to overturn the decision by the Texas General Land office, which Patterson heads, to allow the projects to be built without environmental review or input from the public. The suit contends that the Federal Coastal Zone Management Act of 1972 and the Texas Coastal Management Program require a permit process for any energy generation facility on the coast, including wind farms.

Besides King Ranch Inc., the coastal alliance includes four Gulf Coast-area Aubudon societies and several local environmental organizations.

The land office said it doesn't comment on pending litigation.

The federal suit also names the wind project developers: PPM Energy Inc., a Portland, Ore.-based subsidiary of Spanish utility Iberdrola SA; and Australian investment firm Babcock & Brown Ltd. PPM officials did not return a call for comment; Babcock & Brown could not be reached for comment.

Houston lawyer Jim Blackburn, the coastal alliance's lead lawyer, said the federal coastal management act "mandates that Texas must conduct environmental assessments of all energy projects, including wind, in order to receive federal money."

King Ranch backed unsuccessful legislation earlier this year that would have required the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality to establish a permit process to take into account the environmental consequences of wind turbines.

relder@statesman.com

 source of this article

Federal Complaint against land commissioner

States petitition against land commissioner