Opponents of a plan to build a wind farm atop a Vermont mountain ridge are taking their message to the Statehouse.

Former Fish and Wildlife Commissioner Steve Wright and Robert Dostis of Green Mountain Power offer differing points of view on the need for the industrial wind project in Lowell.

Gov. Peter Shumlin says he believes wind energy is in the best long-term interests of Vermont and the environment, especially in a time of climate change.

We hear both sides of the debate on the Lowell wind project, which, if approved, would become the state's largest. Plus, we listen back to the voices in the news this week.

The Shumlin administration hopes to ease some of the controversy over wind energy by identifying what areas should be off limits to energy developers. But the administration's plan is not the comprehensive siting process that some environmentalists had called for.

The state of Vermont and Green Mountain Power have struck a deal that removes a major obstacle to the utility's Lowell Mountain wind project. The agreement calls for protecting wildlife habitat that would be affected by the roads and development on the ridgeline.

A noise expert will testify today about the sounds created by wind turbines at a Vermont Public Service Board hearing on the proposed Kingdom Community Wind project in Lowell.

The Public Service Board has opened hearings on Green Mountain Power's plans to harness the wind that blows over a mountain ridge in the Northeast Kingdom.

VPR's John Dillon talks with Jane Lindholm about the finances, science and cultural sensitivity of large-scale wind energy projects in Vermont.

Most people think of big wind projects as a way to harvest the breezes that blow freely across the earth. But sophisticated investors look at big wind quite differently. That's because besides generating electricity, the large-scale projects also involve sophisticated financial instruments that harvest tax benefits.

Supporters and opponents of commercial-scale wind energy projects on Vermont's ridgelines use a lot of statistics and facts to argue their very different sides of the debate. So it's difficult to sort out how much carbon pollution might be cut if there were big wind turbines in the mountains. Or whether the wind generators could replace bigger electric plants, such as Vermont Yankee.

This week, the Public Service Board opens hearings on Vermont's largest wind development - a proposal for 21 wind turbines that would stand 440 feet tall on a ridgeline in Lowell. Developers hoped to avoid some of the controversy that other projects have faced by asking for, and winning, voters' support last Town Meeting Day. But it hasn't been that easy.

The Supervisor of the Green Mountain National Forest says she'll decide this summer whether to approve the first major wind development on National Forest land. 

State biologists have raised questions about how a wind energy development planned for the Lowell mountain range in the Northeast Kingdom might affect wildlife in the region.

The Green Mountain National Forest is seeking public input on whether to approve plans for a mountaintop wind energy project in the southern Vermont towns of Readsboro and Searsburg.

The U.S. Forest Service is seeking public input to help decide whether plans for a wind energy project on mountaintops in the towns of Searsburg and Readsboro should be approved.

A central Vermont company hopes to develop a wind energy project on a mountain ridge near the Bolton Valley ski area. The project is in the research phase. But if it's approved, the half-dozen turbines could be the largest wind development visible from Interstate 89, or the Burlington area.

Citizen groups from around the state gathered in Montpelier on Wednesday to voice concern about large-scale wind energy projects planned for Vermont's ridgelines. Their opposition shows a continuing split among environmentalists over wind energy.

Environmentalists are divided over the impacts of large-scale wind projects on Vermont mountains. The split surfaced recently when mainstream environmental groups criticized an advertisement from a lawyer who has fought wind developments.

Former Governor Howard Dean joins Ari Berman, author of Herding Donkeys to discuss the election strategy Dean championed as a presidential candidate and chair of the party, and how that approach has played out in the Obama years. Also, a round-up of wind energy projects in the state.

Vermont's two largest electric utilities say they've signed contracts to buy power from a wind-power project in northern New Hampshire. Meanwhile, the debate over in-state wind projects rages.

Construction is under way on a 16-turbine wind energy project in the Northeast Kingdom town of Sheffield.

The Green Mountain Club is concerned that a large wind power project proposed for Lowell Mountain could affect the back-country experience for hikers on the trail.

We explore why proposals for projects like wind turbines run up against local opposition and how developers and citizens might find common ground. Also a visit with a Vermont wheat farmer.

Green Mountain Power wants to get a wind project built in the Northeast Kingdom by the end of 2012 - before federal tax credits expire. The Vermont Public Service Board formally opened consideration of the project this week. And GMP has proposed an aggressive schedule for the regulatory review.