CURRENTS: "Renewable Energy, Meet the New Nimbys: Solar and Wind-Power Proposals Draw Opposition From Residents Fearing Visual Blight; a Dilemma for Some Environmentalists," by Jeffrey Ball, Wall Street Journal, 4 September 2009.

Almost everything, whether wind or solar-mirror projects, draw protests from locals who fear a permanently scarred landscape.

Me? I think the windmills are quite beautiful, almost as pretty as putting those CFL in antique chandeliers in my house--they feel very Kubrick/2001.

One possible answer is geo-thermal (not the kind that pushes water): very low footprint above ground and secondary uses of all sorts are permitted.

The more I investigate, the more I am certain this is the way to go, along with small wind turbines on individual buildings for self-powering. The smart grid requires local distributed production.