Reply #1: I honestly do not understand the opposition...

[catnhatnh]

...or how a series of towers 5 miles offshore can affect property values. I've seen opposition to wind on this board and I don't understand that either. Yes I understand that winds can calm, and sun can be blocked by overcasts and clouds, but WHEN they produce they can reduce fossil fuel usage. Geothermal, at least as a ground preconditioner for heating and cooling airflow should be damn near a given for new construction. Commonsense old time planning, like aligning houses correctly and superinsulating northfacing walls, and building berms and planting windbreaks all can lower lifetime energy requirements for houses greatly. It truly becomes dollars and sense...even on spec built houses, planning and a small (5-10%) increase in initial costs could result in decades of savings. Minimum 6" sidewalls, solar siting, cleristories and passive solar storage walls are all no brainers. And pretty cheap during construction.