Socio-political response to land based wind power and the manifestation of the response via the internet

Understanding the reaction of the general public to wind farms has been a topic that has been analyzed by a variety of researchers. This paper will review some of the studies previously conducted on public opinion and the proposed mechanisms that affect such opinion. The explosion of the Internet is one area of the field that has not been analyzed in any methodical way. There are many anti-wind power web sites now in existence worldwide. A sampling of such anti-wind power web sites is conducted here as well as an analysis of the claims against wind power that these web sites profess. Based on the content of these web sites one has to question whether a new methodology needs to be developed to deal with the fear being generated in the public by these web sites.