Official supports rights to wind

Coloradans used to owning their homes, but not necessarily the water and mineral rights associated with them, may have another commodity to call their own in the future. State Rep. Cory Gardner, R-Yuma, has asked the nonpartisan staff at the Capitol to help research a measure that would create a "wind right." The bill would be introduced when lawmakers return to work in January. "By creating a new wind right in Colorado, we'll give people a new private property; . . . an economically viable opportunity to sell some of their property and promote the environment by developing that wind right into wind energy," Gardner said. Gardner said some lawyers on the Eastern Plains are drawing up contracts between developers and some ranchers and farm owners to lease land for wind energy, but they have concerns over whether state courts would recognize the deals. Some environmentalists are hesitant to embrace the idea, which is being discussed in Texas, California, Montana and South Dakota. They ask whether the state wants to add wind to historically contentious legal fights over such things as water and mineral rights...DenverPost