Local officials at Michigan’s ground zero for wind energy are telling wind developers “enough is enough.” Huron County has 328 wind turbines, more than all of the other Michigan counties combined. But it has just enacted a moratorium on any additional ones until stricter regulations for industrial wind turbines can be put in place.

“What this means is no turbines for people who don’t want them,” Huron County Commissioner John Nugent said. “The people who want them can still have them as long as it doesn’t adversely affect their neighbors.”

At its final March meeting the Huron County Commission voted 4-3 to adopt the moratorium, which will last 90 days, or until the county zoning ordinance is updated with changes recommended by the county’s wind energy zoning committee. If the changes aren’t enacted within 90 days the moratorium could be extended until they are.

Nugent said there is no secret about what the new regulations will be like. They will include increasing the setback distance for the turbines, creating tighter noise restrictions, eliminating turbine flicker for the homes of nonparticipating residents, and a ban on wind development within three miles of the Lake Huron shoreline. This three-mile no-windmill zone was recommended by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

The county’s wind energy zoning committee has been working on revisions for more than a year, and a possible moratorium has been under discussion by the board of commissioners for months. On Dec. 30, 2014, the board voted to seek legal assistance for drafting a moratorium. In addition to the moratorium, the board has also taken action to assure it covers wind developers that had already submitted site plan review requests to the planning commission.

Complaints that living near industrial wind turbines causes adverse health impacts have been voiced worldwide. They include symptoms such as headaches and dizziness allegedly caused by exposure to low-frequency noise, infrasound emitted by the turbines and visual problems allegedly caused by the flicker effect of the turbine blades.

“This is a big deal,” said Kevon Martis director of the Interstate Informed Citizens Coalition (IICC), a nonprofit organization that is concerned about the construction of wind turbines in the region. “The moratorium in Huron County is a significant blow to Michigan wind development. Wind developers will no doubt continue to whistle past the tombstones and claim that most people do not mind having entire townships and counties turned into 50-story-tall power plants. But as wind development has increased in Michigan, people's voices of protest have also increased. And most communities hosting wind turbines are now using every legal and regulatory means at their disposal to stop the bleeding.”

Minnesota-based Geronimo Wind Energy, arguably the wind developer most immediately affected by the moratorium, did not respond to a phone call offering the opportunity to comment.

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In April of 2012, the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) condemned laws requiring an individual to have a photo identification to vote in local, state and federal elections.

“Eleven percent, or over 21 million, of American citizens do not possess a government-issued photo ID,” an IBEW article stated when discussing the argument that photo ID laws suppress voting.

The union pointed the finger at “the ultraright” for pushing for photo identification as a requirement to vote.

However, the same union has no problem demanding a photo ID for something as simple as a member wanting to leave it.

Ryan Greene, who works for Paramount Industries in Croswell in Sanilac County, filed an unfair labor practices complaint on April 2 with the National Labor Relations Board because an IBEW local requires him to present photo identification in order to exercise his right under Michigan's right-to-work law to quit the union. The charges were reported by the Washington Free Beacon.

The complaint states that on Oct. 1, 2014, IBEW Local 58 issued a new policy mandating that all members who want to leave the union must appear in person at the IBEW Local 58 office and show a picture ID. The office is 82 miles from the Croswell plant where Greene works.

Andy Dunbar, president of the IBEW Local 58 didn’t return an email seeking comment.

Patrick Wright, senior legal analyst for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, called the conflicting messages by the union “rank hypocrisy” and said it was just another example of a union trying to hold on to its power.

IBEW is not the only union to come out against photo IDs as a requirement to vote and then demand them of members wanting to leave the union.

The UAW Local 600 union, which represents truck drivers and other private sector workers, was also the subject of an NLRB complaint filed in October 2014. That complaint alleged the union was requiring individuals who want to leave to do so in person, accompanied by a photo ID.