Angry in the Great White North

From the Guelph Mercury:

The First Nation involved in the occupation at a housing development near Caledonia is now laying claim to a parcel of land slated for a multi-million-dollar green energy project.

The Six Nations Confederacy is stalling the development of a wind farm on land owned by Canadian Hydro, saying both the land and the wind that passes over it are the rightful property of Aboriginal Peoples. [emphasis added]

The $275-million wind farm, which currently consists of a 45-turbine operation near Shelburne was scheduled to undergo major expansion next year.

Kahentinetha Horn, a Six Nations title holder, says the project site is on the Haldimand tract which was granted to the Six Nations in 1784.

"We've been robbed of our land and now we want it back," Horn said from her home at the Kahnawake reserve near Montreal.

What next? Do they retain control of the wind after it has left Aboriginal land?

Interestingly, the notion of control of the air is an old one. In the Middle Ages, the doctrine was Cujus est solum, ejus est usque ad coelum et ad inferos, or "To whomsoever the soil belongs, he owns also to the sky and to the depths." [Thanks to StraightDope]

Practically, this didn't amount to much, of course. But with the advent of air travel, the doctrine was quickly jettisoned for the more practical control to levels of about 500 or 1000 feet above your property. After that, control of the air reverts to the government.

Is that what's coming? Reserves claim their airspace and charge everyone else for the right to pass through it at 30,000 feet?

The scary thing is that to violently take control of land, you barricade the roads to keep ground traffic from getting through. We've seen that. To take control of the air, though, you have to somehow stop airplanes from flying through. Can it be done?

Passenger jets could be at risk if their pilots look at the beams shot from portable, readily available lasers.

High-power lasers capable of blinding a pilot are available on the Internet. Weapons-grade lasers designed to blind troops were marketed by China in the Middle East a decade ago.

In recent weeks, pilots have reported laser beams entering their cockpits in Cleveland, Colorado Springs, Colo., Washington, Houston, Teterboro, N.J., and Bedford, Ore. The most recent report, on Sunday, came from the crew of a passenger jet as it left Nashville International Airport.

"You can go to Office Depot and buy a laser. If you're lucky enough to get (the beam) into the cockpit, from a mile away you could probably get enough energy into it that you would at least cause momentary blindness," [University of Alabama in Huntsville scientist Michael Bannish] said.

"If you are looking at something that can destroy eyesight, the power level doesn't have to be that great," said [Kirtland Air Force Base Directed Energy Directorate Garcia] Juventino. "Even a 3-milliwatt laser pointer can do that in seconds."

Lasers sold on eBay are up to 80 times that strength.

It's a matter of time, I think. Of course, going after aitrcraft would invite an immediate response from the federal government, so maybe it's less likely to happen anytime soon.

Update: From 680 News:

They have filed a notice of seizure, which lays claim to the land and the existing turbines.

Always going for the land where there is something more than just land. Notice that? The Douglas Creek Estates with the ground already broken and infrastructure in place. No functioning wind turbines. Are they trying to land-grab some turbines and so get off the power grid?