When Noble Environmental Power of Essex, Conn., came to the North Country to investigate the possibility of establishing wind farms in northern Clinton and Franklin counties, officials of the company assured us that, while of course aiming to capitalize on the enthusiasm over green wind power, they also wanted to be honest and straightforward with residents.

They wanted to befriend the people living here and assure them wind energy was safe, clean and inexpensive. It would be a welcome replacement, little by little, for foreign oil on which the world perilously relied. They hoped for a long, happy relationship with people who embraced wind power and even those who didn't.

Since then, Noble has erected 65 turbines to collect wind energy and sell it, though the economic chaos of the past three quarters has forced a scaling back of plans — temporarily, Noble said.

Last weekend, a dreadful thing happened: One of Noble's giant windmills collapsed in what neighbors characterized as something of an explosion. Naturally, the neighbors were alarmed, and even people who aren't neighbors are more than curious about the cause and effect of the collapse. Can it happen elsewhere? Are people who have sold or leased land near their homes now similarly threatened? Are the windmills safe? Were the naysayers right after all? They warned of bird kill, noise and maddening flicker from the revolution of the blades, but nobody talked about the 400-foot-high towers actually breaking and falling to the ground.

Noble, which had arrived with such good intentions toward the people among whom they were going to circulate, virtually disappeared. When the Press-Republican sought information to explain what was known about the frightful incident, none was available. They declined to elucidate, to put it politely. They "refused to elaborate beyond the information in their latest news release," is how our story worded it.

Let's give the company the benefit of the doubt and say maybe Noble has only limited experience dealing with news media. But it must realize that, if it has any hope of prospering in the North Country or anywhere else, it will need to adopt a policy of candor with the public.

If information collected at the time of the inquiry was inadequate to provide complete answers as to what went wrong, say so. But Noble should have been prepared to answer, as best they could, questions the public was frantic to ask. The public deserved the courtesy of reassurances that the company was earnestly trying to get that vital information for everyone's peace of mind.

We're disappointed in Noble's response to the first calamity here of the wind-farm era. We certainly hope we can expect better in the future, with or without a calamity.