Cape & Islands News

FAA shut down 15 mid-west wind farms this year

Despite the fact that wind farm developers solved the problem with radar by installing new software at the radar installation and realigning some towers, and that the British government dropped its blanket opposition to proposed wind farms, political pressure from Senator John Warner and others has moved the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to shut down fifteen wind farm since the first of this year.

"This is a big, ugly political maneuver by a handful of people who are undermining America's energy security," said Michael Vickerman, executive director of RENEW Wisconsin, a non-profit group that promotes renewable power adding that despite the government's recent concern about proposed wind projects, it is allowing dozens of current wind farms to continue to operate within sight of radar systems.

The government's bureaucratic entanglements come as President Bush is encouraging the use of more wind power as a solution to the skyrocketing prices of oil and natural gas, and for environmental problems such as global warming. During a speech in Milwaukee three months ago, Bush said wind turbines eventually could provide 20 percent of the nation's energy needs. 

The Chicago Tribune exposes the depth of this chicanery in this story today; 

FAA takes the wind out of wind farms
Critics blame politics after agency suspends projects in Midwest