Saturday, June 24, 2006

Unbelievable - and yet not so shocking...

Someone has actually come up with a reason why not to rely on wind power as an alternative to oil…

Military radar. That’s right – wind turbines just might interfere with military radar. We don't know - but they might... so they must be studied, and the FAA has decreed that no more can be built (by refusing to issue the required safety permits) until the Department of Defense study – with no published completion timeline – is finished.

Yea, and we believe ya, too.

http://www.sanluisobispo.com/mld/sanluisobispo/news/politics/14855761.htm

1 comment:

Tom Gray said...

Hi Emily,

The radar issue is a legitimate one--wind turbines do show up on radar screens--but it is site-specific and can usually be dealt with by relocating some turbines or by upgrades to the radar hardware or software. A blanket "freeze" on all new installations is inappropriate.

Also, the legislative language calls for studying impacts of wind on radar, but not ways to mitigate those impacts. Obviously, that is a wrong-headed approach and potential solutions should be thoroughly studied and publicized as well.

Regards,
Tom Gray
American Wind Energy Association
www.awea.org
www.ifnotwind.org