| Wind Watch is a registered educational charity, founded in 2005. |
Illinois senators seek wind turbine study
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
By Dori Meinert
of Copley News Service
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Sens. Dick Durbin and Barack Obama are blocking Senate confirmation of a Defense Department nominee in an attempt to pressure the Pentagon into releasing a study that is holding up wind turbine construction in Illinois and other states.
In July, the two Illinois Democrats temporarily blocked the appointment of a top aviation official. But they released their hold on the nominee eight days later, when Federal Aviation Administration officials assured them they were expediting a review of whether large wind turbines, used to produce electricity, interfered with military radar.
Earlier this year, the FAA told Durbin it had issued stop-work orders for at least 12 proposed wind projects in the Midwest while the Defense Department review is pending. While one McLean County wind farm has since been allowed to move forward, the uncertainty caused by the study is bad for potential investors and future projects, a Durbin aide said.
The senators have now blocked a Senate vote on the nomination of Robert L. Wilkie as the Pentagon’s assistant secretary for legislative affairs. He currently is acting assistant secretary.
“Each day this report remains delinquent, these wind energy projects lose opportunities for new investment and may not be able to meet deadlines for completion,” the senators wrote in a letter to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld released Thursday.
They asked that the report be released immediately and, if problems are found, that the report suggest ways to resolve them.
A Pentagon spokeswoman said only that the study is progressing.
Congress required the department study under an amendment by Senate Armed Services Chairman John Warner, R-Va., to the fiscal 2006 defense authorization bill. The report was due in May.
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Contributions |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=358 ]
