[CPEO-MEF] ENERGY, ENCROACHMENT: Wind vs. Radar in the Mojave (CA)

[Lenny Siegel <lsiegel@cpeo.org>]

Wind Turbine Projects Run Into Resistance

By LEORA BROYDO VESTEL
New York Times
August 26, 2010

BARSTOW, Calif. — The United States military has found a new menace 
hiding here in the vast emptiness of the Mojave Desert in California: 
wind turbines.

Moving turbine blades can be indistinguishable from airplanes on many 
radar systems, and they can even cause blackout zones in which planes 
disappear from radar entirely. Clusters of wind turbines, which can 
reach as high as 400 feet, look very similar to storm activity on 
weather radar, making it harder for air traffic controllers to give 
accurate weather information to pilots.

Although the military says no serious incidents have yet occurred 
because of the interference, the wind turbines pose an unacceptable risk 
to training, testing and national security in certain regions, Dr. 
Dorothy Robyn, deputy under secretary of defense, recently told a House 
Armed Services subcommittee.

Because of its concerns, the Defense Department has emerged as a 
formidable opponent of wind projects in direct conflict with another 
branch of the federal government, the Energy Department, which is 
spending billions of dollars on wind projects as part of President 
Obama’s broader effort to promote renewable energy.

...

For the entire article, see
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/08/27/business/energy-environment/27radar.html?_r=2&th&emc=th

--


Lenny Siegel
Executive Director, Center for Public Environmental Oversight
a project of the Pacific Studies Center
278-A Hope St., Mountain View, CA 94041
Voice: 650/961-8918 or 650/969-1545
Fax: 650/961-8918
<lsiegel@cpeo.org>
http://www.cpeo.org



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