The amendment directed the Department of Defense to prepare a study on the
impact of wind turbines on radar installations around the country. After
consultation with the Department of Homeland Security, the Defense
Department decided in March that it would go on the offensive and challenge
any proposed wind farm presumed to interfere with radar operations, even
before the study was finished.

More than a dozen proposed projects, all in the Upper Midwest, have since
received "notices of presumed hazard" from the Federal Aviation
Administration. One of the projects that received the FAA notice, the
133-turbine Forward Wind Center south of Fond du Lac, was set to break
ground this spring. Five other Wisconsin projects have been sidelined
indefinitely as well, including a five-turbine community-style installation
proposed for northwest Dane County.

Why have so many projects have been put on hold in the Midwest? The reason
is that there are many radars in the area, and the regional FAA office
believes that any turbine that could be within a radar line of sight
represents an unacceptable security risk, at least for now.

The Defense Department's study was due last month, but now it appears it may
not be completed until this fall. Unless the situation changes dramatically,
the stalled wind projects won't be able to proceed until next year. The
recurring shortage of wind turbines worldwide could easily push construction
start dates even further out.

Of all the states affected by this de facto moratorium, Wisconsin has the
most to lose. In March the state enacted a landmark law requiring electric
utilities to more than double the amount of renewable energy in their system
mix between now and 2015. With that in mind, state political leaders have
energetically interceded on behalf of the wind industry as well as utilities
that are counting on new supplies of wind energy to serve their growing
loads.

Drawing attention to the close linkage between energy security and national
defense, Wisconsin Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl teamed up with their
colleagues from Illinois and North Dakota to circulate letters expressing
concern that the FAA and the Department of Defense were placing unnecessary
obstructions to wind farm development. Gov. Jim Doyle issued a strongly
worded appeal to complete the radar study expeditiously, noting that there
are many examples in the U.S. and Europe of wind turbines co-existing with
nearby radar installations.

In the U.S. House, Reps. Tammy Baldwin and Ron Kind took the lead in
drafting letters signed by 20 other members of Congress. In their letters,
they noted that the two agencies have historically worked closely with
project developers to identify and apply appropriate mitigation measures to
reduce radar interference. This bipartisan group of lawmakers underscored
the need to "ensure that efforts to increase our nation's use of clean,
renewable sources of energy are not delayed."

Wisconsin stands to reap substantial economic and environmental benefits
from its new law that permanently protects energy efficiency funds and
substantially increases investments in renewable energy sources like wind.
That forward-looking energy law was adopted with only one dissenting vote.
The state is indeed fortunate to have political leaders who will
aggressively defend the state's interest in charting a sustainable energy
path for its present and future citizens.

Wisconsin's elected officials certainly understand that increasing our use
of native, renewable energy sources is absolutely critical to our national
security. Maybe one day the federal government will figure that out as well.