National Security vs. Energy Security

The United States military has found a new threat hiding in the vast emptiness of the Mojave Desert in California: wind turbines.

According to a NY Times article, wind turbines can be indistinguishable from airplanes on many radar systems, and they can even cause blackout zones where planes literally disappear from radar. With heights reaching 400 feet, wind turbines look very similar to storm activity on weather radar which makes it harder for air traffic controllers to give accurate weather information to pilots.

No serious incidents have yet to be reported however, Dr. Dorothy Robyn, deputy under secretary of defense told a House Armed Services subcommittee that wind turbines pose an unacceptable risk to training, testing and national security in certain regions.

Because of this concern, the Defense Department has now emerged as a formidable opponent of wind projects in direct conflict with the Energy Department which has spent billions of dollars as part of President Obama’s broader effort to promote renewable energy.

According to Gary Seifert, researcher at the Idaho National Laboratory, this is “…the train wreck of the 2000s”. “The train wreck is the competing resources for two national needs: energy security and national security.”

In 2009, about 9000 megawatts of proposed wind projects were abandoned or delayed because of radar concerns raised by the military and the FAA.

Collisions between the Energy Industry and the military have also occurred in Columbia River Gorge and Great Lakes region.

Mr. Debenham, a former naval officer, said he understood the concerns but that the military was overstating them. A similar turbine just went up on a nearby Marine base. “It’s standing proof that these single turbines are not an unmitigatable threat to national security,” he said.

The Energy Department says the problem should be solvable through new technologies. Upgrading many of the radar systems still in use in the United States which date back to the 1950s is the first step that needs to be taken by the Defense Department.

Washington is currently reviewing the militaries concerns. In the meantime, millions of dollars in financing and renewable energy incentives are simply blowing in the wind.