Episode 87 – National
This segment was from the National portion of program 87.
National (Richard Donin) The FAA recently imposed a moratorium on all new wind projects in the Mid-Columbia region of Oregon. The reason? The wind turbines interfere with a military radar site in Fossil. Wind farms developed by large corporations and private land owners in Wasco, Sherman, Gilliam, Morrow, and Klickitat counties have time-sensitive binding power purchase agreements and a wide variety of contracts in place that could cost the Mid-Columbia region to lose $2-3 billion dollars in new investments, jobs, property taxes, land leases, and other economic activities if the ban is not lifted. Did the FAA blindside these projects by shutting them down in such a critical stage, and do the landowners have any recourse? What’s the real story here?