FOXNews.com - Energy Battle Sets Up Duel Between = Environmentalists

Energy Battle Sets Up Duel Between = Environmentalists

Wednesday, May 04, 2005

CHICAGO =97 A plan to provide an alternative = form of=20 energy in Wisconsin is pitting two sets of environmentalists against = each other.=20 Some favor cleaner air, others want to protect nearby = wildlife.

Doug Duncan, a Wisconsin farmer who uses windmills to = add to his=20 two-turbine farm, said his crop is so good, it's encouraging neighbors = to get=20 their own windmills.

A Chicago-based energy company wants to build 133 wind = turbines=20 like Duncan's that could produce enough energy to power 100,000 homes = near the=20 city of Fond du Lac.

"Every kilowatt hour of wind actually preserves = cleaner air,"=20 said Michael Vickerman of RENEW-Wisconsin (search).=20 "[Wind energy] will have a lowering effect on electricity rates. With = this=20 project in place, rates could actually decline or at least not go up as=20 fast."

But wildlife enthusiasts oppose the project. The = reason? Birds.=20 The turbines may be as close as a mile and a half from the = Horicon=20 Marsh (search), a federally protected wildlife preserve.

"This is a major migratory bird route here, feeding and nesting area = for tens=20 of thousands of birds. We strongly fear that lots of birds will be = killed by=20 these turbines," said Curt Kindschuh of the Horicon Marsh Systems = Advocates.

A state environmental impact report has concluded that not enough = evidence is=20 available to say what kind of impact wind turbines could have on bird=20 populations. If the project were to go forward, just 1 percent of = Wisconsin's=20 energy would be wind-generated.

Opponents say they would feel differently about the endeavor if the = project=20 were built elsewhere.

"Wind energy is good, but there is a place to put that and you don't = put 133=20 turbines within a mile and a half of a wildlife refuge," Kindschuh = said.

Farmer Dennis Oechsner said delaying alternative = energy is not=20 in order.

"It's sad to say that everybody can squawk about it = and push it=20 off to someone else, but if we keep moving it elsewhere, sooner or = later, we're=20 not going to have it," he said.

Farmers will receive more than $4,000 a = year for each=20 windmill built on their property. With times not being the best for = traditional=20 farmers, those in support of the plan call it a windfall.

Click in the box near the top of the story to = watch a=20 report by FOX News' Jeff Goldblatt.

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