Governors' Wind Energy Coalition

Legislation that pits jobs at North Carolina’s military bases against wind energy got its first airing at the state Legislature.The Senate’s Commerce and Insurance Committee heard impassioned arguments yesterday about a proposal to ban commercial power windmills that can stand as tall as a football field from regions with the state’s best wind-power potential.

The legislation, S.B. 377, could permanently ban big power turbines from the Virginia border to south of the Camp Lejeune Marine Corps base and as much as about 100 miles from the coast.

The move’s main backer says it’s needed to prevent interference with military training flights.

But retired Lt. Gen. John Castellaw, a former Marine Corps pilot in North Carolina, says the Pentagon already checks that energy projects don’t interfere with military operations.