Republican U.S. Senator Lamar Alexander has been urging people to oppose what he calls an "unsightly" wind farm proposed for the Cumberland Plateau.
Alexander in a speech on the Senate floor argued that the 23 "massive" wind turbines that Apex Clean Energy wants to erect near Cumberland Mountain State Park in Cumberland County would spoil the "natural beauty of our state."
“Each one is over two times as tall as the sky boxes at the University of Tennessee football stadium, three times as tall as Ozone Falls, and taller than the statue of liberty,” Senator Alexander said.
Representatives with Charlottesville, Virginia-based Apex Clean Energy said its Crab Orchard Wind project would power 20,000 homes.
Alexander has been a longtime opponent of wind energy and a supporter of nuclear power. The senator said in his speech that he has voted to save the state's mountaintops from destructive coal mining techniques.
Alexander argued that the desire to build more wind turbines has been fueled by "billions in wasteful taxpayer subsidies" for out-of-state companies.
