Obama Blocks Chinese Purchase Of US Wind Farms - Spokane, North Idaho News & Weather KHQ.com

WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has blocked a Chinese company from owning four wind farm projects in northern Oregon near a Navy base where the U.S. military flies unmanned drones and electronic-warfare planes on training missions.
    
It was the first time in 22 years that a U.S. president has blocked such a foreign business deal. Obama cited national security risks in his decision Friday that ordered Ralls Corp. to divest its interest in the wind farms near the Naval Weapons Systems Training Facility in Boardman. It had purchased them earlier this year.
    
The administration would not say what risks the wind farm purchases presented. At the Oregon site, the planes fly as low as 200 feet and nearly 300 miles per hour.
    
In a statement Friday a lawyer for Ralls, said the project posed no national security threat and said "the President's order is without justification, as scores of other wind turbines already operate in the area."

(Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)