It's making people in the wind energy industry nervous.

Representative Nick Rahall is chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. Rahall is pushing legislation that would more strictly regulate wind energy to protect the birds and bats that are killed when they fly into wind turbines.

But wind energy advocates are calling the proposal "anti-wind," and are saying that the legislation could cripple the burgeoning wind power industry.

According to the American Wind Energy Association, wind power is growing by 25 to 30% a year. The association says Rahall's efforts could "essentially outlaw" the generation of electricity from new wind power plants.

Rahall says he is hearing opposition from some other members of the Natural Resources Committee, and he will revisit the legislation. Still, he suspects that wind projects regularly are violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Endangered Species Act.