This comment is guest columnist Peter Sinclair's. And no he is not referring to China, which is building one energy plant per week while eating our lunch. Sinclair is talking about how Michigan's energy needs and economy will be saved ... by the windmill.

However, no energy policy, if implemented, is more expensive, unreliable and (ironically) environmentally unfriendly. European countries, which pushed windmills well before us "dinosaurs" and "regressives," now are retreating along all fronts.

The generation of windmill power is as unstable and fickle as Michigan weather. Operating capacity (usable time) of windmills is less than a measly 20 percent (fossil fuel plants are at least three times greater), and wind power is not synchronous with peak demand.

In February 2003, Denmark's 6,000 wind turbines had the energy out put of zero.

Wouldn't that make for an interesting Michigan winter? This unreliable and unstable power results in damaging power surges and possible blackouts, creating numerous problems on the grid. Because of this, nations such as Ireland no longer will allow the addition of windmills to its power lines.

Fossil fuel plants that were predicted to be replaced in Europe by wind power continue to run. You cannot turn a fossil fuel plant on and off (dependent on the wind) as if it were a light switch. Operating cost and the life of the plant would be greatly affected. The net result is carbon dioxide emissions are not reduced in Europe through wind power.

Windmills are not environmentally friendly. Spain estimates 11,000 birds of prey and 3 million smaller birds are destroyed per year by the windmills' turning blades (wing spans larger than a 747's).

Also, the noise of these 300-foot whirling monstrosities, with turbine housings the size of a bus, create "disco bass" noise levels that the Environmental Protection Agency has called harmful to humans up to a half mile away. Usually the first observation of anyone visiting a wind farm is how devoid of life they are. Habitat for deer, rabbits and bear is now barren.

Wind power is expensive. With wind power, there is always an increase to the customer's utility bill. In Germany, the renewable energy cost is 10 times more than fossil fuel. Wind power is heavily subsidized and not by the utilities, but by the consumer.

However, environmentalist concerns rarely coincide with small details such as the economy and people's paychecks. For example, how does an environmentalist reduce the price of oil? No drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. No drilling on the Pacific coast. No drilling on the Atlantic coast. No drilling in the Gulf coast (although China is drilling there now). No coal gasification. No new oil refineries since 1976.

Think about this as you "fill 'er up" or for that matter, shop at the local grocery store as energy prices drive inflation. Perhaps we can replace the combustion engine with pinwheels and heavy breathing. An environmentalist's mind rarely lets reality interfere with pretend, especially when it concerns the future.

So the battleground is set. What will decide Michigan's future energy policies -- dependable energy and pragmatic common sense or ignorance and "feel good" environmentalism?

I am curious. And so is China.