As part of a laudable effort to make Michigan a more wind power-friendly state, Rep. Howard Walker of Traverse City has proposed a bill that would override local zoning for commercial electricity-generating windmills.

If the Legislature agrees, wind turbines that meet sound and setback requirements spelled out in Walker's bill could be built just about anywhere, no matter the zoning.

Walker and supporters say that without an overarching state zoning mandate, many projects would run into stiff not-in-my-back yard resistance. That's probably true.

But usurping local control over zoning is an extreme approach sure to be challenged in the courts and create ill will toward a technology Michigan must embrace, and soon. It's no way for a new industry to endear itself to a doubting public.

We must first move away from the take-it-or-leave-it predicament Walker's bill has created. The debate state residents and lawmakers should be having about how best to harness our untapped wealth of wind power has been reduced to an emotion-packed battle between local control and state mandates.

How did we end up here and not there?

The better idea is to think carrot, not stick, and adopt tactics local governments have used for decades to lure new businesses or make room for new land uses.

A commonsense proposal from Michigan Land Use Institute planner Jim Lively to treat windmills as an allowed use in some areas zoned for agriculture could be a start.

Lively has argued that both wind power and agriculture are "very compatible rural uses" that do well in places without a lot of neighbors.

That basic premise -- to start with compatibility and go from there -- should guide further discussions. Yes, windmills are generally compatible with agricultural uses; but they are also, in many cases, compatible with forest or industrial or commercial uses, depending on the site.

The aim should be to encourage local participation, not force it on an unwilling public. A stipulation that townships could ban turbines on 10 percent of their land could be reversed to a mandate that they make 10 percent of their land available for wind turbine use and offer tax breaks to encourage more.

Allowing the state police to ignore local zoning for a new antenna system a few years ago stirred a hornet's nest; imagine local reaction to having a couple dozen windmills forced on an unwilling neighborhood.

Walker's ultimate aim -- to rely more on wind power than fossil fuels and polluting power plants -- is sound public policy. The legislature must embrace it as a long-term goal.

But the best way to guarantee widespread popular opposition to the plan is to ban it