Chinese Firm Sues Obama Over Blocked Wind Farm

Prez nixes project next to naval testing base
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Oct 3, 2012 4:01 AM CDT
Updated Oct 3, 2012 6:45 AM CDT
Chinese Firm Sues Obama Over Blocked Wind Farm
Ralls Corp accuses Obama of acting to protect American-owned wind farms, not national security.   (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer, file)

President Obama is being sued by a Chinese-owned company for blocking a wind-farm project on national security grounds. Ralls Corp's proposed wind farm next to a naval testing facility in Oregon is the first deal to be blocked by a president in 22 years, and the company's lawsuit accuses the US government of overstepping its authority, the BBC reports. Obama was following the recommendation of the Committee on Foreign Investment in the US, a government panel that scrutinizes the national security implications of foreign investments.

Most deals the CFIUS scrutinizes are withdrawn or changed long before they reach the president's desk. The Ralls Corp lawsuit, which accuses the president and the CFIUS of acting in an "unlawful and unauthorized manner," is "a little bit of a Hail Mary," a trade lawyer tells the Wall Street Journal. "It's going to be interesting to see if there's a court that would take the view that the president's decision on something related to national security is something that ought to be second-guessed." (More wind farm stories.)

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