Maybe We Need to Rethink the Whole Windmill Thing

Still alive; flying the gauntlet. Photo courtesy Marc Duchamp, Save-The-Eagles.

From an article from Climate Realists…

“The towers in these images are Prop Turbines and when the wind is blowing, their blade tips spin at over 200 miles per hour,” explains Jim Wiegand, graduate Berkley University in California, where wind farms are being built with terrifying speed. “If you were an Eagle or an Owl hunting for a meal or any bird trying to fly over the hill, imagine having to navigate these spinning blades every day. This is just one of hundreds of Wind farms planned for America. It has been running for over 25 years. During that time over 30,000 birds of prey have died trying to fly through this gauntlet of spinning blades. Some estimate the mortality higher at 40,000. Over 1000 of these fatalities have been Golden Eagles“

Bear in mind that wildlife is not killed only by the spinning blades. High tension power lines, new access roads, habitat destroyed by construction of the farms and increased human presence all combine to transform what is touted as an ‘ecologically friendly’ new energy technology into the biggest deception ever perpetrated upon the public.

As is the case so often with powerful political/business lobbies (think tobacco industry), they have the money and influence to buy allies to perpetuate their party line.

The list of slaughtered species includes eagles, kites, hawks, cranes, bats, ducks, swifts, swans, geese, gulls, bustards, vultures, owls, grouse and more. Bear in mind reported losses don’t include carcasses claimed by scavenging animals before being recorded, nor bodies either too small or too mangled to be recognizable or even to leave enough remains to be found at all.

Don’t think for a moment that this is a problem restricted to the United States. There is a rising international outcry against these ugly, noisy eyesores that are spreading like cancers across fragile habitats and scenic open spaces around the globe. They’re not just endangering wildlife; they’re also destroying tourism, lowering property values and the quality of life for nearby residents.

I implore readers to click on and actually read the links I’ve provided. The statistics are truly alarming.

In an Open Letter to Scottish Natural Heritage (SNH), co-signed by Professor David Bellamy and Mark Duchamp write. According to the preface, “This letter offers a good example of how governments cynically sacrifice our avian biodiversity (and much more) to help wind farm developers. Cheating with science, manipulating mortality predictions, covering up bird & bat-kill statistics; these are current practices in Scotland and most European countries. “

The letter states, “Based on the Koops study, it was estimated that high tension lines in the US could be killing 150 million birds a year, (emphasis: author), according to Mick Sagrillo of the American Wind Energy Association (2003). The same figure is also reported in Avian Collisions with Wind Turbines, a Summary of Existing Studies and Comparisons to Other Sources of Avian Collision Mortality in the United States – Western EcoSystems Technology Inc. (2001).

“Eagles don’t avoid wind turbines : they are attracted to them. In California, Dr Smallwood has observed that golden eagles fly twice as often near wind turbines than they would by chance. This explains why so many collide with the blades, which travel at up to 300 km/h at the tip. Two thousand three hundred golden eagles have been killed that way in California, and you know that : an official report confirms it.”

The letter goes on to say “Bird reserves are not even spared from this destruction. On the Isle of Lewis, for instance, a wind farm is to be built in a designated Important Bird Area ( Park UK224 ), and another in the Lewis Peatlands Special Protection Area (the Pentland Road road windfarm project.)

“How many more eagles and other protected birds will die on Skye and across Scotland on account of new transmission lines built to accommodate wind farms?” the letter asks.

Besides the predictable slaughter of eagles, swans, geese and other birds protected by EU and UK legislations, the Eisgein wind farm may have a detrimental effect on a National Scenic Area, and even possibly on other important tourist attractions such as the Callanish Stones and a unique cultural event : the “Birth of the Moon”.

Why is the building of farms being permitted in ecologically sensitive areas such as these?

Photo courtesy Marc Duchamp, Save-The-Eagles

It seems that the best locations for profitable wind farms are the same open, windswept scenic areas needed by wildlife. In this case, why doesn’t the wind industry just come out and say that this is NOT an ecologically friendly alternative, but they think it’s important enough/produces enough energy, to be worth sacrificing our wildlife and wild lands for?