A CUT ABOVE: The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service estimates that almost a half million birds are killed each year in the U.S. by wind turbines. In March 2012 the agency released new federal guidelines that steer wind turbines away from vital habitat and toward land already marked by development.
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Dear EarthTalk: One of the objections to wind power has been that the turbines can kill birds. Has there been some progress in developing bird-friendly wind power?—Marcie Mahoney, Boston
Bird collisions have been one of the primary negatives of the recent growth in wind power across the United States and beyond. The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) estimates that almost a half million birds are killed each year in the U.S. by wind turbines. “Birds can die in collisions with the turbine blades, towers, power lines, or related structures, and can also be impacted through habitat destruction from the siting of turbines, power lines, and access roads,” the non-profit American Bird Conservancy reports. “Some birds, such as sage-grouse, are particularly sensitive to the presence of turbines, and can be scared away from their breeding grounds several miles away from a wind development.”
In response to this growing problem, the USFWS released new federal guidelines in March 2012 for land-based wind developers trying to avoid or minimize impacts to birds and their habitats. The guidelines are voluntary at this point, but U.S. wind developers interested in a smoother ride through various permitting processes and the blessing of environmental groups—several were consulted extensively in drawing up the new guidelines—are doing their best to make their designs and implementations comply.
The federal government’s 22-member Wind Turbine Guidelines Advisory Committee, which included experts from the National Audubon Society, Nature Conservancy, Defenders of Wildlife, Massachusetts Audubon and Bat Conservation International, developed the guidelines. Committee members report they are optimistic that the new guidelines provide a path to better protection for birds and their habitats.
“The guidelines steer wind turbines away from vital habitat…and toward land already marked by development,” says David Yarnold, National Audubon’s President. “They give the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service a place at the table for siting decisions; they help protect sites with high potential risk for birds; and they minimize habitat fragmentation.” He adds that the guidelines are based on the best available science and “provide a roadmap to better bird protections across each of America’s four great flyways.”
Audubon pushed to ensure that the guidelines address habitat fragmentation, one of the biggest potential impacts of wind development on birds. Wind developers that cooperate with the guidelines will avoid dividing important habitats like forests and grasslands, thus maintaining their suitability for wildlife.
“These first-ever federal guidelines are a game-changer and big win for both wildlife and clean energy,” says Yarnold. “By collaborating with conservationists instead of slugging it out, the wind power industry gains vital support to expand and create jobs, and wildlife gets the protection crucial for survival.”
For its part, the American Bird Conservancy would like to take the voluntary out of the guidelines and instead require wind developers to comply. The group recently filed a petition with the U.S. Department of the Interior calling for mandatory rules protecting millions of birds from the negative impacts of wind energy and rewarding responsible wind energy development.
CONTACTS: National Audubon, www.audubon.org; USFWS “Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines,” www.fws.gov/windenergy/docs/WEG_final.pdf; American Bird Conservancy, www.abcbirds.org.
EarthTalk® is written and edited by Roddy Scheer and Doug Moss and is a registered trademark of E - The Environmental Magazine ( www.emagazine.com). Send questions to: earthtalk@emagazine.com. Subscribe: www.emagazine.com/subscribe. Free Trial Issue: www.emagazine.com/trial.
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27 Comments
Add CommentI've been to wind turbine sites in several provinces and I've never seen any dead birds at the base of a turbine. However, I always see dead wildlife along the roads when driving to the sites. Perhaps we need to reduce the effect of highways and vehicles on our wildlife.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisUsual stupidity.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWhile windmills kill lotsa birds just as building's do they are particularly deadly to the big raptors like eagles. Note that pretty well all logging was stopping on the west coast to protect one bird - the spotted owl. Why have these windmills wiping entire populations of raptors been allowed to operate. Answer - Big Oil and its wholly owned subsidiary Big Green have a lot more money than timber companies to buy off politicians and media always ready to sell out their country.
www.washingtontimes.com/news/2012/aug/6/wind-energy-tax-credits-fund-bird-murder/
"..In the 86-square-mile area blanketed by California’s Altamont Pass wind turbines, no eagles have nested for more than 20 years, and golden eagle nest sites have declined by half in surrounding areas, even though both are prime habitats, Mr. Wiegand notes. Wildlife specialist Shawn Smallwood estimates that 2,300 golden eagles have been killed by Altamont turbines in the past 25 years..."
When Big Oil's media paints wind projects in golden glory, it by political necessity omits the fact that these abortions have to be backed up to 100% nameplate with fast spooling low efficiency gas plant run inefficiently. Less gas, less carbon/ far less money, replacing the win/solar/inefficient gas backup scam with nukes or high efficiency gas.
Commercial without subsidy wind is running around 50 and 14 cents a kwh with gas backup and 5 times sized transmission facilities adding a further 20 cents a kwh. Ontario's tariff for onshore wind is 14 cents a kwh. Make wind green - add a buck a kwh for storage.
Dirt cheap, zero environmental footprint, clean and green nuke power build by public power needing no storage backup or extra transmission capacity available 24/7 costs less than 4 cents a kwh.
It's important to note that wind energy is actually better for wildlife including birds and the environment than virtually any other form of electrical generation according to pretty much every study on the subject. That wind energy is being attacked is indicative that the conversation is one-sided, not that wind energy is problematic.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIn fact, combining a few studies and doing some simple math tells us that 70 MILLION FEWER BIRDS WOULD DIE ANNUALLY due to generation if all fossil fuel generation were replaced with wind farms. This is obviously not realistic as wind is only part of the answer to our generation needs, but it shows the degree of distortion in the discussion.
Yes, avoiding siting of wind turbines near sensitive breeding areas for endangered species is important. Yes, avoiding raptor migration routes is important. But these are in the context of wind energy being a much better choice for birds over all.
http://reneweconomy.com.au/2012/want-to-save-70-million-birds-a-year-build-more-wind-farms-18274
I forget the source but as I understand it, the number of birds killed by stray house cats is an order of magnitude greater than the number of birds killed by wind turbines. This could be a good example of a strange phenomenon about technology. For example; I invent a device that is able to save the lives of a million people every year. Unfortunately, technology isn't perfect so perhaps 10 people a year die as a result of complications associated with the device. When there is a death associated with the device the luddites claim, see this new technology is no good, it's killing people. And so the device is banned and we go back to millions of people dying because it is no longer available. I expect the same thing will happen with the first self driving/flying cars and planes. You can be certain the luddites and shills from the competition will jump on this to milk it for more than its worth.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf you are looking for safe wing power generators check out the Winga Turbine! This is a practical, scientifically proven wing generator that is having a tough time getting any financial support. http://www.organoworld.com/public.htm
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisBetween 100 million and 1 billion birds die each year in the United States by flying into glass buildings. Most everyone with a picture window in their house has had to dispose of a dead bird at least once.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe bird/turbine issue is a red herring. Just ask the pelicans and sea gulls that died in the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Unbelievable how Wind Turbine shrine worshipers compare sparrows killed by domestic cats in the cities to majestic raptors killed by Wind Farms in the mountains. Ridiculous. Cats kill the weakest of plentiful birds, predominantly in the cities, ensuring that healthier birds survive, and the species does not degenerate due to human feeding. And long distance high voltage transmission lines are the ESSENCE of Wind Power, so you can add those kills also.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this"..The 187-page report is described as the most comprehensive study of bat/turbine collisions in the country..Remains of 765 bats were found by searchers at the two sites over the course of the study. After correcting for bats removed by scavengers or missed by searchers, the average number of fatalities at the two locations is estimated between 1,764 and 2,900 for the six-week period..These are among the highest recorded numbers of bat fatalities ever.."
"..If the 900 or so turbines proposed are built within a 70-mile radius..it's very easy to extrapolate from this data that close to 60,000 bats could be killed every year," Tuttle said. "That's very likely not an ecologically sustainable kill rate; it's urgent to find a solution.."
"..Florida Power and Light, which owns the two local wind plants that were the subject of the study, has cut off access to its sites[countrywide] in the wake of the study, Merlin Tuttle, president of Bat Conservation International.."
www.wind-watch.org/newsarchive/2005/06/09/substantial-bat-kills-at-regions-windpower-facilities-study-says/
So it's obvious that FPL is trying to hide the ALARMING NUMBERS of Bat kills at its Wind Farms. So bats kill the insects that prey on plant life & crops in rural areas (cats & cars are insignificant there) and that means farmers must use insecticides that poison the land & water. So much for Wind Turbines being ecological.
The amazing thing is our governments REFUSE to prosecute Wind Turbine companies under the Migratory Birds Act - for causing Bird Deaths. Totally Illegal, but our corrupt politicians give Wind Farm Owners a Get-Out-of-Jail-Free-Card. JD Irving was charged under the act for destroying 12 heron nests with a logging road. New Ontario regs allow a Wind Farm to kill 900 birds a year without even a beep from the provincial government.
"..at Altamont Pass..its turbines kill an average of 80 golden eagles per year.. 10,000 birds—nearly all protected by the migratory bird act.."
No charges.
online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574376543308399048.htm
Yes, wind-turbines kill birds and bats. Both species are in serious population-stress decline. Wind turbines are a influential factor in neither of those declines.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor birds, the main threats are windows, cats, high-tension wires, and pesticides. For bats, it's disease and pesticides.
The idea of applying better knowledge about the collateral damage to improving the deployment process ... is a good thing.
Are Wind Turbines Getting More Bird and Bat-Friendly? NO in fact they are getting worse. They are much larger, the blade tip move at 200-220 mph and there are far more of these killer put in each day.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisI am seeing a lot of article lately because the industry is trying to sucker in the ignorant t for tax credits from the American taxpayer. I am here to tell you the wind industry has never deserved tax credits. Instead of a handout, this unregulated industry should be investigated for their ongoing slaughter and decade's old cover-up regarding the slaughter of millions of protected birds.
In a few short years the wind industry will be killing at least a 1000-1500 eagles a year in the United States. This number will include several hundred bald eagles. This species does not fly into windows and they are not being killed by other energy sources. THE WIND INDUSTRY IS KILLING THEM. I just uncovered evidence of a major population decline in the golden eagle population over a several thousand square mile region. this is only the beginning. Eagle populations are being decimated because they can not withstand the wind industry mortality. Today the wind industry is the number one killer of golden eagles in California. Thousands of dead eagles have also gone unreported because this industry has been hiding behind their bogus studies, and agency collusion since the early 1980's.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe plight of the Whooping Cranes is a perfect example of this corruption. More than 100 were lost the last year and this endangered species will be gone within 5 years. This is due to the thousands of turbines have recently been stuffed into their flyway. In a few years there will be so many turbines with so much rotor sweep in their habitat, it will be impossible for them to survive. The turnover in the population will be too great as the population loses its breeders. Yet only a few short years ago they were increasing in numbers each year.
The USFWS is aware of all this, especially in light of their newly adopted USFWS methodology of "estimating" Whooping Crane numbers. The new USFWS methodology was put in place so the declining Whopping Crane population could be exaggerated. Only 192 were counted this year but their population is now being estimated 27% higher at 245.
But the public has heard nothing of this and you probably never will. The official blame for their demise will be some disease like botulism, bad weather or some other made up tale. When this does happen a lot of hoopla will be made about how the USFWS is going to revive the population from their “contrived” catastrophe. Politicians will step in for the good publicity and plenty of money will be allocated for the production of bogus studies and for the care of these refugees.
In my research I have seen every conceivable argument and tidbit of propaganda justifying wind energy from every corner of the world and there is one element that is nearly always overlooked. Regardless of the energy source and the arguments, no one should ever condone the fraud that has carried this industry for decades. I know from all the wildlife studies and surveys I have read, that with this industry, there never has been a level playing field and because of many layers of corruption, wind industry mortality has been hidden. Take it from a wildlife biologist that doesn't play the game, if the public insisted on proper mortality studies at wind farms and population studies around wind farms, they would find the results to be staggering.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisCurrently the wind industry mortality studies are deliberately designed with flawed methodology. Examples of this flawed methodology include searching turbines that are not operating, by looking in a small search areas around the turbines, by looking bodies every 15 or 30 days instead of looking every day, by not using dogs which could quickly find every fallen bird or bat, by not counting the permanently disabled or mortally wounded, and by allowing employees/lease holders to pick up bodies.
This has been going on for decades with the blessings of the USFWS, which has in place "Voluntary Guidelines" or "Do Nothing Regulations" for the wind industry. It is long over due that the Interior Department and USFWS to start doing the job they were meant to do instead of running interference for the wind industry. The truth about the propeller style wind turbine needs to be told because is having a disastrous impact on birds and bats.
Folks had better start paying attention because there will never be any viable solutions for problems in America with a system in place that rewards the criminals. That is because the best ideas can and will be buried for decades. One of those ideas is that we should have killed the propeller style wind turbine long ago.
Owl905 and several others, your argument is a common fallacy. Like saying the Deepwater Horizon blowout was trivial because the amount of Oil released was tiny compared to natural leakage into the environment. Or Fukushima radioisotope emissions can be totally ignored since they are trivial compared to the total Coal, Gas and Oil radioisotope emissions in the World.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe issue with Wind Turbines, as with ANY OTHER industrial environmental hazard is the effect of the Wind Farms on the LOCAL ENVIRONMENT. It doesn't matter ZIP if more birds are killed by windows, or cats or flippin' bird flu. The issue is what effect do Wind Farms have on the local eco-system in which they are located. Wind Industrial Energy is the ONLY form of energy that is given a blank check to destroy the local environment, with utterly OUTRAGEOUS excuses based on Grand Totals over the entire country. Criminal.
As an example of how Wind Farms effect the local environment watch how a very environmentally conscious German couple describe what happened to their eco-paradise farm after Wind Turbines were installed nearby:
www.epaw.org/victims.php?lang=en&article=t6
".. after the Wind Turbines started operating, the majority of the birds and bats disappeared...and the birds did not return from migration...and the bats did not return from their winter quarters, instead they disappeared permanently.."
The effect on their animals is serious and wide-ranging, FAR ABOVE & BEYOND bird & bat kills:
Jim, excellent comments and good material, continue your heroic efforts against overwhelming political coverups of the HORRENDOUS FAILURE OF WIND ENERGY. I'm more knowledgeable on the Energy Issue, for which Wind is probably the biggest waste of Energy Dollars in the history of human civilization. An incredibly stupid source of Energy. And the EIA is lying about numbers regarding Wind Energy, trying to make their dismal performance look better than it actually is.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisJohnDroz on the insane economics of Wind Power:
slideshare.net/JohnDroz/energy-presentationkey-presentation
northnet.org/brvmug/WindPower/articles.html
Jon Boone explains the problems with Wind Power:
LESS FOR MORE: THE RUBE GOLDBERG NATURE OF INDUSTRIAL WIND DEVELOPMENT, by Jon Boone
windaction.org/?module=uploads&func=download&fileId=1103
Wind Energy DOES NOT reduce fossil fuel consumption:
Holland:
clepair.net/windSchiphol.html
Ireland:
clepair.net/IerlandUdo.html
Colorado & Texas:
wind-watch.org/documents/wp-content/uploads/BENTEK-How-Less-Became-More.pdf
Willem Post on the high Capital cost of Wind Energy and how the AWEA, Wind Industry & Utilities are deliberately withholding Wind Power Generation data to stifle independent analyst's from proving the bad economics and terrible emissions achievements of Wind Energy:
coalitionforenergysolutions.org/irish_wind_energycwk_wp.pdf
Retired Bell Labs Electrical Engineer's analysis showing Wind does not significantly reduce emissions:
Wall St. Blood Suckers are making a killing on Wind Energy, due to the big tax incentives, including triple accelerated depreciation. Glenn Schleede:
"...Therefore, a "wind farm" owner using his own equity to cover 50% of capital costs (normally the equity share is lower) can recover his entire equity investment in less than 18 months and then enjoy (a) an infinite return on equity thereafter, and (b) in effect, an interest free "loan" for the balance not yet depreciated - all courtesy of US taxpayers...."
Ted Rockwell: "...Warren Buffet's MidAmerican Energy project calculates that it can break even after six years, WITHOUT EVER PRODUCING ANY ELECTRICITY. And Boone Pickens is offering his investors a 25% return on a 4000 MW wind-farm based entirely on federal tax credits..."
Wind gets the Renewable Portfolio Standards (RPS) subsidy - a particularly COWARDLY, DECEITFUL way to supply MASSIVE Wind subsidies hidden from public scrutiny.
Let's talk about whooping cranes for a minute, as Wiegand keeps bringing them up all over comment threads, and is being quoted in anti-wind and anti-PTC articles.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe world's leading expert on whooping cranes, Tom Stehn, attributes the recent losses to drought. He testifies to this in court. He worked his entire life to restore whooping crane populations and knew each bird.
http://whoopingcrane.com/2012/07/
As we look at drought, the leading cause of it these days is climate change. Climate change is something that wind farms are directly assisting with. Saying that wind turbines are slaughtering whooping cranes is directly and exactly against reality.
The only person saying that wind farms are killing whooping cranes is Wiegand, and he doesn't work with whooping cranes, live anywhere near their habitat or corridor, study them or count them. His analysis has no empirical evidence for wind turbines causing whooping crane fatalities. When pressed Wiegand refuses to references or citations.
Wiegand is obsessed with bird deaths by wind turbines, to the point where he makes up impacts where none exist. If Wiegand were actually a bird advocate he would be doing what every major bird group is doing: advocating for more wind farms and some care with siting. But he is actually an anti-wind lobbyist.
For the record, Mr. Wiegand claims to be a professional wildlife biologist. I thought it was worth assessing his actual credentials, as he touts them whenever he can, and gains credibility as a result of them.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisMr. Wiegand apparently received an undergraduate degree in wildlife biology from the University of Berkeley about 40 years ago and didn't work in the field. He has no peer reviewed material published. The only record Berkeley keeps online of him is an insect specimen he collected in 1973. He appears to have become an artist of sorts (http://www.gallery-worldwide.com/cmAuthor.jsp?id=3048&view=AUTH) and an antique / art seller (http://www.jimwiegand.com and at one point Jim Wiegand's Fine Art Prints, now apparently defunct). And, of course, he's the Vice-President of the anti-wind lobbyist group, Save the Eagles International, which appears to consist of him and the President.
If Mr. Wiegand can call himself a wildlife biologist, then all of those Psych minors can call themselves Psychiatrists, and all of those guys who took Commerce can call themselves MBAs.
I've written a full analysis of whooping cranes and wind farms on quora.com, along with a detailed analysis of Mr. Wiegand's bona fides and claims.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thishttp://www.quora.com/Wind-Power/Are-wind-farms-killing-endangered-whooping-cranes/answer/Mike-Barnard
This year nearly 3 times whooping cranes went missing during their migration when compared to the disastrous year of 2008-2009. For those cranes, the USFWS claimed that they died from the drought. I believe it was a cover story. The testimony given at the whooping crane trial in Texas states that the cranes died even before they arrived in Aransas and no bodies or evidence was provided during the trial substantiate that the cranes died from the drought. Everyone interested should read the transcript. It is gives very different account than the stories told in National Geographic and other articles. Here is the link http://thearansasproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2012/07/TAPFullTrailTranscriptDec2011.pdf
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisIf anybody is scratching their heads and wondering where the cranes are going consider the conditions that exist for the wind industry. The industry has their own special USFWS “voluntary regulations” that offer no accountability, they use bogus mortality searches around turbines with search areas 8-10 times too small, there are gag orders are written into contracts with leaseholders and employees, there is high security at all wind farms, and the wind industry personnel are picking up bodies and hiding them. All these conditions enable the industry to conceal their impacts. The whooping Crane flock lost approximately 100 members last year.
Then there are the missing Golden Eagles that have died in Texas. Where are these records? Studies have proven how deadly these turbines are to the golden eagle. At the 580 MW Altamont Pass, studies have shown that wind turbines kill golden eagles at rate of 75– 116 or 0.13 – 0.2 per MW per year. Altamont Pass is not unique because at every wind farm located in eagle habitat, there are the same deadly combination of circumstances, wind currents, prey species, soaring eagles, and huge blades ripping through the air hundreds of feet up. Golden eagles have to eat and they are smashed from the air at all wind farms located in eagle habitat because they are forced to hunt around these turbines. By my estimates 3000-5000 golden eagles have perished in Texas over the last 20 years.
Jim Wiegand, for the first time, has provided a reference. I recommend that anyone who believes a word he says reads it carefully.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAs he points out, he has a unique position the avian mortality counting methodology. This refined and carefully managed and monitored process developed by PhDs, working wildlife biologists, credible bird preservation agencies and devoted professionals, according to Mr. Wiegand, is both wrong and intentionally wrong. He claims it is a 28 year coverup somehow perpetrated by a conspiracy of hundreds or thousands of people and dozens of organizations. I won't bother to provide a link, as it would just make it more likely that people would read his drivel.
He does not count avian mortality himself. He does not work in this field. He did undergraduate work in wildlife biology 40 years ago. Yet he is convinced that everyone else is counting avian mortality wrong.
I believe that he truly loves birds, especially raptors. But he is not a credible source of information. He is an antiques dealer who hates wind farms.
“A record whooping crane flock is expected at the Aransas National Wildlife Refuge for the second straight year. Refuge manager Dan Alonso said there could be enough cranes making their annual migration to the area to break last year’s count of about 280.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to this“We’re eagerly anticipating approximately 300 birds this year,” Dan Alonso said.”
“Alonso said recent rainfall of about 2 inches has replenished drinking water sources for the whoopers, and about 20 ponds created by windmill pumps are available for the birds to drink.”
http://www.scrippsnews.biz/content/record-whooping-crane-flock-expected-2nd-year-texas?page=6
The wind industry should be run out of every town in America and a full blown investigation should be launched into this industry.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWind Farms slaughter birds. Millions of them and most are protected species. Wind farms do not kill 2.9 birds per MW as the industry claims these turbines kill between 30-100 birds per MW. That is until their populations start plummeting. The information below was copied from a report released in 2008 in by a group of University Professors and Ornithologists that were not paid off by the industry.
Development of wind projects is likely to cause:
a. Bird mortality caused by collisions with operating turbines and/or elements of auxiliary infrastructure, in particular overhead power lines;
b. Decrease in population due to loss and fragmentation of habitats caused by deterring effect of the wind turbines and/or development of
communication and energy infrastructure related to operations of the wind turbines,
c. Disturbance to populations, in particular to short- and long - range bird migrations (the barrier effect).
The wind industry has been slaughtering bird populations and lying about it for decades. What is written above is the reason why the Wood Buffalo-Aransas Whooping Cranes population is disappearing. Their 2012 population should be around 375-400 but it is only about half that due to the explosion of wind industry development in their migration corridor. It is not drought that is killing them as the USFWS and wind industry would like us to believe, but thousands of 400-500 ft wind turbines slashing at 200 mph through tens of millions of cubic feet of air space.
The time to move is TODAY if you want to help save the whopping cranes and other rare bird species. For this to take place the public needs to reject all the wind industry lies,studies and cover stories about their impacts because they have been rigged for 28 years. The fact that no whooping crane death has ever been recorded at a wind farm is true, but it means nothing. The industry posturing of no dead body, equals no evidence, and therefore we are innocent is statement of total fabrication.
By now everyone should realize that industry operates in complete secrecy with total control of their wind farms. Wind farms are patrolled daily by personnel looking for bodies and a huge white bird would be hard to miss. A sliced up whooping crane body will never be produced from a wind farm until they get their incidental kill permits (this is in their plans) from the USFWS. Some whooping cranes are wearing GPS transmitters, but if one happens to die at a wind farm with a transmitter on, they know the drill, just take the transmitter and give it a ride away from the site.
There really is enough indirect evidence to conclude that the wind industry is killing the whooping crane and millions of other birds that go unreported by this industry. There is even more evidence then that what used to convict murderer Drew Peterson. But if anyone disagrees then just try to change the USFWS "Voluntary regulations" for this industry so that a body could not be hidden. Such an action would be met head on with every once of resistance the industry could muster because they know that if wind farm secrecy and the gag orders were ever lifted, this industry would shrivel up over night.
For more information on the Whooping cranes visit the Whooping Crane Conservation Association web site and look up flock status. Make sure you up the graph that shows their steep population decline that began with the explosion of turbines that have invaded their migration route. Also when you get there you can also read what Tom Stehn had to say about the newly adopted (Bogus) USFWS method of counting/exaggerating whooping cranes.
The wind industry should be run out of every town in America and a full blown investigation should be launched into this industry.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisWind Farms slaughter birds. Millions of them and most are protected species. Wind farms do not kill 2.9 birds per MW as the industry claims these turbines kill between 30-100 birds per MW. That is until their populations start plummeting. The information below was copied from a report released in 2008 in by a group of University Professors and Ornithologists that were not paid off by the industry.
Development of wind projects is likely to cause:
a. Bird mortality caused by collisions with operating turbines and/or elements of auxiliary infrastructure, in particular overhead power lines;
b. Decrease in population due to loss and fragmentation of habitats caused by deterring effect of the wind turbines and/or development of
communication and energy infrastructure related to operations of the wind turbines,
c. Disturbance to populations, in particular to short- and long - range bird migrations (the barrier effect).
The wind industry has been slaughtering bird populations and lying about it for decades. What is written above is the reason why the Wood Buffalo-Aransas Whooping Cranes population is disappearing. Their 2012 population should be around 375-400 but it is only about half that due to the explosion of wind industry development in their migration corridor. It is not drought that is killing them as the USFWS and wind industry would like us to believe, but thousands of 400-500 ft wind turbines slashing at 200 mph through tens of millions of cubic feet of air space.
The time to move is TODAY if you want to help save the whopping cranes and other rare bird species. For this to take place the public needs to reject all the wind industry lies,studies and cover stories about their impacts because they have been rigged for 28 years. The fact that no whooping crane death has ever been recorded at a wind farm is true, but it means nothing. The industry posturing of no dead body, equals no evidence, and therefore we are innocent is statement of total fabrication.
By now everyone should realize that industry operates in complete secrecy with total control of their wind farms. Wind farms are patrolled daily by personnel looking for bodies and a huge white bird would be hard to miss. A sliced up whooping crane body will never be produced from a wind farm until they get their incidental kill permits (this is in their plans) from the USFWS. Some whooping cranes are wearing GPS transmitters, but if one happens to die at a wind farm with a transmitter on, they know the drill, just take the transmitter and give it a ride away from the site.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThere really is enough indirect evidence to conclude that the wind industry is killing the whooping crane and millions of other birds that go unreported by this industry. There is even more evidence then that what used to convict murderer Drew Peterson. But if anyone disagrees then just try to change the USFWS "Voluntary regulations" for this industry so that a body could not be hidden. Such an action would be met head on with every once of resistance the industry could muster because they know that if wind farm secrecy and the gag orders were ever lifted, this industry would shrivel up over night.
For more information on the Whooping cranes visit the Whooping Crane Conservation Association web site and look up flock status. Make sure you up the graph that shows their steep population decline that began with the explosion of turbines that have invaded their migration route. Also when you get there you can also read what Tom Stehn had to say about the newly adopted (Bogus) USFWS method of counting/exaggerating whooping cranes.
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Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisThe wind industry and their so called hired experts, routinely manipulate studies for a desired outcome. Here is perfect example. At the Criterion Wind Project in Maryland, Post-Construction mortality monitoring studies were conducted for this project.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisDescription of Methodology used from the study............ "The monitoring study period was from April 5 to November 15, 2011. Search plots were established around all 28 turbines in the project and the carcass search schedule was for daily searches at all turbines (weather and safety permitting). Search plot size varied in shape and size, due to habitat constraints, but in most cases areas up to approximately 40-50 m (~130-165 ft) from the turbines were cleared of vegetation for access and construction purposes and this area was used as the search plot. Parallel transects were spaced and delineated approximately 5 m (~16 ft) apart within the search plot and surveyors systematically walked the transects while scanning the ground for fatalities or injured birds or bats."
Looks impressive but it is nothing but a snow job. The cleared search plots were only the size of search plots originally used on the small turbines at Altamont which averaged 50 meters from the turbines. By comparison a 65kw turbine has a rotor sweep 38 times smaller and much slower blade tip speeds which result in greatly reduced body impact distances. The small turbines with 22 ft blades reach about 80 feet into the air. By comparison the Liberty 2.5 MW Wind Turbines installed at the Criterion project are 400 or more feet tall and have 150 ft blades that reach out further than the mortality search plots. A proper search area of 200 meters out from each turbine, checked daily with trained dogs, would have found many times more fatalities. Many Larger birds that do not die immediately can travel hundreds or thousands of meters. Others upon impact are hit and travel like a baseball far outside study areas. This is especially true for new generation of large wind turbines that reach 400-500 feet into the air. Based on the flawed methodology used, the true death rate is far greater and likely to be at least 3-4 times what was reported.
Similar bogus studies like this one have been used all over the country to conceal bird and bat mortality. These were also the types of studies created by the wind industry so they could proclaim to the world that their new turbines were safer.
People are finally waking up to the horrific impacts caused by the wind industry.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisAll this would have happened much sooner if conservation groups like the Sierra Club did not sell-out their causes. As it is, these groups end up in the mitigation process and get paid off for ridiculous solutions that do not work. So in the end these hypocrites get loads of money while claiming to protect the environment and the millions of birds killed from wind turbines.
Today, thanks to wind industry mitigation,we now have California condors that will forever be trapped in small regions near their feeding stations and the highly endangered whooping crane population is rapidly declining. This migrating population is on its last legs because they will not be able to coexist with the thousands of wind turbines along their migration route. For decades prior to 2006 or the wind industry invasion, whooping crane numbers had increased about 4 percent per year. But since 2006 the average mortality for this period has been about 41 cranes or close to 20 percent per year. Most importantly has been NO NET GAIN in this highly endangered species.
The propeller style wind turbine is also a prolific killer of eagles. The impact caused by decades of killing these raptors at wind farms can now be seen in an 80-90 percent population decline for the golden eagle in Southern CA. Thousands of miles surveyed only found 1 occupied nest and 45 empty nests. The industry will blame drought or climate change and create bogus studies to show this.
But not a negative word can be heard from any of these groups except the American Bird Conservancy. All this seems incredible since wind farms are a nothing but death traps to birds, much like the La Brea Tar Pits were to prehistoric animals.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFrom supporters of wind energy you will hear about climate change as a major reason to install these wind turbines. Despite what the wind energy supporters say there is far more evidence available to assume that 25% of all bird species could become extinct by 2054 due to wind turbines than from climate change. For the truth all one has to do is just look under their turbines.
If you can imagine Europe has an installed capacity of about 900,000 MW, 15 times current capacity of the US. They want to do the same thing here in US even though nothing has changed with Europe's climate. They have plans on installing over a million turbines so we too can be enslaved by this non solution.
There is no other energy source in the world that kills millions of protected species every year and there is no other energy source in the world that blights so many communities as wind turbines do. The damage from these turbines is forever. This is why every community has to get involved to stop this invasion
I recently reviewed a mortality impact study the showed approx 500-600 bird and bat fatalities per MW/ per year. Of course nothing close to this mortality was disclosed. It was hidden in rigged methodology and contrived formulas.
Reply | Report Abuse | Link to thisFor an in-depth look at the very darkest side to wind energy, everyone should read either one of these articles, “Hiding the slaughter” or “Big Wind & Avian Mortality” (Parts I and II: Hiding the Problem). Readers will have a better understanding of industry’s avian genocide and by supporting wind; they are supporting a completely fraudulent empire.