A Big Victory For Wind Power

[RH77]

Dave,

This could have easily been a non-threatening, newsworthy article:

Replace "enviro-wackos" with "opposition" and present the article for consideration. If you start throwing opinion/insult into article-based thread starts, you're simply asking to start a fight -- especially since many of us here are highly concerned for the environment.

My recommendation is to allow people post and follow up later with your own viewpoint.

Let's keep EcoModder an enjoyable place to have an intelligent discussion.

Rick/RH77
Moderator

[Big Dave]

Re: Post #10

So much for Pickins' idea of lots of wind turbines in the Great Plains.
So much for wind turbines along either coast.

Birds are rather ubiquitous. Saying no wind turbines where there are birds pretty much kills wind energy.

[noeryan]

I don't have facts or figures... But I'd like to point out that large windows kill a lot of birds as well. I've seen numerous dead birds underneath clear glass windows, but I'm sure your house has a few.

Wouldn't it be beneficial to the coal producers who are making billions to spit out and make a scene about anything that could grab the hearts of the very people who support the ecofriendly competition?

I personally believe it is easier to ignore the problems and oppress change than to accept it as a society. It will take a strong leader or a disaster to get out of the fossil fuel era.

Any volunteers?

[Big Dave]

I'm all for wind power, but you gotta realize it is not a free lunch. Wind turbines will kill birds and for some reason birds are ubiquitous in prime wind resource areas. Also somebody has to come up with a storage technology to allow intermittent wind power to be dispatchable on demand.

Until somebody comes up with a good portable energy storage wind generated electricity won't displace oil for transportation fuel.

[The Atomic Ass]

Originally Posted by Formula413

I'm sure rants about "enviro-wackos" will win you lots of friends on this forum.

He's talking about the serious bat-**** crowd. PETA and it's ilk.

And for the record, if a few birds die from the already very slowly-moving blades of a wind generator, I really could not care less.

[rmay635703]

I love the way non-issues get pushed forward, this reminds me of when I was on a campus board and they were considering banning dangerous bicycles from within the campus because they might hit a pedestrian.

I then asked
"How many people have been hit or injured by bicycles on campus since formation?"

To their knowledge no one ever did get hurt by a bicycle riding through campus.

This issue is EXACTLY the same, try finding the so called studies that say these devices cause large numbers of bird deaths, of the few there are none that are done by anyone of sigificance under decent controls. It seems to me they should state, what, when, where, how high and how many as that is rather important. Also its important to compare, for example far more birds die a year crashing into nuclear and into coal power plants and other high buildings, perhaps we need to ban all high buildings and all coal and nuclear plants with high towers because they kill millions of birds a year as compared to maybe 28 birds a year on a turbine? Heck millions of birds a year die on highways, perhaps we need to ban cars?
Most who complain are the it might do that and we can't risk it.

Why not ask some of the larger operators how many dead birds they find around their turbines when doing maintenance? In the case of the Fennimore installation the caretaker said he couldn't remember any dead birds around their turbines. Perhaps birds aren't as dumb or as plentiful as we think around turbines?

You know it isn't that hard to stake one out and count. I know at least 4 birds a year die on our front picture window, we find them in the flower bed below, not rocket science.

Perhaps these people need to stop worrying and look before they *****. Things aren't as bad as they think, at least in regard to wind turbines.

[Bicycle Bob]

I've heard anecdotal accounts of dead birds near wind generators, but i'm sure that the local Coyotes remove them ASAP.

[Formula413]

Originally Posted by The Atomic Ass

He's talking about the serious bat-**** crowd. PETA and it's ilk.

Yeah, that's me.

[Christ]

At least 5 birds a year die in my dad's attic. They get in, and are too bird-brained (pun) to find their way back out.

He just waits until he doesn't hear them fluttering anymore, and finds where they finally died at.

[MadisonMPG]

Originally Posted by Christ

At least 5 birds a year die in my dad's attic. They get in, and are too bird-brained (pun) to find their way back out.

He just waits until he doesn't hear them fluttering anymore, and finds where they finally died at.

God has an attic?