RANGE WAR OVER TEXAS WIND HEATS UP

If decades of contention teach anything, it is that vested interests can be expected to contend. Here huge multinational energy companies (Babcock & Brown and PPM Energy) are apparently up against winged wildlife advocates over placement of wind energy installations on the Texas coast.

But is this really a fight between energy companies and environmentalists? Wind energy builder Babcock & Brown contends the environmentalists’ report was based on inadequate information and questions the study’s intent, asserting it was funded by Kenedy Ranch opponents at the King Ranch.

This is a century-old feud. (See RANGE WAR OVER WIND) Once upon a time it was about cattle. Now it’s about energy. According to Babcock & Brown, the King Ranch is in the oil and gas business and opposes wind development.

According to the King Ranch-funded environmental report, performed by a venerated neutral authority but commissioned by a brand new environmental group, there were flaws in the energy companies’ environmental impact siting surveys.

The King Ranch/environmentalists’ report threateningly includes a discussion of the legal implications, should the Kenedy Ranch energy companies proceed knowing there is a high likelihood of significant avian harm as the press release suggests they will: "While the USFWS has used its prosecutorial discretion at other wind facilities it is hard to imagine that such an approach would be supported if turbines are knowingly placed in two areas the USFWS' 2003 guidelines for wind energy facilities equates to a National Wildlife Refuge of significant importance."

Babcock & Brown claims their environmental study was the only one done on the ground of the wind installations’ actual sites and was 4 years in the making. It, like the King Ranch/environmentalists’ study, was performed by the best experts with the best equipment (ornithologists with state-of-the-art radar technology). But the Brown & Babcock study found the project would have “no material impact on any avian species or its habitat.”

Both ranches are in the Texas Gulf Coast region. The King Ranch is in green. The Kenedy Ranch wind installation sites are in red. (click to enlarge)

NewEnergyNews will be watching to see how this confrontation plays out. Other avian advocates, like the Audubon Society (which has in the past rendered judgment on wind energy industry decisions: "...On balance, Audubon strongly supports wind power as a clean alternative energy source that reduces the threat of global warming. Location, however, is important...") should be heard from. Perhaps government agencies, like the Fish and Wildlife Commission, will weigh in. This would be an ideal time to hear from the American Wind Energy Association’s American Wind Wildlife Institute, a newly developing multidisciplinary, government agency and non-governmental organization partnership developed to settle just such issues.

Texas Coast Wind Generation Sites Pose Severe Threat to Migratory and Resident Birds
January 2, 2008 (PR Web)

WHO
The Coastal Habitat Alliance (CHA), EDM International, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Babcock & Brown and PPM Energy, the King Ranch, the Kenedy Ranch

WHAT
- An EDM International report released by environmental advocate group CHA finds significant potential harm to large populations of birds and bats from proposed wind energy installations on the Texas coast.
- Executive Summary of the EDM Report

WHEN
- EDM has worked with the electric utility industry, wind industry companies, and governmental agencies on such issues for over 20 years.
- CHA was formed in June 2007 to oppose these wind energy installations.

WHERE
- The 2 wind energy installations in question are along the Laguna Madre region of the South Texas coast in Kenedy County.
- Babcock & Brown is based in Australia.
- PPM Energy is a subsidiary of Scottish Power which is owned by Spanish wind energy giant Iberdrola.

Clearly major avian migratory routes run through the region. But do modern wind turbines represent a threat to the migrating birds? (click to enlarge)

WHY
- The EDM report used scientific methods established in “2003 Interim Siting Guidance on Avoiding and Minimizing Wildlife Impacts from Wind Turbines” by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
- EDM also reviewed and found flaws in environmental impact reports prepared by PPM Energy.
- The report describes the impact of the 500+ turbine, 1200 megawatt installations as affecting 60,000 acres of coastal habitat.
- The region is reportedly “…among the most important bird migration corridors in North America.”
- Dr. Sidney Gauthreaux, expert on avian migration and radar monitoring of bird movements along the Gulf Coast, participated in the study.
- The EDM report indicates legal recourse against the companies may exist in three federal acts: the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, Endangered Species Act, and the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act.

QUOTES
- EDM report, page 51: "The proposed Kenedy County Wind Projects, totaling 1,200 MW, are unprecedented along the Gulf Coast and the operation of these proposed projects could result in the largest and most significant avian mortality event in the history of wind energy. The associated negative repercussions to the expanding wind industry both in the U.S and the internationally could be significant as well."
- Jim Blackburn, environmental attorney/CHA founder: "This review clearly demonstrates that the Laguna Madre is a world-class bad site for wind energy generation…These projects should not be allowed to be constructed without public input and meaningful environmental analysis and review. They could literally destroy some of the most important assets of the coastal environment."
- Lori Nielson, project manager, EDM: "Facility siting is key to a wind energy development…Although the PPM researchers attempted to use science-based approaches for Phase I of the Peñascal Project, the EDM Team identified problems and errors with many of the methods used and results reported. We have not seen any of the Babcock & Brown study methods or metrics to date."
- Matthew Dallas, Babcock & Brown: “As one America’s leading wind developers, Babcock & Brown is very proud of its environmental record. We have worked with various state and federal agencies and environmental groups to build wind projects that successfully co-exist with wildlife in California, New Mexico, New York, Pennsylvania and numerous other states.”