WIND IS FOR THE BIRDS (AND WILL DO EVERYTHING TO PROTECT THEM)

The only excuse for running the story below with the headline AFP gave it is that some editor wanted to grab readers’ attention and create the impression there is a new problem. THERE IS NO NEW PROBLEM.

PAY ATTENTION: Wind energy has always done and will always do everything it knows how to do to protect wildlife species and habitat.

Read down into the story. Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation, Audubon Society: "We're very much in favor of wind power because we're so concerned about the other sources of energy that are contributing to global warming…The trick is to get the siting and the design of the turbines right so that big birds like the whooping crane can avoid collisions…"

Tom Stehn, whooping crane coordinator of the US Fish and Wildlife Service described the talks with wind energy industry representatives as making "substantial progress…"

Does that sound like wind energy producers are a lot of brutal bird slaughterers?

Isolated wind energy installations have had problems. A quarter-century ago, the first wind farm in the U.S. did a lot of things wrong and learned some hard (perhaps better described as tragic) lessons.

Since then, wind producers do elaborate, vigorous, rigorous siting surveys and environmental impact studies before proceeding with any installation. The industry is absolutely VIGILANT in developing ever better relationships with every kind of expert to prevent harm.

The American Wind Energy Association (AWEA) recently published its Siting Handbook to address frankly and comprehensively the many challenges to getting an installation properly placed. AWEA is also slowly developing the American Wind Wildlife Institute, a partnership of business, environmental, governmental and non-governmental groups to carefully work through the complexity of siting issues.

The Audubon Society has endorsed wind energy. Greenpeace has endorsed wind energy. Many other environmental activists have endorsed wind energy, too. Does that sound like there is a problem?

There are independent environmental groups who raise objections to wind energy installations. The wind energy industry invariably gives each one a hearing. Some have turned out to represent a community minority and wind installations choose to proceed for the economic and energy supply good of the majority. The rights of the minority are always respected in whatever ways possible. Other times objections have been raised by ad hoc groups financed by vested interests opposed to wind energy. Such situations can only result in controversy.

Tall buildings kill more birds every year than wind turbines. Cars kill more birds every year than wind turbines. House cats kill more birds every year than wind turbines. Neither tall buildings, cars nor house cats can replace as much coal as wind energy can. Neither tall buildings, cars nor house cats can interrupt the environmental devastation of mountain top removal coal mining; wind can. None of those can diminish the generation of nuclear waste; wind can.

click to enlarge

When somebody bans tall buildings and house cats, put a comment at the bottom of this post and NewEnergyNews will reply.

Wind farms could drive bird species to extinction: conservationists
March 3, 2008 (AFP)

WHO
One of North America's rarest birds, the whooping crane; Prairie chickens and other prairie grouse; Tom Stehn, whooping crane coordinator, US Fish and Wildlife Service; Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation, Audubon Society;

There are a variety of important siting issues and the wind energy industry is very responsibly addressing them. (click to enlarge)

WHAT
As the Washington International Renewable Energy Conference (WIREC) opened, AFP could find nothing more interesting to cover than a non-story about the non-endangerment of the Whooping Crane.

WHEN
- In 1941, the Whooping Crane was near extinction and heroes emerged to save and protect it. The wind energy has no intention of allowing that wonderful and important work to be undone by an over-hasty wind turbine siting process.
Whooping Cranes migrate annually.
- WIREC runs March 4 thru 6.

The wind energy industry is aware that wildlife mortality and habitat is a very important issue and is aggressively working to minimize impacts. (click to enlarge)

WHERE
- In 1941 there were only 15 Whooping Cranes in the wild in North America. Presently, there are 360 in the wild and 150 in captivity.
- The Whooping Crane migrates between Canada’s Northwest Territories and the Texas coastal wetlands. Much of the productive wind in the U.S. flows in the same corridor.

WHY
- The Whooping Crane averages 5 feet in height.
- The Audubon Society, synonymous with concern for birds, has repeatedly asserted its acceptance of wind energy and affirmed the wind energy industry’s efforts to take the best interests of avian species in consideration in siting its installations.
- Consideration in turbine siting #1: The wind energy industry has also made every effort to protect the natural habitats of the whooping crane and other North American birds and water fowl.
- Consideration in turbine siting #2: Wind turbines threaten the prairie chicken, a grouse, because it will avoid nesting near any kind of tower. This is of special concern because the heath hen, a prairie chicken subspecies, is extinct and Attwater's prairie chicken is endangered.
- Consideration in turbine siting #3: Wind installations come with increased powerline construction. Powerline collisions have been the biggest cause of whooping cranes deaths.

The wind energy industry is partnering with just about everybody in the U.S. who has an opinion on this subject to reduce harm and resolve concerns. (click to enlarge)

QUOTES
- Tom Stehn, whooping crane coordinator, US Fish and Wildlife Service: "Companies want to put their farms where the best wind is, and that overlaps with the migration corridor of the whooping crane…There are areas where we know large numbers of whooping crane stop (during migration) and we would like wind companies to avoid those areas, with a good buffer zone…"
- Stehn, on whooping crane habitat: "The taking away of the habitat is my biggest concern…Whooping cranes need places to stop during migration. We would ask companies to assess the wetlands resources on their project site and surrounding it and make a judgement on what impact that might have on the whooping crane."
- Greg Butcher, director of bird conservation, Audubon Society: "Audubon is really anxious to get this right, and we are talking with the industry about it…"
- Butcher, on prairie grouse concerns: "When turbines are built on native grasslands, we're likely to lose breeding populations of these prairie grouse, which we have already lost from many of the eastern US states and which are declining in most of the states where they exist now…"