Alerts
These postings are provided to help publicize and provide examples of the efforts of affiliated groups and individuals related to industrial wind energy development. Most of the notices posted here are not the product of nor are they necessarily endorsed by National Wind Watch.
Wind Turbine Noise 2019: June 12-14, 2019, Lisbon
The Eighth International Conference on Wind Turbine Noise will be held in Lisbon, June 12-14, 2019.
The conference will be held at the Altis Grand Hotel, Rua Castilho, 11, which is within walking distance of the popular areas of Baixa, Chiado and Bairro Alto. Our two main conference spaces are “Europa” and “Londres”.
Environment, Newsletters, Vermont, Wildlife •
Source: Vermonters for a Clean Environment
Deerfield Wind, Green Mountain National Forest, Vermont
Click here to download VCE’s 2017 End of Year Report.
In Your Own Words
Gatehouse Media found more than 450 families who have publicly complained about the impacts of living near wind farms. Have a similar experience? Tell your story.
Page from Cary Shineldecker’s journal that he and his wife, Karen, kept while living next to the Lake Winds Energy Park
All submissions will be considered for publication.
Questions? Contact them.
Published stories are at:
http://gatehousenews.com/windfarms/in-your-own-words/
Wind Energy and Birds: Take Action
What can our readers do to support bird-smart wind energy solutions?
First, understand that although climate change is real and must be addressed, we should not be rushing to deploy solutions that damage our continent’s ecologically and economically important birds and bats and their habitats. Beyond their inherent value, these animals perform critical ecological services – such as pest control, pollination, and seed dispersal – that are worth billions of dollars to national economies and enhance the quality of all our lives [9].
Second, make efforts to keep informed.
- Find out about large-scale commercial wind energy projects planned for your community.
- Go to town meetings and express concern about environmental impacts.
- Ask questions about the independence and scientific integrity of pre-construction risk assessments. These are often conducted by paid consultants to the wind industry.
Speak up to wind energy companies and regulators.
- Push for the company to provide third-party, independent, standardized monitoring of bird and bat kill at the project with all data going directly to state and federal regulators.
- Ask to see and evaluate the mitigation plan and understand what forms of mitigation have proven successful (i.e., proper siting and curtailment of the turbine’s blades) versus those that are untested or unproven.
- Contact and express concern to the power companies that plan to purchase the energy produced.
Rally the support of others.
- Form a group to monitor and question developer activities.
- Reach out to local reporters about the issue and do interviews with them. Be vocal with your concerns.
- Draft op-eds and letters to the editor to local newspapers and magazines expressing your concerns.
And finally, forge alliances and educate others.
- Enlist the help of experts on wind energy and its impacts on wildlife to conduct relevant analyses (e.g., ornithologists, bat biologists, American Bird Conservancy, local Audubon and ornithological societies).
- If state- or federally-protected species are at risk, contact state and federal wildlife agencies to express concern.
- Contact and express concern to your elected representatives at the community, state, and national levels, and especially to your county or state energy siting board.
- Develop a website, Facebook page, listserv, etc. to facilitate communication.
- Offer to speak or distribute materials at local community events, groups, or other gatherings.
Are there ways to address climate change without building thousands of new wind turbines?
Absolutely. There are a variety of ways that we could be addressing climate change without having to build tens of thousands of new wind turbines and hundreds of miles of new power lines and towers.
First and foremost, to slow climate change, it’s essential that we stop rampant deforestation and protect our remaining ecosystems, such as tropical rainforest, coastal mangrove forests and wetlands [2,5,6] and their biodiversity [1].
Second, we should push for improved energy efficiency and conservation [4]. And third, we should probably be eating less meat. This is obviously a personal choice, but it’s a fact that conventionally raised domestic livestock is a major contributor to greenhouse gases [3].
Finally, perhaps the best alternative to large-scale commercial wind and solar energy – both of which can be bad for birds when poorly placed in the environment [8] – is distributed solar energy on our already-built environment. We have the technology to put solar panels on our roads, in our windows, and on existing structures, such as buildings and parking lots. Keeping energy production local will also reduce the need to use power lines and towers to transport the energy produced across the country.
The biggest challenge to this approach will be the power and utility companies themselves. As the technology allows for more energy independence, power and utility companies will fight this change as it limits their ability to profit.
Fully one-third of our native bird species are in need of concerted conservation action in order to ensure their future. Taking action to support bird-smart wind energy solutions can help. Photo by Niek Goossen / Shutterstock
Final thoughts
Our irreplaceable birds and bats should not be “collateral damage” in our fight against climate change. Our birds are already in serious trouble, with fully one-third of our native species currently in need of concerted conservation action in order to ensure their future [7]. We could be doing so much better.
References
- Bello, C., Galetti, M., Pizo, M.A., Fernando, L., Magnago, S., Lima, R.A.F., Peres, C.A., Ovaskainen, O., and Jordano, P. 2015. Defaunation affects carbon storage in tropical forests. Science Advances 1 (11): e1501105. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501105, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.1501105.
- Enochs, K. 2017. Study: Restoring wetlands could help fix climate change. Voanews.com.
- Gill, M., Smith, P., and Wilkinson, J.N. 2010. Mitigating climate change: The role of domestic livestock. Animal 4 (3): 323–333, doi:10.1017/S1751731109004662.
- Huntington, H., and Smith, E. 2011. Mitigating climate change through energy efficiency: An introduction and overview. The Energy Journal 32, DOI: 10.5547/ISSN0195-6574-EJ-Vol33-SI1-1.
- IUCN. 2017. Mangroves and marshes key in the climate change battle. Huffington Post.
- Martin, T. and Johnson, J. 2016. The best way to protect us from climate change? Save our ecosystems. The Conversation.com.
- North American Bird Conservation Initiative. 2016. State of the Birds, 2016.
- Sahagun, L. 2016. This Mojave Desert solar plant kills 6,000 birds a year. Here’s why that won’t change any time soon. Los Angeles Times.
- Sekercioglu, C. H., D. G. Wenny, and C. G. Whelan, editors. 2016. Why birds matter: avian ecological function and ecosystem services. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, Illinois, USA.
Encouragement and hope
FYI and to encourage and give hope to other communities confronted with a seemingly fruitless battle against wind farms, I offer you an overview of our fight and so far, victory and our new challenge.
Friends of the Grande Ronde Valley (FGRV) gathered together and began its fight against the 161 wind turbines of the proposed Antelope Ridge Wind Farm sometime in late 2009.
With the strong leadership of Dennis and Pamela Wilkerson FGRV was able to fully utilize and direct all the ideas, energies and abilities of our group to wage a determined multi pronged attack to stop the proposed wind farm.
We used yard signs, flyers, bumper stickers, flashing lapel buttons, canvas shopping bags imprinted with our logo, opinion letters, radio interviews, radio ads, a parade float representing the mountain in jeopardy, a full sized billboard on the Columbia Gorge, attendance at city and county meetings, personal meetings with local officials, lobbying State legislators while personally presenting them with boxes of homemade fudge, appeals to any and all officials, contact with regional think tanks, public utility meeting discussions, community meetings, banner waving at local events and businesses, a newsletter and a website. Membership was free but we passed the hat to build our war chest.
FGRV was able to meet with other groups and work unilaterally to attain important resources and information. We concentrated on our agreements, not on our differences. Our committees were manned with several experts in complex fields along with a legislative analyst that trudged through the bureaucracies and legal documents. No one was left without a useful task.
Finally we received notice that “EDP withdraws Antelope Ridge Wind Farm application 9-17-13”. Did that homemade fudge turn the tide???
Is the fight over? No. There will always be another wind project in the wings. We are now in a coalition with StopB2H to prevent a proposed transmission line in our neck of the woods, hills and valleys. This proposed transmission line makes the way for more wind turbines somewhere along its route. The need for the B2H (Boardman to Hemingway) transmission line is not evident in the Idaho Power Company’s stats. So, we continue.
800-pound gorilla
I got back from Iraq in 2007 with two turbines within 1,000′ across the road on a neighbor’s property. Then the noise started, followed by shadow flicker when fall rolled around. I contacted my Jackson County Minnesota planning & zoning director who said everything was done to state specifications. He gave me the contact information to the company that was managing the wind turbines. That started a long battle with are they noisy, how noisy are they, there is no way to accurately test them, etc.
I have seen some right things and some wrong things in my 56 years in this country and 29-1/2 years in the National Guard. This whole wind power scam is just plain wrong. I feel there should be a national class action lawsuit on this issue, and frankly am surprised there hasn’t been one. The problem is there are those that think this is “green” energy, while the rural residents are tortured every single day by noise pollution and shadow flicker to name a couple. There is a “wind farm” in the planning process and the high pressure salesman talked to my brother three times getting the same answer: no. Then he had the gall to stop at my place.
I have always wanted this cartoon to be drawn up as I feel they are trampling the little guy and his family out here, making their acreages unlivable as mine is. So I had my sign maker draw it up, changed a few things here and there and had it published. I feel if I can prevent one person or family from going through the torture and hell I have gone through the last ten years, it will be worth it. As citizens we expect our government to take care of us and look out for our best interests. It has failed in the past with arsenic, asbestos, DDT, lead in paint, pipes and gasoline, Agent Orange and who knows how many other things they thought were safe to begin with. I think wind turbines fit right in the same category.
—Tom Behrends, Brewster, MN
Aesthetics, Economics, Energy, Events, Flyers, Impacts, Information, Nebraska •
Source: Stanton County Citizens
Hearing a lot of windy talk about the proposed Wind Turbines in Stanton County?
Download original document: “Flyer: Commissioners’ Hearing on Proposed Zoning Regulations for Wind Energy”
