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Why is wind special?
Credit: The Casper Star-Tribune | trib.com ~~
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About birds and wind turbines: A recent letter stated that the wind industry “cared deeply” about birds. The wind industry is in complete agreement with the voluntary guidelines from Fish and Wildlife.
Of course they are.
The other option was mandatory regulations. This way, instead of finding a dead eagle and saying “We’re sorry,” under the voluntary rules, mandatory rules would have meant large fines for that dead eagle. The same way a dead eagle means a fine to oil and gas. The claim has been made that with oil and gas it was necessary to have mandatory regulations to protect birds. Wind would be OK without them? Why would a very large, profitable industry like wind be any more trustworthy than oil and gas, especially since many wind companies are also oil and gas companies?
Then there is the tiresome argument that cats kill millions of birds each year, as do cars, buildings, etc. Show me a video of a cat taking down a bald eagle (I have seen video of a turbine whacking a large raptor out of the sky). Turbines kill raptors, owls and may one day kill whooping cranes if turbines are placed along migration routes.
Even if birds could be somehow spared, there is still the killings of millions of bats by wind turbines. Fewer bats means many more insects, including mosquitoes. This leads to the need for more chemical remedies, since the natural ones are being sacrificed to wind.
If wind “cares” should it not be willing to pay fines for bird deaths just as many other industries do? After all, as mentioned above, it’s claimed businesses don’t follow voluntary rules that protect nature. The wind industry is just another business in conflict with nature. Why should we believe it is special?
SHERI KIMBROUGH, Evansville
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