Wind Power News: Wildlife
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.
How windmills aren’t so ‘green’ after all
JAIPUR: In a Facebook post, scientist Sutirtha Dutta of the Wildlife Institute of India, Dehradun, expressed regret that a juvenile Great Indian Bustard had died in Gujarat after hitting a transmission line of a windfarm. “Within months of tagging, two Great Indian Bustard in Kachchh, (Gujarat) a tagged juvenile female died after hitting a 33 kV transmission line connected to Suzlon Wind Turbines near Lala Bustard Sanctuary. Boy, did she move miles across a landscape intersected with hostile infrastructure. Shockingly, . . .
Bird conservation groups win fight against great lakes wind project
Camp Perry turbine would have set dangerous precedent. (Washington, D.C., June 29, 2017) American Bird Conservancy (ABC) and Black Swamp Bird Observatory (BSBO) have won their campaign to stop a planned wind turbine in a major bird migration corridor close to the shores of Lake Erie. In response to a lawsuit by ABC and BSBO, the Ohio Air National Guard (ANG) has announced that it has not approved or authorized plans to install a large turbine at its Camp Perry . . .
Camp Perry turbine plan axed; Birders cheer as National Guard retreats on wind power
OAK HARBOR, Ohio – For the second time since 2014, the Ohio Air National Guard has backed away from its plans to erect a commercial-scale, $1.5 million wind turbine at Camp Perry – a decision that the region’s biggest birding organization hopes will put an end to five years of contentious litigation and send a message to other would-be developers. “This is a very important victory for migratory birds,” said Kim Kaufman, executive director of the Oak Harbor-based Black Swamp Bird Observatory. . . .
Ohio Air National Guard drops wind turbine plans for Camp Perry; birding groups declare victory
WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Ohio Air National Guard said today that it disapproves of a plan to build a large wind turbine at Camp Perry, handing birding groups a decision they hailed as “a huge win for migratory birds.” The Black Swamp Bird Observatory, based in Ottawa County, teamed with the American Bird Conservancy in March to file a lawsuit seeking to block construction of the wind turbine, which they criticized as a “lethal bird-killing machine” for bald eagles and . . .
Die große Koalition macht Tiere töten leicht
[On Thursday, 22 June 2017, the Bundestag amended the Federal Nature Conservation Act to allow wind energy companies to kill more bats and birds. (link)] Vor Weihnachten geht es alle Jahre wieder um Plätzchen und Pakete, Gänse und Geschenke oder Karten für das Weihnachtsoratorium. Da bleibt kaum Zeit im Kopf für anderes – wenn zum Beispiel eine geplante, höchst brisante Gesetzesnovelle zum Bundesnaturschutzgesetz (BNatSchG) ohne großes Aufsehen auf den Weg gebracht wird. Zentrale Belange des Naturschutzes sollen im Rahmen dieser . . .
Humpback washes ashore at Beavertail
The 32-foot carcass of a humpback whale washed ashore Friday morning after drifting west from Newport’s Brenton Point. According to the U.S. Coast Guard, the Castle Hill station received reports in the middle of last week about a dead whale floating at the mouth of Narragansett Bay. Rescue workers and two veterinarians from Mystic Aquarium were on-site Friday when it reached land to collect genetic samples. A preliminary report indicates the whale is a male between 2-3 years old. As . . .
Sneaky snake pushes wind farm to Grant County
Forget mass protests. Sometimes all it takes to derail a major industrial project is an itty-bitty snake. About seven years ago, Finney County was on the verge of landing the Buffalo Dunes Wind Farm, a 250-megawatt project that includes 135 turbines that eventually spread over land in Haskell and Grant counties, until concerns raised about disturbing the habitat of the longnose snake pushed the project farther west. Lona Duvall, president of the Finney County Economic Development Corp., said the Sierra . . .
Windfarms blamed after three whales die off Suffolk
East Anglia News Service – Three whales that washed up on the Suffolk coast may have died after becoming disorientated by offshore windfarms, marine experts believe. The coastguard received reports of a minke whale calf that had become separated from its mother on Friday night. By the next afternoon it had been found dead at the mouth of the River Ore and its mother was found washed up near Felixstowe. Yesterday another dead adult was seen off the Harwich coast. They . . .
UN looks to protect birds from green energy threats
The global boom in renewable energy is posing new threats to birds say experts. At the UN climate conference in Bonn, researchers said wind turbines and power lines were a particular problem for migratory soaring birds. Shutting down wind farms on demand is one of the methods being tested to protect these birds from collisions. Other ideas being tried include placing highly visible deflectors every 20m on power lines. The Rift Valley and Red Sea flyways in Egypt are among . . .
How the tortoise became politicized; Energy developers, activists for threatened species still searching for a happy medium
The desert tortoise’s lobbyists are well-known to solar developers and the country’s largest utility. They have successfully battled wind farms and rancher Cliven Bundy. As a threatened species, the squat land crawler continually frustrates developers and engages environmentalists as a rallying symbol. After years of litigation, a Virginia-based company confirmed in late April that it was abandoning a project to build 87 wind turbines in Searchlight because of environmental concerns over the golden eagle and the desert tortoise. It’s typically . . .
