Wind Power News: Wildlife
These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch in its noncommercial educational effort to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch. They are the products of and owned by the organizations or individuals noted and are shared here according to “fair use” and “fair dealing” provisions of copyright law.
UK Govt rejects request to share whale stranding data, fuelling suspicions over offshore wind farms
While recent statistics from other countries are in the public domain, the UK’s delay in publishing data has increased speculation that the government might be hiding another sharp increase in cetacean strandings, and it’s fuelling further suspicions of a link between wind farms and the demise of marine life. Five-fold increase in UK cetacean strandings The 2018 tally of 1000+ cetaceans stranded on UK beaches, compares with an annual reported average of around 200 or less over a period of . . . Complete story »
Brazil’s big cats under threat from wind farms
Weighing more than 100 pounds, big cats have long reigned over this hot and semi-arid region of Brazil, developing tougher paws for the scorched earth and reaching speeds of 50 miles an hour to bring down wild boar and deer. But nothing could have prepared them for the 150-foot blades now slicing up the deep blue sky above them. Jaguars and pumas are facing extinction in the Caatinga, Brazil’s northeastern shrublands, as Europe and China pour investment into wind farms, . . . Complete story »
Why won’t Greenpeace admit that wind turbines may be killing whales?
Who cares about whales? Whales might be dying because of sonar surveying, but Greenpeace simply ignores the science that doesn’t suit it. So far last year, 71 whales have washed up dead on the shores of New England and neighbouring states. The rate seems to have risen in recent years along with a growth in the number of offshore wind turbines. A small group of concerned citizens have started to campaign against the turbines on behalf of the whales, and . . . Complete story »
Biden wants to shrink proposed marine sanctuary to accommodate wind energy factory owned by Dem donor
President Joe Biden wants to shrink a Pacific Ocean marine sanctuary meant to protect endangered whales in order to accommodate offshore wind energy factories—one of them owned by a major Democratic donor. The Biden administration late last month proposed cutting about 1,400 square miles of ocean and coastline from an Indian tribe’s proposed national marine sanctuary to make room for wind turbine infrastructure. One of these factories would belong to Invenergy, whose founder and CEO Michael Polsky has given more . . . Complete story »
Robbins Island wind farm developer seeks to remove shutdown clause designed to protect orange-bellied parrot
A company planning to build a wind farm on Robbins Island in Tasmania’s north-west has argued that the collision death of an orange-bellied parrot would not have a “statistical effect” on the birds’ long-term survival. ACEN Australia’s 100-turbine 720-megawatt proposal on the island sits in the middle of the parrot’s believed path for its annual return migration between Tasmania and Victoria. But due to its low numbers and high death rate for juveniles – four out of five released from . . . Complete story »
Willatook wind farm developer claims about Planning Minster assessment ‘misleading, farmer says
A south-west farmer and brolga conservation activist has criticised the developer of the Willatook Wind Farm for its “misleading” claims about the Planning Minister’s environmental assessment for the project. Hamish Cumming has fought several proposed wind farms across the region because they planned to build turbines on or near brolga nesting sites and has battled the Willatook project for years because of its proximity to a number of nesting sites. Planning Minister Sonya Kilkenny completed an environmental impact assessment of . . . Complete story »
Risk to endangered southern right and blue whales from offshore wind farms largely unknown, researchers say
Researchers say the risk to endangered whales from offshore wind turbines is largely unknown, as community groups push back against a proposal for a renewable energy zone along the coast of Victoria and South Australia. The proposed zone in the Southern Ocean stretches 5,100-square-kilometres off the coast from Warrnambool in Victoria to Port MacDonnell in South Australia. The federal government said the area would start at least 10km from shore, with wind turbines standing approximately 250 metres above sea level. . . . Complete story »
For Caatinga’s last jaguars and pumas, wind farms are the newest threat
[Últimas onças da Caatinga enfrentam nova ameaça: complexos eólicos] Between March 2017 and January 2018, researchers tracked the movements of a female puma as it prowled around the Boqueirão da Onça protected area complex in the north of Brazil’s Bahia state. They’d named her Vitória, the first puma (Puma concolor) in the region to be captured and fitted with a radio collar, which researchers from the Amigos da Onça program, a wildcat project affiliated with conservation nonprofit Pró-Carnívoros, used to . . . Complete story »
As offshore wind ramps up, scientists flag potential impacts
Last year, the Biden administration announced an ambitious goal: enough offshore wind to power 10 million homes by 2030. The move would reduce carbon emissions, create jobs, and strengthen energy security. It would also help the United States – which was responsible for just 0.1 percent of the world’s offshore wind capacity last year – catch up with renewable energy leaders like China and Europe. The plan is already well underway: Massive turbines are rising off the coast of Massachusetts, and more . . . Complete story »
Save LBI lays out evidence for cause of whale deaths
Background On August 4th, 2023, Save Long Beach Island (LBI) filed a lawsuit seeking to enjoin the ongoing offshore wind energy vessel surveys using high intensity noise equipment until a thorough investigation could be done and new protocols developed for estimating noise impacts from wind energy development activities. On August 14th Save LBI responded to defendant and defendant-intervenor motions, laying out in detail the evidence linking the vessel surveys to the recent whale deaths. Evidence of Causation of Whale Deaths . . . Complete story »
