Wind Farms Should Tread Carefully

By FRANK LINGO

Windmills are old. They go back at least 2,000 years as a way to pump water out of wells into homes and even for farming.

In the last few decades, wind turbines have offered a non-polluting way to provide power for houses and businesses.

Sounds ideal, right? Not so fast.

Birds have been killed by the giant spinning blades. At least 150 eagles have died at 40 wind facilities owned by ESI Energy, and they were fined $8 million for violations of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, according to a February 2023 article in Newsweek.

The magazine also reported that the Missouri Department of Conservation has embarked on a multi-year research project to understand how wind turbines affect eagles. Interested parties like conservation groups and wind-energy firms hope the study will help determine good and bad locations for wind farms.

On a different front, Native Americans have expressed other concerns. The National Congress of American Indians called for a moratorium on offshore wind development along US coastlines, according to a February 2023 article in Bloomberg News. The Indians say they have been cut out of the planning, permitting and contracting process, despite vows by President Biden and top officials to consider indigenous knowledge in government decision-making.

This seems contradictory to the stated goals of Interior Secretary Deb Haaland, the first Native American cabinet member, to put a new focus on environmental justice and indigenous rights. That is especially relevant since her department oversees offshore wind projects.

It’s good that Native Americans are getting some media coverage about this roughshod treatment and hopefully Biden and Haaland will rectify their neglect of the Indians’ concerns. That would be a refreshing change because it’s been going on for centuries.

Besides fairness to Native Americans, wind turbines, whether on land or water, must be made safer for birds and aquatic life. An undated article in Scientific American told of wind-energy companies teaming up with ocean scientists to protect fish and sea mammals from harm. According to some studies, if the turbines’ underwater foundations are built properly, they can provide replicas of coral reefs which promote growth of marine organisms that boost biodiversity. There is still further research necessary but the early indicators are positive.

As for birds, eagles are far from the only species in danger. Millions of birds have reportedly been killed by wind turbines. But a nine-year study in Norway showed that simply by painting one of the rotors black on each turbine, birds see them much better and fatalities can be reduced by over 70%, according to a 2020 article in Popular Mechanics.

For perspective, the US Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that nearly 600 million birds are killed annually by crashing into glass buildings, and over 200 million birds are killed each year from colliding with vehicles. In contrast, wind turbines only kill about 234,000, or about 0.1% of bird deaths by vehicles.

Again, more innovation is needed to keep reducing bird deaths, but it’s also good to remember that renewables like wind and solar energy are far better than continued burning of fossil fuels, which is dangerous to our entire ecosystem, including birds, fish, mammals and a biped called humans.

Frank Lingo, based in Lawrence, Kansas, is a former columnist for the Kansas City Star and author of the novel “Earth Vote.” Email: lingofrank@gmail.com. See his website: Greenbeat.world

From The Progressive Populist, April 1, 2023

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