Wind Turbines, Birds, and Bats

There are people who are opposed to wind turbines. Some of them are worried about the effect nearby wind farms would have on their property. (I find this argument pretty lame when you’re talking about turbines that can barely be seen on the horizon, but hey, I’m not a multi-millionaire Senator with an ocean view.) Others have become worried about the effect on the environment, which is odd, since wind energy is one of the cleanest sources of energy. These people worry that birds and bats will be killed by the turbines, and undoubtedly, some birds and bats will die. But, in the end, the wind turbines will save far more birds and bats than they’ll kill. 

This is a problem of perspective. Some flying creatures will be killed by turbines. It’s sad, but the number of birds that fly into windows and die greatly outnumbers the birds that will be killed by wind farms. The mosquito control efforts in Florida kill far more bats than any wind farm will. And, the effects of our non-stop destruction of wildlife habitats will likely drive thousands more species of birds and bats extinct. Worst of all, our inexcusable tardiness in dealing with climate change may drive most bird species extinct, along with ourselves. (Admittedly, this is worst case, but we don’t have to change the climate much to destroy bird habitats.)  I suspect that the mercury pouring out of coal-fired power plants does more harm to the bird populations than any wind farm will.

Birds travel in flocks for protection. They have evolved this behavior, because it makes it harder for predators to kill them. Predation still occurs, but because birds flock, it’s usually the weakest that die. A few die so that the rest may live. That’s nature, red in tooth and claw.

I suspect we can find ways to minimize the bird kills at wind farms. But we can’t afford to abandon this energy alternative. We have already drastically changed the makeup of our atmosphere, and we’re already seeing the changes. Wind farms provide energy while, at the same time, taking energy directly out of the atmosphere. By doing so, they probably slow the impact of global warming. We need as many of them as we can build.

Wind farms won’t do the whole job. We also need solar power, electric cars, geothermal energy, nuclear energy, and energy from the tides. There will be costs associated with all of them, but I doubt those costs will be nearly as high as the cost of continuing to depend on fossil fuels that pollute our skies and disrupt the climate all over the world.