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[TechSkeptic]

Heard on the radio this morning that electric-generating wind turbines kill around 25,000 - 30,000 birds a year, including essential birds of prey like eagles and hawks (presumably necessary to control rodent populations), that normally have long life spans (and therefore don't reproduce as much). Most of these bird deaths are in California. With the present amount of wind generation, it may not be enough to endanger any species, but that may not be the case if there is a great expansion of wind power. My opinion is if we want to get away from foreign oil dependency and fossil-fuel generated pollution, we need to build a lot more nuclear plants quickly, along with a lot more hybrid and plug-in hybrid cars. These technologies exist today and have the ability to make a substantial impact in hydrocarbon usage, unlike many smaller-scale green (and maybe not-so-green) technologies. We just need people, government and industry to get behind them. Momentum is surely building, just not fast enough in my opinion. I don't mean to be overly critical of wind power, I'm sure it has its place, as do solar and geothermal, and perhaps there are things that can be done to minimize bird deaths. I just don't think these kinds of "green" energy sources are a panacea, and nothing is free.

Edited by TechSkeptic, 03 May 2007 - 12:49 PM.

[TechSkeptic]

A few links I found with more info and opinions:

http://www.usatoday....ills-usat_x.htm

http://www.acsu.buff...09Windmills.htm

http://www.sfgate.co...MNG14AEB7U1.DTL