Row over UK wind farm hen harrier study
September 2, 2013
Hen Harrier at its nest, Langholm Moor, Dumfries and Galloway Area. Lorne Gill/SNH
And it is a row that campaigners – objecting to plans by wind farm operator Infinis to erect 17 turbines at Windy Edge, close to the historic Hermitage Castle – say has major implications for the way all wind farm developers conduct mandatory bird studies.
The controversy was sparked by a submission earlier this month to Scottish Borders Council’s planning department of a report by the Langholm Moor Demonstration Project (LMDP).
Hiding the Wind Turbine Bird Slaughter: Manipulating numbers
August 27, 2013
by Jim Wiegand
The wind industry is hiding over 90% of the bird and bat mortality caused by their turbines. This statement is supported by the industry’s own data and reasonable adjustments for its manipulations.
The wind industry is … producing faulty, misleading and even fraudulent documents to hide the serious and growing mortality. This situation has continued for years but has been shielded by state and federal agencies and other supporters of wind power.
Ohio project revives local debate on Lake Erie wind turbines
August 26, 2013
By T.J. Pignataro
An environmental riddle is brewing off the shores of Lake Erie, and its answer is blowing in the wind.
The planned launch of a wind turbine demonstration project seven miles off of Cleveland’s lakeshore in Ohio – the first of its kind on the Great Lakes – has politicians, developers and labor there on board.
That’s a totally different vibe from what took place in Buffalo Niagara in 2009 and 2010, when the New York Power Authority gauged interest in a similar project in lakes Erie and Ontario. Local governments here quickly scuttled the idea after intense political pressure from a well-organized group of local lakeshore residents.
The environmentalist community, meanwhile, still searches for a Solomonic solution to the question of harnessing wind on the Great Lakes.
Hiding the wind turbine bird slaughter: Part 2 – The 48-hour study
August 26, 2013
by Jim Wiegand
Tricks the Wind Industry Plays
In 2012, Altamont Pass turbine operators released the results of their 2005-2010 study. They claimed they had achieved substantial reductions in raptor and other bird mortalities, and that part of this reduction resulted from the industry replacing small older turbines with much larger new units. The claim raised questions and eyebrows among knowledgeable bird researchers, who know that mortality searches at Altamont are still finding an increased number of bodies amid the turbines. They also know there are many ways to manipulate mortality studies to achieve the desired outcome.
Hiding the wind turbine bird slaughter: Part I
How bad is the slaughter, really? What tricks does the wind industry use to hide it?
August 26, 2013
by Jim Wiegand
A “green energy” wildlife genocide is depopulating wildlife habitats across the world where vital species once found refuge. Wind turbines have invaded these habitats and are devastating bird and bat species.
Rather than avoiding these critical habitats or taking steps to minimize impacts on important species, the heavily subsidized wind industry is responding by producing faulty, misleading and even fraudulent documents to hide the serious and growing mortality. This situation has continued for years but has been shielded by state and federal agencies and other supporters of wind power.
Germany: Action Group Darmstadt Manifesto
With great anxiety many citizens in our country are observing the progressive destruction of the countryside and the cultural-historically grown phenotype in the environs of towns and villages through the constantly increasing number of wind turbines. In addition, there are unacceptable worries for human-beings as well as a heavy depreciation of immovables and a danger to the animal world.
With the exploitation of the wind energy a technology is being promoted which is completely insignificant for the power supply, the preservation of natural resources, and the protection of the climate. The public promotion funds could be far better spent on the increase in efficiency of the power stations, on the economical consumption of power, and on the scientific basic research in the field of energy.
UK: Planned wind farm near Thorney: Wildlife data is ‘inadequate’
August 23, 2013by Ken McErlain
Controversial plans for a wind farm near Thorney have used “inadequate data” to measure the effect the development would have on wildlife, an ecologist has claimed.
The proposed development at French Farm is one of a number of energy park bids currently under consideration in the Peterborough area, but a report by ecologist Dr Timothy Reed says that wildlife impact assessments for the area are insufficient.
Dr Reed says that data concerning the effect on bats, birds and water voles which has been collected for the development is “riven with errors” and throws serious doubts over the application.
Not so bright lights: renewable energy
by Craig Rucker, August 15 2013
So-called “renewable energy” is not clean, renewable, reliable, affordable or sustainable.
“Renewable energy” is a sexy term used to drive public policies and spending. The Obama Administration and like-minded Green zealots have said repeatedly that they are waging a “war on coal,” intend to bankrupt coal-based power plants, and delay or block oil, natural gas and nuclear projects – while fast-tracking and subsidizing ethanol, wind and solar programs
Another apostle of the renewable energy, anti-hydrocarbon movement is Senator Harry Reid. The chief organizer of and keynote speaker at this week’s falsely named National Clean Energy Summit in Las Vegas, Reid is a true believer in destroying conventional energy through subsidies, regulations and strong-arm tactics. He even wants to shut down every coal-fired power plant in Nevada.
Anti-wind turbine group jumps to the defence of tundra swans and area rest stops they covet during migration
March 22, 2013
by John Miner, The London Free Press
After losing their battle to save a bald eagle nest from the chainsaw, anti-wind turbine activists are turning their fight to the tundra swan.
“If we continue to allow industry to displace and destroy our habitat, we are really looking at an environmental disaster in the long run. It is not just the tundra swans, it is the geese, it is the eagles,” said Muriel Allingham of the Middlesex Lambton Wind Action Group.
An information rally is planned for 11 a.m. Sunday, south of Grand Bend at the Thedford Bog, where the swans stop to rest on their spring migration from the Chesapeake Bay area to nest on the Arctic coastline.
The Grand Bend area, where thousands of the tundra swans can sometimes be viewed, also falls within two large wind farms planned by NextEra Energy, a subsidiary of U.S. energy giant NextEra, formerly known as Florida Light and Power.
Swallows & bats “massacred in batches” (Fairhaven, Mass.)
August 13, 2013
by Curt Devlin
These pictures are emblematic of what happens when birds and turbines share the same environment.
They were taken by one of the folks in Fairhaven soon after the turbines went up. There can be no doubt regarding its authenticity because the chain link fence and black bolts are somewhat distinctive due the special construction technique used to anchor the turbines into the granite shelf here.
One depicts one of the Chinese engineers from Sinovel (a Chinese manufacturer), kicking dirt over the broken body of a hawk killed by the turbine blade to hide it from view. Turbines of this size may look slow and graceful from a distance, but the actually rotate at a tip speeds approaching 200 mph.