The latest news concerning wind farms comes from the Fish and Wildlife Service. A proposal was made by the West Butte Wind Power LLC located in central Oregon for a permit that would allow the wind farm to kill up to 3 Golden Eagles within a five year period.
Such a proposal is meaningless, since the number of Golden Eagles killed by the wind turbines within the first six months would surpass that number. This does not include other protected birds that would also be killed by the turbines. Overall, the official number of protected birds killed by wind turbines per year is estimated at about a half million in the United States alone. This number is more than likely a very low estimate since most kills are not even reported.
Each year, oil and power companies are fined huge sums, amounting into the billions for killing protected bird species here in the US. Yet, wind generated power companies are never prosecuted for killing hundreds of thousands more than these companies ever will. The Federal government needs to get its act together, and prosecute all who are responsible for killing protected birds or remove all birds from the protected list.
Laws in the US are not in place to be enforced on a select few but to include all. Thus, for the Feds to prosecute individuals who accidentally kill an endangered bird, or oil and power companies who happen to kill a few mostly by accident, while ignoring the millions killed by wind farms, is insane and in itself, unlawful.
Most people believe it is the wind turbines alone that kill birds. However, as many bird deaths are attributed to the destruction of their habitat by the construction of wind farms in very sensitive areas. Wind farms are a losing proposition altogether for protected bird species, not only here in America but also, the world over.
It might be a different story if wind generated energy produced enough electricity to get us off fossil fuels, but the fact is it simply does not. Even the Federal government, who will over estimate figures associated with projects it wants in operation cannot stretch the estimated overall electricity produced by wind farms above 1%. In reality, the actual number is closer to less than half that.
If we take into consideration the fossil fuels used in the manufacture of the turbines, internal equipment, and all other devices used by wind farms, the amount of fossil fuel already used even before they go into operation supersedes all they will generate during the lifetime of the equipment. This does not include the amount of grid electricity used to run the turbines during periods of calm wind conditions, the electricity needed to start the turbines and that necessary for cutting them off in conditions where the wind velocity is too high. When these factors are considered, wind farms end up producing nothing in the way of adding electricity to the grid and actually use more power from it than they produce.
The days when wind power projects could march freely into any area of the country or world unconcerned with any public opposition to them are over. The state of Maine has made great progress over the past year, in limiting where wind farms can be located and at times, stopping their construction altogether. The Citizens Task Force on Wind Power-Maine, which is a group of concerned citizens, interested in protecting their environment, health, and protected bird species has made great strides in this direction.
Recently, Gov. Paul LePage made the following statement in a radio address:
Lowering Energy Prices Creates Path to Economic Growth and More Jobs for Mainers
http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/gov-lepage-time-for-maine-ratepayers-to-be-represented-in-augusta
The opposition to the wind scam is growing in Canada as well, with heavy opposition in Ontario.
The same is growing worldwide from Scotland to Norway, as people are beginning to realize that wind farms will never produce enough electricity to ever even make a difference in our fossil fuel consumption. Now, more and more people realize the negative environmental impact on their beautiful countryside, the destruction of wildlife and their habitat. They are also concerned about the health problems to humans who are exposed to both the noise generated by the turbines as well as physical effects of living near them, similar to that produced by high voltage power lines.
The fight isn't over however, as all existing wind farms need to be shut down everywhere and new proposed wind farms scrapped. This needs to happen, because all wind energy is doing is raising the price of electricity and related taxes everywhere, drastically increasing inflation at a time when lower energy costs and job creation should be a top priority. All this negativity while producing nothing in return.
The wind energy concept should be reduced to a scientific experimental project, where only a few dot the countryside in the form of research facilities where perhaps one day, it may be a good alternative to fossil fuel usage. As it stands now, their whole existence is negativity without any positive aspects at all.
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