[BCNnet] Fwd: NJ Audubon Society's Wind Energy Policy Paper

[Terry Schilling]

I think there's a HUGE difference in human vs. avian mortality from 
pollution. Many of the effects of pollution on human health stems from 
repeated and long-term exposure, and probably has relatively little 
effect on species whose average lifespan in the wild is considerably 
less than 10 years. Millions of wind farms dotting the landscape would 
undoubtedly mean many fewer people dying of pollution related diseases 
and conditions (and millions is what it would take to replace our 
dependence on fossil fuels), but would probably contribute to the 
extinction of threatened bird species, and could become a contributing 
factor in the continued decline in many others.

Terry Schilling
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Evan WW Craig wrote:
> Thanks Judy.
> 
> Sierra Club just released a list of 22 peer reviewed studies showing the
> health hazards of air pollution from thruways. Among them was a study
> concluding that more people die from the air pollution from cars than from
> traffic accidents. I bring this up to underscore the opening paragraph in the
> NJ Audubon policy paper, and suggest that it has neglected to contemplate
> avian mortality from conventional power sources. After all, pollution from
> power plants outrank pollution from cars and trucks - each accountable for
> more than 1000 human deaths annually in Illinois. So what of the canaries in
> this mine?
> 
> It would be great to build in a process to help avoid and a recourse to
> mitigate particularly bad citing of specific wind turbines. However, it would
> be a shame if such a concern posed a roadblock to deployment of a technology
> that overall poses a significantly lower environmental burden than present
> technologies - which we presently have no ability to regulate on the basis of
> avian welfare. 
> 
> I also noted that the authors have assumed greater collision based avian
> mortality from larger wind turbines than smaller ones (Winkelman). This
> contradicts my understanding that slower turning, larger turbines are less
> deadly. I have not seen data or studies to support this however.
> 
> ---
> Evan Craig
> Chair, Woods & Wetlands Group of Sierra Club
> http://illinois.sierraclub.org/w&w
> H:847-680-6437
> ... Work to Live, Live to Ride, Ride to Work!
> 
> On Fri, 1 Aug 2003, Judy Pollock wrote:
> 
> The topic of the impacts of wind energy plants on birds has come up on this
> listserv before - NJ Audubon has reviewed the issue for the east and has
> issued
> some extensive recommendations - some food for thought here..
> 
> 
>>NJ Audubon Society has recently developed a position paper on wind energy
>>projects.  A copy of this can be downloaded at
>>
>><http://www.njaudubon.org/conservation/Opinions/07-03.html>http://www.njau
>>dubon.org/conservation/Opinions/07-03.html
> 
> 
> 
> Judy Pollock
> Evanston (Cook)
> bobolnk@ix.netcom.com