Interesting thread and much to discuss. I think we have to develop wind energy more than we now do. The price of other energy sources are far greater in terms of mortality rates for all living creatures across the board. Building small units for households is a huge waste of resources, pound in pound out wise. Those tall towers are often needed to reap wind reward while a small short tower may in many places not find much wind. Add to this maintenance, who among us has the resources and or guts to service our own personal wind mills. These units do make sense in certain applications but not as a nation wide policy. Then there is the vexing bird problem. I know it is pie in the sky science but are ornithologists helping the wind energy companies find ways to lower bird mortality, some kind of deterrent, sound, light or whatever it takes? Think of your nice large widows and the birds that collide into them, yet a simple hawk cut-out reduces mortality there. Smart, simple and cheap. I do strongly support no turbine zones where there is mass migration/mortality potential.
Peter Schmidt Photography 612-501-7458 ________________________________ From: Molly Thompson <[email protected]> To: [email protected] Sent: Tuesday, June 14, 2011 1:32 PM Subject: Re: [mou-net] Golden Eagles harmed by wind turbines Ah but the midwest is important. We have many forested and shoreline regions. We along the North Shore of Lake Superior in Minnesota are concerned. Recent studies have shown a large abundance of raptors and songbirds fly over and use this shoreline. If you are not familiar with the North Shore, it is actually a forested ridgeline that rises to over 1200 feet elevation within a mile or two of the lake. great updrafts. Hawk Ridge Bird Observatory is on a ridge over Duluth, MN.Also, there are regions of the midwest where prairie chickens nest and it has been shown that the birds will not nest in fields with wind towers. This issue is much more complicated than the wind power advocates let on. Bats are also affected by wind turbines.Just my two cents.Molly ThompsonDuluth, MN > Date: Tue, 14 Jun 2011 10:58:45 -0700 > From: [email protected] > Subject: Re: [mou-net] Golden Eagles harmed by wind turbines > To: [email protected] > > Perhaps the most unfortunate aspect of wind energy is the notion that we > (society) have to tailor everything to the corporate model. In other words, > we could utilize residential scale turbines that pose a much lesser risk to > migrating birds. But the turbines in the Midwest pose little threat anyway > when placed in big rowcrop ag fields where there is little concentrated bird > movement. The Appalachian region and similar mountainous places are another > story... > > Eric Harrold > > --- On Mon, 6/13/11, linda whyte <[email protected]> wrote: > > > From: linda whyte <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [mou-net] Golden Eagles harmed by wind turbines > To: [email protected] > Date: Monday, June 13, 2011, 6:37 PM > > > It is indeed, unfortunate. There seems to be no escaping the > conclusion that all forms of energy production come at some kind of > price. We need to minimize the "side-effects" or collateral damages of > all of them---and start by examining our own energy consumption. > Linda Whyte > > On Mon, Jun 13, 2011 at 12:38 PM, Jim Ryan <[email protected]> wrote: > > This is most unfortunate: > > > > http://www.ncpa.org/sub/dpd/index.php?Article_ID=20764&utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=DPD > > > > -- > > Sincerely, > > > > Jim Ryan > > Saint Paul's Westside > > ---- > > One of the first conditions of happiness is that the link between Man and > > Nature shall not be broken. -* Leo Tolstoy* > > > > A well governed appetite is the greater part of liberty. - *Lucius Annaeus > > Seneca* > > ---- > > > > ---- > > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > > > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html > > ---- > Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net > Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html ---- Join or Leave mou-net: http://lists.umn.edu/cgi-bin/wa?SUBED1=mou-net Archives: http://lists.umn.edu/archives/mou-net.html
