From: runhorvathrun@HOTMAIL.COM
Subject: DanH's Rant, was: Buffalo marathon report
To: DRNEO@LISTSERV.KENT.EDU
Dan Fox wrote:
> I hadn't realized windmills were such killing machines. It's a bummer that
> our energy production has such adverse effects on one population or another.
> Maybe we can figure out a way to keep animals away from the blades.
I was going to let Tom's original comment slide right on by, but then Dan had to go and bring it up again, so I feel like I gotta weigh in.
I understand that there is a concern about our fine feathered (or otherwise winged) animal friends. I'm not really sure if much can be done, except for one thing: locate the turbines correctly to avoid such creatures as much as possible. Perhaps there are indeed other things as well. So yes, it's a concern, but I'm much more concerned about these and other excuses (such as esthetics) used for the purpose of *not* moving toward renewable energy.
Tom, I'm not saying this was the motivation for your original comment; I'm just having my rant. Feel free to ignore me completely.
How long have they been "studying" the concept of placing wind turbines in Lake Erie? I know what some are thinking: what's the hurry? All the study and hesitation would be fine, if we weren't still building %$@# coal-fired plants, including some in Ohio. We should all know that this is just plain wrong. And don't get me started on "clean" coal.
I've spent some amount of time in Europe lately. I was informed that Germany has 50,000 wind turbines. I didn't doubt it - they're everywhere. Holland, Austria and a few other countries have gobs of them too. Observing this, I could only think: why the heck can't we do that? Lack of collective will?
How many birds and bats die from pollution caused by the burning of fossil fuels? How many die or will die from (this should bring on some comments) climate change caused by human activity?
OK - I'm done now. Have a wonderful green day.
By the way, nice report, Tom.
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