Wind Farms May Pose Danger to Whooping Cranes Thursday, February 28, 2008 STAFFORD, Kan. â Whooping cranes have waged a valiant fight against extinction, but federal officials warn of a new potential threat to the endangered birds: wind farms. Down to about 15 in 1941, the gargantuan birds that migrate each fall from Canada to Texas now number 266, thanks to conservation efforts. But because wind energy has gained such traction, whooping cranes could again be at risk â either from crashing into the towering wind turbines and transmission lines or because of habitat lost to the wind farms. "Basically you can overlay the strongest, best areas for wind turbine development with the whooping crane migration corridor," said Tom Stehn, whooping crane coordinator for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. * *http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,333633,00.html --------------------------------------------------- The Protected Species Act has been used to fight just about every type of "politically incorrect" form of power generation, but when it might be used against a "politically correct" form of power generation, it is positively hilarious to watch the greenies bend themselves into pretzels trying to ward off attempts to use this act against their own ideas of how things aught to be. You can check out http://www.treehugger.com/files/2006/04/common_misconce.php to get a taste of their antics.
EVERY move we make as humans at this point in time (as stewards of this planet) cries for scrutiny and calculation. Are we no better than the beast in the African brush or are we better than that? Ask yourself are we different from the common beast or not? Do empathy and compassion distinguish us? Make upu your mind are we animals or 'special'?
this is an issue thats dear and near to me. Man's quest for power is not only polluting mother earth, but also killing many species of animals along the way, including my fellow birds. We could learn alot from the Amish
Two words: nuclear power. Which would you rather live near, a nuke plant, which usually means a beautiful big lake that can be used for recreation, or a wind farm, which is incompatible with any other use?
Fuck the birds. Wind is the best we've got (though solar may *some day* be better...). It's time people dropped the goddamned political labels already. I'm interested in reducing air pollution and global warming, and decreasing dependence on coal/oil... but that doesn't mean I have to give a shit if we lose a couple of avian species in the process. * While we're at it, I'm very much pro-nuclear power. Everyone who thinks radiation is evil really needs to get a grip. TVs and computer monitors (the older CRTs) are particle accelerators. If you're older than 20, I guarantee you've spent thousands of hours STARING DIRECTLY INTO A PARTICLE ACCELERATOR. Unlike cell phone radiation, the radiation produced by CRTs is ionizing (i.e. provably cancer-causing)... they actually have to add lead to the glass in order to reduce the radiation to acceptable levels. I'm not making this stuff up; look it up yourself. Radiation is all around us. We can be stupid with it (Chernobyl), we can be smart with it (reactors that literally CANNOT blow up or critically melt), or we can pretend it doesn't exist and turn into retarded Luddites every time the word "nuclear" is mentioned. Sadly, it seems as though the vast majority of environmentalists have chosen the latter open. It's really too bad... nuclear is extremely clean.