Things I don't understand

Hey Jim, I do not know the details of your area, but I know such farms were not placed in some areas north of Philadelphia due to bird/bat issues.  Some birds have a small habitat and the placement of a wind farm can be a major disruption to their food supply and can mean the end to a particular type of bird and other critters in that area. 

Yes you would think they could see it coming, yet their focus is not like our focus, and it is more than just the blades, other critters are affected too, their food supply changes......

It is usually humans that win out though.....but do we really?

Gloria

PS I know other areas were found to place wind farms.  I am all for alternative sources of energy and am glad time and research is taken before just going into an area blindly.  Hopefully your area will find a good balance.

Jim,

Those pesky wind farms are encroaching on the natural habitat of insects. They also rob sunlight from some of the dirt that surrounds the turbines.

Let's keep sending our energy dollars overseas and keep our energy costs high so we can protect these underprivileged groups. Insects and dirt have rights, too.

Windmills change the environment, but so does every human who takes a breath. Maybe all human life form should be banned so those birds can take their proper place in the world.

Our town (www.pennsville.org)  just approved the beginning stage of a wind/solar farm.  If it is completed, it will be the biggest of it's kind in NJ.  I'm excited about it for the cost savings, the proactive approach to a very important problem and the creation of new jobs.

I don't know about the insect and bird problem.  I hope it doesn't become a huge issue here,as well.

This made me laugh out loud Jim. There are a few more things San Diego is lacking, one of them being roads able to handle 4 straight days of rain, drivers who know how to drive in the rain and somewhere other than Qualcomm Stadium to hold the millions of gallons of rain!

Beats me, Jim.  I don't think birds would get caught, but Jon thinks they might.  Seems like the turbulence would warn them off.  I love Stephanie's comment about Qualcomm after seeing it flooded on TV.  I hope it didn't suffer any serious damage.

I think the wind farms are a great idea, and I've wondered why California hasn't taken advantage of this source of power already. I guess I now have my answer.

Wind farms have some inherent issues that make them less than ideal as an alternate energy source.  They are expensive to keep in operating condition.  They are not reliable as a constant generator of electric and, as a result, traditional electric generators must remain continually on standby to pick up the slack.  Whenever the wind blows too hard, or not hard enough, there is no electricity generated.  A coal or gas burning turbine must be continually fueled, or there will be considerable delay (no electric service available) for quite a while during startup.  The result is that, so far, wind generated energy is not economical, and it has saved little traditional fuel.  It does, however, sure make us feel like we are benefiting from alternative energy sources.

Here is an article on wind farms killing birds and why.  Sounds like there like 10,000 birds killed every year by all the wind farms in the US and 4,000 are from one farm in California.  The more they build the more will be killed.  The blades can spin at 179 miles an hour.  They look slow but the tips travel fast.  Remember we used to have Dodo birds at one time also.

Very interesting comments here.  I was not aware of any of it.  I too thought that the wind farms would be an excellent idea but it looks like there needs to be more investigation into where they might be better situated.

Jim, I have enjoyed reading all the comments.  We have several hundred in our area and the only negative I have heard is the NOISE that the turbines give off to the neighbors.  I think they are great and I hope the bird issues can be worked out.

I had not ever thought of the environmental / bird issues before!!!  But I know whenever I have had the chance to go by wind farms...such as on the way to Portland Oregon I am amazed by them....the gracefulness and the beauty is some thing else to me!   One of my brothers clients has some in LaGrande Oregon...will have to ask him about the bird issues!   hmmm