No, Wind Turbines Are NOT the "Cuisinarts of the Sky"

The Institute of Energy Research (IER) thinks it's cute (even cuter than I think I am with my video above, which is bound to tick someone off for no good reason...probably someone who doesn't read the whole post). Problem for the IER is its true intentions when spreading hyperbolic fabrications like this are rather plain and obvious: it's a well-known fossil fuel industry front with a vested interest in, shall we say, something short of true renewable power success.

And while we're at it, no, you cannot spray hot sauce into the air around thermal solar plants, hold out a plate, and get rewarded with a stack of Buffalo wings.

The report, compiled by the USFWS’s National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory, describes the results of examinations of 233 carcasses of birds found at the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS) south of Las Vegas, the Desert Sunlight facility near Joshua Tree National Park, and the Genesis Solar project west of Blythe in Riverside County.

233 dead birds total at three power generation sites, and we are now gonna call them the "microwaves of the desert?" Puh-lease.

I guess that makes nuclear plants regular ole radioactive Tweetie meat grinders, and fossil fuel-driven power stations fine, feathered slaughterhouses on overdrive.

• Wind farms kill roughly 0.27 birds per GWh.
• Nuclear plants kill about 0.6 birds per GWh. (2.2x wind)
• Fossil-fueled power stations kill about 9.4 birds per GWh. (34.8x wind)

Buildings and windows the Winged Black Plague.

Building collisions, and particularly collisions with windows, are a major anthropogenic threat to birds, with rough estimates of between 100 million and 1 billion birds killed annually in the United States.

And pets named Sox or Mittens who have wrested control of the Internet from humans a veritable avian extinction event.

America’s cats, including housecats that adventure outdoors and feral cats, kill between 1.3 billion and 4.0 billion birds in a year, says Peter Marra of the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute in Washington, D.C.

On top of this ridiculous fossil fuel industry-funded "cuisinarts of the sky" misinformation, you unfortunately get at least one misguided celebrity (who also happens to be a screwball antivaxxer) helping to sink a policy-making knife right into the back of booming renewables. It should come as no surprise to anyone that we have zilcho functioning offshore wind farms in the US presently.

Look, people, we all need to stop falling for these silly distractions and devious lies. Wind power generation, when sited properly and run with the habits and needs of local wildlife in mind, is NOT what birds, other animals, or the environment itself have to worry about. Watch the Audubon video below to find out what really is.



I know at least some of you mean well, when questioning wind power, but can we keep our binoculared eyes on the real prize, my little wayward birdwatcher friends, please? Thank you.