# Eagles or wind power? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [January 22, 2012, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257 "2012-01-22T00:08:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 11\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 12:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257/61 "2012-01-23T00:09:23Z")
Someone ought to point out, though, that they aren’t actually planning to go out and kill birds. I don’t understand why no one has brought that up, yet. ---
**Author:** ![ratatoskK](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ratatoskk/32/2987_2.png) [@ratatoskK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ratatoskK)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 12:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257/62 "2012-01-23T00:24:33Z")
> [@Asimovian](#): > > Someone ought to point out, though, that they aren’t actually planning to go out and kill birds. I don’t understand why no one has brought that up, yet. See #54. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 12:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257/63 "2012-01-23T00:28:57Z")
WAIT, hold up a second. I thought this was just a variance they are asking for which will let them hit a certain number of birds with the blades _by mistake_. Now you’re saying they’ll actually hunt them down and kill them? Can someone tell me if that’s true? ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 12:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257/64 "2012-01-23T00:30:16Z")
But seriously, folks, I hear that instead of killing them, they will be attaching them to a treadmill and using the power generated to recharge electric taxis in Dallas. Tolkien would be appalled. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 12:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257/65 "2012-01-23T00:31:35Z")
> [@ratatoskK](#): > > See #54. I was making a joke. Several folks have pointed that out in this thread. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 12:36am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257/66 "2012-01-23T00:36:54Z")
Sorry to have taken so long getting back here. Weekends are my work week and I’m pretty fried after a day of work. As so many of you pointed out, the permit does not allow the wind company to hunt down and slaughter eagles. I thought I had expressed my doubt about that in my OP but I see now that it doesn’t read that way. (That’ll teach me to post after a 10-hour shift.) I also need to clarify that I am not against wind power in general or this project in particular, but this action by Goodhue AWA really smacked me between the eyes. I’m old enough to remember when bald eagles were considered to be headed for inevitable extinction, so seeing them considered expendable is jarring in the extreme. Because of the proximity of this project to the important eagle habitat along the Mississippi River bluffs, I think it will be a good test case for just how much eagle-killing people are willing to tolerate. There are other wind projects proposed or already operating in the vicinity that haven’t inspired anywhere near the opposition that this one has. I drive past one in Dodge County fairly often. I’m not sure I’d like to live next to it, but it seems to fit well in that kind of territory (very, very flat land, mostly agricultural, and low human population). Still, I think on this one I have to come down on the side of the eagles (not the Eagles, TYVM), at least until some solution is found for both bird and bat massacres. Oh, and I think my PC is powered by the nuclear plant at Prairie Island, but I can’t swear to it. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257/67 "2012-01-23T01:07:25Z")
> [@Sudden\_Kestrel](#): > > Still, I think on this one I have to come down on the side of the eagles (not the Eagles, TYVM), at least until some solution is found for both bird and bat massacres. > > . per my cite above "_The Wisconsin Bird Initiative states that wind turbines have a “low impact” on avian mortality compared to window glass and communication towers [source: WBCI]. And in 2006, the Audubon Society gave its figurative seal of approval to the American Wind Energy Association. The president of the national organization is quoted by Renewable Energy World as stating, “When you look at a wind turbine, you can find the bird carcasses and count them. With a coal-fired power plant, you can’t count the carcasses, but it’s going to kill a lot more birds”_ In other words, if you want to be on the side of the eagles, push for the wind turbines. ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 2:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257/68 "2012-01-23T02:32:10Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > per my cite above "_The Wisconsin Bird Initiative states that wind turbines have a “low impact” on avian mortality compared to window glass and communication towers [source: WBCI]. And in 2006, the Audubon Society gave its figurative seal of approval to the American Wind Energy Association. The president of the national organization is quoted by Renewable Energy World as stating, “When you look at a wind turbine, you can find the bird carcasses and count them. With a coal-fired power plant, you can’t count the carcasses, but it’s going to kill a lot more birds”_ > > In other words, if you want to be on the side of the eagles, push for the wind turbines. I do get your point and I agree in a general sense, which is why I posted this here. I’d be more comfortable if they sited _this particular_ wind farm on more suitable land at a greater distance from the river and Lake Pepin. Ultimately I won’t have any vote on the issue since I don’t live in the affected townships, but I am interested to see what happens with this project, especially after the _Star Tribune_’s article this week. ---
**Author:** ![Xema](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/9de053/32.png) [@Xema](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Xema)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257/69 "2012-01-23T04:35:49Z")
> [@DrDeth](#): > > Nope: > [http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/wind-turbine-kill-birds1.htm](http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/wind-turbine-kill-birds1.htm) The linked article is suspect for several reasons: > [@](#): > > Latticework blades with small surface area are far from efficient for energy generation, and far from safe for birds. The lattice structure actually attracts large birds, because the frame makes for an excellent perch. The blades are obviously not in the form of a lattice (which would make no aerodynamic sense) and birds certainly so not perch on them when they are moving at any hazardous speed. Some of the towers indeed have a lattice form, and birds do perch on them - which is clearly a problem. > [@](#): > > The other design issue is the blades’ low surface area, because less surface area means the blades have to spin faster to turn the electricity-generating turbines. Surface area looks like the wrong term here. State-of-the-art blades (see [photo](http://www.greenenergyjobs.com/career-guide/wind-energy-jobs/) - top right) are conspicuously long and thin with notably low surface area. The quoted statement makes much more sense if “surface area” is taken to mean swept area. It’s not made clear whether “spin faster” here refers to rpm or tip speed - this makes more sense if it’s the former. ---
**Author:** ![shijinn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@shijinn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/shijinn)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 4:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257/70 "2012-01-23T04:48:25Z")
i suppose dressing up the windmills as giant scarecrows with huge eyes wouldn’t work? ---
**Author:** ![Sudden\_Kestrel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecd19e/32.png) [@Sudden\_Kestrel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sudden_Kestrel)\ **Post date:** [January 23, 2012, 7:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257/71 "2012-01-23T07:12:16Z")
> [@shijinn](#): > > i suppose dressing up the windmills as giant scarecrows with huge eyes wouldn’t work? It’d be worth a try! It would give the red hat ladies something to do between field trips to the Old Log Theater. They could have different scarecrows to match the season. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/eagles-or-wind-power/610257.md?page=3)