‘A big bird kill’
Credit: By Paul Schliesmann, Kingston Whig-Standard | www.thewhig.com 24 August 2012 ~~ http://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/08/27/a-big-bird-kill/
An estimated 12 million migratory birds will be put at risk if two large offshore wind turbine projects are built in Lake Ontario, according to a report released this week by the Kingston Field Naturalists.
Three members of the volunteer organization who conducted a year-long, unpaid study are particularly concerned about two offshore projects that would see the a total of 268 turbines planted to the north and south of Main Duck Island, a natural stopping off point for hundreds of species.
“We think 12 million is low because it’s based on birds being studied at Prince Edward Point. The ones which don’t stop at Prince Edward Point aren’t being included yet,” said Chris Hargreaves, who worked on the report with Erwin Batalla and Barrie Gilbert.
The section of Lake Ontario from Prince Edward County to Wolfe Island is an acknowledged migratory flyway for 300 species of birds heading to U.S. wintering grounds and returning to Canada in the spring to nest.
The naturalists are especially concerned about the array of existing and proposed turbine projects that, if all completed, would create a deadly obstacle course of more than 1,000 turbines stretching from New York state to eastern Ontario.
They want to see more in-depth studies completed before further work goes ahead.
“Why would we go ahead with the industrialization of the Great Lakes without studies?” said Gilbert, a retired biology professor and lead researcher who has returned to Kingston after years of teaching in the U.S. “These are not windmills. This is not a wind farm. They’re industrial wind turbines.”
Gilbert said proof of the deadly effects turbines have on birds can be found on Wolfe Island where 86 turbines operate.
The bird mortality rate on the island, he said, is the highest for any wind project in Canada.
“I warned them five years ago there’s be a big bird kill,” said Gilbert. “Five years ago I said there will be big damage to birds. I think this is a no-brainer.”
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Tag: Wildlife |
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Maine as Third World Country:
CMP Transmission Rate Skyrockets 19.6% Due to Wind Power
Click here to read how the Maine ratepayer has been sold down the river by the Angus King cabal.
Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT
******** IF LINKS BELOW DON'T WORK, GOOGLE THEM*********
(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/
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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law
Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future
"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."
https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/
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