The Wall Street Journal carried an interesting editorial yesterday concerning ecological side effects of various energy sources.
It seems that the oil industry has been hounded for years regarding deaths of wildlife, particularly birds, around its facilities. Of course, we all know about the infamous Santa Barbara channel spill, not to mention Prince William Sound.
However, beyond oil-soaked birds, it seems that simply running refineries often results in various bird deaths. As do some power line configurations, resulting in fines for some utilities.
But it turns out that another form of energy makes those two- oil and electric power- look positively humane by comparison.
Care to guess which one?
It's wind. Windmills.
That's right. Those clean, eco-friendly wind turbines are estimated to kill several thousand birds each year. Not pigeons and starlings, mind you.
No, we're talking eagles and other protected species. And not in red state territory. No, think Altamont pass outside of San Francisco.
Yes, it seems that the federal and state governments have simply turned a blind eye to wind power's destruction of birds.
The editorial notes that, were the usual lawsuits filed against these new-age energy producers, the industry would likely collapse, or shrink significantly, from the prospect of ongoing penalty payments, not to mention the horrific black eye wind power would suffer from the publicity around this news.
Nice to know our government doesn't play favorites, or politics, with important things like energy sources and the enforcement of environmental law, isn't it?
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