Windmills slaughter endangered birds

By ERIC CAINE
columns@modbee.com

last updated: August 21, 2008 04:25:36 AM

For many years now, travelers over the Altamont Pass have enjoyed the picturesque sight of turning windmills. In addition to the visual pleasure, the knowledge that these giant machines are generating clean energy has been a comforting source of pride as California leads the way to a future less dependent on foreign oil.

Another attractive feature of the drive over Altamont Pass, even for those with their eyes glued to the road, is the abundance of large birds flying low along the hills, over the road and into the ravines. People who know their birds often can distinguish between the red-tailed hawks, turkey vultures and golden eagles as they soar close to the road.

Unfortunately, the combination of windmills and birds has proven a deadly mix. When birders and nature lovers began wondering about the possible effects of the windmills on wildlife more than 20 years ago, no one could have guessed the chilling truth. Now, there are more than 5,000 whirling turbines spread over almost 50 square miles, and their gruesome toll on wildlife is well documented.

Studies of the windmills' death-dealing effects on birds have put the kill rate at 1,700 to 4,700 birds per year. Protected raptors like golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, burrowing owls and American kestrels have been especially vulnerable. The most recent study shows as many as 2,200 individuals of these four species are killed annually -- despite efforts to reduce the toll.

Almost two years ago, several environmental groups engaged in litigation with the windmill companies reached a settlement in which the wind companies agreed to reduce bird mortality by 50 percent within three years. The most recent study shows bird mortality has actually increased.

No one is suggesting the wind companies are directly responsible for the increase, and no one wants to do away with the benefits of wind-generated energy. Nonetheless, bird deaths from the windmills must drop dramatically. The crumpled bodies of raptors, their wings shorn and their noble heads battered bloody, are an unacceptable toll and make the notion of "clean energy" a hideous oxymoron.

Surely California, a world leader in technical innovation and environmental awareness, can devise a better way to tap energy from the wind.

Even oilman T. Boone Pickens has jumped on the wind wagon with a huge investment in wind-generated energy in his home state of Texas. It would be a tragic mistake to pursue wind power knowing that the cost would be heaped carcasses of torn and battered birds. Conversely, the engineer who designs a bird-friendly windmill and the company that markets it will carve a huge niche in the energy marketplace -- and provide a globally viable product.

As we enter the 21st century, the more we learn about environmental awareness the more we understand its link to economic success. The people of California will never allow the wholesale slaughter of wildlife to be the price for alternatives to an oil-based economy. On the other hand, the prospect of truly clean energy sources offers an economic reward commensurate with its environmental benefits. Insistence on a better way makes as much economic sense as it is morally right.

Caine, a Modesto resident, teaches in the humanities department at Merced College. E-mail him at columns@modbee.com.

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