Cost of Going Green? Wind Farm Turbines Slaughter Bats — and That’s Bad for Crop Prices!
- Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:34pm by
Christopher Santarelli
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AP
New green technologies look to be backfiring for Pennsylvania farmers, and the nocturnal creatures who take care of their pest problem. Pittsburgh Post-Gazette:
“The 420 wind turbines now in use across Pennsylvania killed more than 10,000 bats last year — mostly in the late summer months, according to the state Game Commission. That’s an average of 25 bats per turbine per year, and the Nature Conservancy predicts as many as 2,900 turbines will be set up across the state by 2030.
This is a bad time to be a bat.
It may seem like a good thing to those who fear the flying mammals, but the wind farm mortality rate is an acute example of how harnessing natural energy can lead to disruptions in the circle of life — and the cycle of business. This chain of events mixes biology and economics: Bat populations go down, bug populations go up and farmers are left with the bill for more pesticide and crops (which accounts for those pricey tomatoes in Kansas).”
The Post-Gazette goes on to point out a Science Magazine report that calculated that bats saved farmers about $74 per acre, and a total cost across the state estimated to be $277.9 million. Technology producers are looking to develop solutions to deter bats from the turbines like high-pitch sound generators that keep creatures from coming too close.
“All these options cost money,” said Ms. Librandi Mumma, and it can be a tough sell to the private industry handing over the information that helps in the research. “You don‘t want to penalize the hand that’s giving you the data.”
The energy producers could be labeled killing machines, as the state Game Commission report estimates that in addition to bats, 1,680 birds were killed in the turbines last year.
Here’s a report by KCTS-TV from last year:
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Comments (186)
HairRazor
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:21pmMight need some bat wire around the turbines killing bats..
Report Post »Ookspay
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:41pmAhhh the immutable law of unintended consequences.
The good Lord gave us oil, let’s get it, let’s use. I believe that “if” Co2 causes global warming that’s a good thing, maybe it‘s God’s way of protecting us from the “Coming Ice Age”.
Got Faith?
Report Post »banjarmon
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:46pmIT”S a JOB for BATMAN!!!
Report Post »101
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 9:30pmSave the bats & you save the farm, ban wind turbines!
Report Post »Bear
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 9:33pmIt never sece to amaze me how the Libs pretend to want to help the Environment to get their way Politically!If its not eating up our Food supplies with Ethanol, It’s killing all the Birds and Bats with Windmills ( You go crop eating BUGS) that don’t produce much Energy! When are people Going to say enough is enough? The sky isn’t falling your just creating Crisis after Crisis…its either man made or imaginary! Get some Adults back in Washington 2012 Please America…Tired of the Stupid,Liberal,Hippie Morons!
Report Post »the_ancient
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 10:02pmCO2 is a non-toxic Inert Gas that is Vital to Plant Growth..
Oxygen is a Corrosive and Explosive Gas that is a Danger to the Planet itself
is anything, Oxygen is the “problem”
Report Post »Fantastic Four
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 10:41pmWho needs bats and also who need farms anyway that produce food, the president himself said on msnbc that green tech is the future and will solve all of america’s problems………
we should get funding to put wind turbines on top of all the mosque’s we are building, repairing and restoring around the world
Report Post »TheCenturion
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 11:05pmHas anyone heard from Batman lately? Please don’t let him be a victim.
Seriously though, this is typical leftist, agenda driven progressive-ism, they NEVER think things through before foisting their “solutions” upon us.
Fine example of ANOTHER failed leftist policy.
Report Post »mikem1969
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 11:23pmMore damage being caused by green energy. Stick that in your freaking craw libs.
Report Post »Hobbs57
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 12:06amI live in Pittsburgh and posted this article on my Face Book page. I figured these windwills are responsible for 17.5 trillion more insect living a year because of al the bats they kill. This has to have a substantial impact on the natural environment, there is no way around it. This is particularly dangerous when you consider mosquito’s carrying West Nile virus, Malaria and even finding MRSA in their blood.
Report Post »I can barely stand the Pittsburgh Post Gazette, as they do nothing but BASH the Marcellus Gas Industry trying to get going here. This paper is committed to this stuff, using loosely gathered statistics and portraying whatever horrific story they wish to pretend is reality and report it as factual. Meanwhile, you get an alarming fact that DIRECTLY effects the environmental life cycle in the area and you get this story.
OH yeah, they are quick to writ a story about how the shale industry only spent 221 million repairing roads in the area, trying to raise the question, is that enough ?? Are these EVIL gas company’s ripping apart PA roads and having us tax payers take up the bill ?? Cause darn it, they could be using that tax money to build another stupid tunnel under the river, or direct it to one of their pet liberal causes. The Democrats have run this city into the ground, pushed all the business out of the city through regulation and tax, and the city schools some of the worst in the nation. This is what you get when you keep Dems in office for 70 year
capitalismrocks
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 12:14amCoal Fire plants are looking more and more attractive by every passing day….
Where are all those new Nuclear Power Plant permits and Clean Natural Gas turbine plants… hmmmmm…. seems the Star Trek solar solutions aren’t working and now the Don Quixote windmill solutions are backfiring too…
Oh and don’t forget the Salinas “Green Car” electric vehicle company in CA. just shuttered its windows and closed its doors… nobody wanted to invest in the company — gee.. SHOCKER!!!
Report Post »fixer
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 1:54ami think it’s the rapidly changing air pressure doing it.
Report Post »chazman
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 7:35amOh, but wind turbines are the wave of the future! It’s how we get away from foreign oil! It‘s the ’green thing’ to do!
Report Post »You dam Liberal Marxist’ are killing my bats with yer F/Upped wind turbines …
cowdude
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 7:53amCall PETA and they’l be all over this. Maybe they’ll strap themselves to the windmills to stop this.
Truly, bats are one of natures unsung little heros, taking care of human agitants. I hope they fix this and strap a PETA member or two to a windmill.
Cowdude
Report Post »http://conservativewatercooler.com
JUSTANOTHEROPINION
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 8:02amToo easy! hehe
Report Post »TexasStu
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 8:17amI have always believed that for every action there is an equal opposite reaction. It is true in everything in life. You have to think about every action you take to make sure you are not taking an action that is going to give you a reaction that you do not want or can’t handle. The real question is will people learn from this?
Report Post »Who would Jesus bomb?
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 9:37amOOKSPAY… lol
Report Post »oldoldtimer
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 10:34amI suspect the bee die off will eventually be proven to be GMO crops. There has never been any long term studues done on humans or animals. When the desired genes are transferred there are as many as 4000 unknowns transfered also. Remember the ki!!er corn?
Report Post »psst
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:15pmThe people in these communities should be very afraid..
Report Post »The Count does not take lightly that his people are being slain.
And just look at the name of the state.. It’s downright eerie.such close resemblance.
If you think Holder defends his people to the optimum, ya ain‘t seen nutt’n yet.
See, Holder is just defending. He ain’t on the attack.
The Count on the other hand. Well, nuff said.
Baron_Doom
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:30pmAnd where is PETA in all this?
Report Post »psst
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:46pmBaron said:”And where is PETA in all this?”
Report Post »——
Umm. In the Tank for Soetoro.
DisillusionedDaily
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:14pmIt’s not nice to fool around with Mother Nature!!
Report Post »Jenny Lind
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:49pmAmen.
Report Post »MIBUGNU2
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:57pmGet PETA and the EPA on Bama’s butt…Killing Birds,Bats and Things….
Report Post »Better let Gore know about this..He’ll find a way to turn a BUCK….
mydogtippy
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:13pmWhere are the Endangered Spieces act and peta these bats, eagles our endangered spieces, Environmentist should be up in arms over this.Bat do a lot of good for farmers and in the citys by kept down bugs as well.Birds do the same,But Gore want clean energy at the cost of this country wildlife.
Report Post »frustratedwithgovt
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:19pmExactly. The problem with all these initiatives, and frankly any government policy, is that they look short term and fail to account how “X” policy impacts everyone and everything as well as the long term effects. I worked in the Cellular industry and there have been more than a few towers that use Microwave for backhaul that needed to be relocated due to wind farms interrupting line of sight.
Report Post »solaveritas
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:25pmAfter the cronyism of ethanol subsidies and the debacle of their unintended consequences on the price of FOOD for starving people, do you expect the government greenies to make sense ANYWHERE?
Its about picking winners and losers, end the POWER that comes with it.
Report Post »mydogtippy
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:51pmfrustratedwithgovt Thank you for reply I like your name I think thats how all of us feel about what going on in are country.Here in Ohio brown bats are on the endangered list .Because when I had to get one out of my consin house. I was told not to kill it they are so small they fit in your hand. This girl is not coward. Have a nice day
Report Post »usmc1063
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 9:56pmAl Gore want’s nothing more that to line his pockets in untold wealth simply because he is the Czar of clean green.
Report Post »Divothead
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:11pmI can’t imaging those big blades moving fast enough to hit a bat.
Report Post »Champ
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:21pmThe tips of the blades are moving over 200mph. They kill birds and bats frequently. there are several near my father-in-laws farm in Iowa, and they look like they’re moving slowly until you get up close and personal.
Report Post »9111315
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:28pmThis is not your grand daddy’s dutch windmill. These are hi-tech killing machines.
Report Post »OneRepublic4us
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:36pmI guess you didn’t watch the video. They don’t have to come in contact with the blades. In the video about 4:08 they explain barotrauma.
Barotrauma is physical damage to body tissues caused by a difference in pressure between an air space inside or beside the body and the surrounding fluid.[1][2] In addition to humans, and in contrast with Avian lungs, bats suffer fatal barotrauma around wind farms.
Report Post »OneRepublic4us
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:38pmThey have also been killing Golden Eagles.
Report Post »Steal Your Face
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 10:15pmit doesnt matter how fast the blades are moving….bats weigh ounces….maybe a pound….those blades are massive, generally sharp metal, even minimal impact will kill bats, birds, you, me…the economy, common sense, tax dollars,
Report Post »daddy warbucks
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:08pmThis is just the tip of the tax funded iceburg.
Report Post »Google:
“Abandoned rusting wind turbines in California, Hawaii & other locations – the result of gov subsidies that have been discontinued. Wind energy is just a tax scam.”google: ‘Abandoned Rusted Wind Turbines Reflect The Hoax Of Environmental Activists’ , ‘ Wind Energy’s Ghosts’, ‘Wind Turbine O&M costs to spiral in coming years’wind vane oil leaks, videos of birds getting hit/killed, explosions, off shore fiascos & great photos you won’t see on NBC
Paul -Indiana
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:08pmYou just can’t make up stuff like this.
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:06pmStupid liberal green lovers. 10.000 bats dead. Oh your always sooooooooo smart.. what will you do when you have so many bugs that they start driving people nuts, oh and what will these so called animals loves do when these bats are on the endangered species list. Stop this freaking madness! God help us from the idiots in this country!
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:29pmHey – you people need to lay off the electric turbines and dead bats and geese and ducks. Now all the farmers will go back to buying poison for insects. Buy Monsanto stock now!
Report Post »abbygirl1994
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 9:08pmHey Turkey 13…… Since your so intelligent.. lets hear why monsanto is better than bats, ducks and geese?? I dare you to tell us! And while your at it, tell us the differences in the health benefits using monsanto and the God given critters gave us for bug control! I’m waitingggggggggggggggg!!
Report Post »the hawk
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 9:20pmWhen is Sunstien gonna file suit for the bats rights ?
Report Post »turkey13
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 10:19pmHey Abbygirl you don’t get it- it is a visous cycle – money is spent and made on green energy. The rich friends of the president and Harry Reid and of course our best friend Nancy get richer. They buy stock in Co’s that make poison after all the natural preditors are killed off. A lot of the turbins are made by our good friends in China. And of course don‘t forget these co’s provide good union jobs.
Report Post »notreally
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:05pmHow many birds or bats have died due to nuclear power? Fewer than the human beings Teddy Boy Kennedy caused to die in his car.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:05pmalso, SHEEP, LAMBS, COWS, BULLS, CALVES, HORSES, MARES, FOULS,
PEOPLE!!!!
The wind turbines are horrific.
Report Post »jb.kibs
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:03pmHAWTs do cause problems for birds and bats, they spin so fast and their blades are so long that it’s hard for birds to see and bats to pick up on sonar. VAWTs however, i hear, are much better for them because their blades aren’t spread outwards from the center of the turbine. their blades are straight up and down around the center axis and they don’t have to rotate into the wind, like the hawts.
Report Post »horizontal \ vertical axis wind turbines.
jim
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:59pmGreen means red… as in blood… killin’ bats, birds and people… more than any other energy source. Hmmm… something Gore and Obama and the left fail to mention. What do you expect from societal destroyers?
Report Post »Contrarian51
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:36pmActually, green means red as in red ink, thus the need for government to subsidize businesses and industries that would otherwise have failed long ago.
Report Post »Chuck Stein
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 8:48pmWhy do you think he is called “Gore”?
Report Post »yosemitefan
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:59pmEven T Boone Pickens lost a Billion $$$ on wind turbines. His accountant figured he could break even on the cost in about 40 years. Yeah Green Energy!!! ….Not.
Report Post »Smokey_Bojangles
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:57pmBet they kill baby seals as well.
Report Post »LinkedIn G
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:56pmIf a spotted owl ever gets killed…the conswquences will be dire…
Report Post »loadingmyclips
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:55pmwhen ever someone starts jabbering about windfarms I just cringe. What a greedy specie we are overlooking the slaughter of birds and bats for our comfort. What do you do. Looks like wind is in.
Report Post »kickagrandma
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:53pmThey also frighten the deer, owls, hawks and eagles.
The are NOT good. Do you know WHY there are so many?
The government, or the evil people behind their establishment on earth, pay exorbitant prices to the land owners for the right to place the windmills on their land.
Could it possibly be that these are NOT for our use and advancement, but to clear the air after a nuclear attack which the elite think will take us all out while they are safe in their underground bunkers? Make sense to me, because they are not good now for ANY LIVING CREATURE GOD made and placed on this earth.
Check it out for yourselves.
GOD BLESS AND PROTECT YOUR KIDS IN JESUS’ NAME, LORD, AMEN.
Report Post »Hemispheres
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 11:49pmThanks, I needed that laugh. Everyone knows that wind turbines actually can’t clear the air after a nuclear attack because they actually SLOW the air. This slower air does not cool as well as fast moving air and global temperatures rise (because lots of “sciencey” stuff happens)–wiping out entire populations of rural, conservative folk. Then, and only then, do the elite rise from their underground bunkers to reign. Using their so-called green technology to, in fact, raise the global temperature. Genius!
Report Post »…just ask Steve Milloy. He will back me up on this.
cassandra
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:51pmdoesn’t obummers regulation czar want to give animals lawyers, well this would be a huge case aganist the government ha ha ha where is baez when you need him he would be perfect for defending bats
Report Post »sweetnsalty
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 10:58pmhahahha love it Cassandra !
Report Post »biohazard23
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:50pmWTH?? I’ll take bats over those awful looking turbines any day. Why put those stupid things up when we have loads of oil and natural gas underground?? Save the bats – dismantle a wind turbine.
Report Post »progressiveslayer
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:49pmAh yes green energy will save us and Al gore gets really rich,ask the people of Spain how green energy saved them.That‘s what we need 1800’s technology to get us off oil,the green movement is communist red has been from the beginning,the commies knew they couldn’t beat us on the battle field but thought they could through environmentalism.
Report Post »LadyIzShy
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:47pmI would think they are a danger to anything that fliees..where is PETA on this?
Report Post »spreadcommonsensenot pc
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:42pmEHHHHHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, my Family farm is going into the crapper. OMG OMG OMG omg………………..Im ordering MORE WTs tomorrow
Report Post »stanbeck
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:41pmWill this ever stop? Drill baby drill !!!!!!
Report Post »I.Gaspar
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:40pmI have heard they also kill robins, too.
Report Post »Micmac
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:35pmWhere’s the EIR? – LAWL
Report Post »Dakota
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:46pmCurious to find out if the Endangered Spieces Act will come into play..and make them eventually take these things down. Out here in California, the wind turbines are killing Golden Eagles in the hundreds. Gov Brown is seeking to sue the Eagles for damaging property. As of now…no one is stepping up to represent the eagles.
Report Post »psst
Posted on July 18, 2011 at 7:59pm@Dakato.I bet if those Eagles decides to go the homosexual route, Moonbeam would sue the Turbine mfgs.
Report Post »Can’t have that. Happy Eagles can’t make baby Eagles and the Wind Turbines are into killing Eagles before the Eagles time.
Eagle shortage will be the result. Eagles getting it in the rear and the front so to speak.
turkey13
Posted on July 19, 2011 at 2:52pmIn California you need to call Serria something or the other – got a old timers moment, they always beg me for money and I use there self stamped envelope to subsubise the post office. But they sue to stop drilling, mining and rec. gold panning. They will go after these wind farms so fast when they here about all the eagles and other birds that thw windmills are killing.
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