Green vs. Green: Judge Halts Wind Project to Protect Rare Bats

[The Straight Story]

Green vs. Green: Judge Halts Wind Project to Protect Rare Bats


Besides the challenges of integrating variable wind power into an electrical grid built with fossil fuel plants in mind, wind farms also must clear the hurdle of showing that their turbines don’t pose a danger to wildlife. The latter issue has now thrown a wrench into the construction of a $300 million West Virginia wind farm, after a judge ruled it would threaten endangered bats.

U.S. District Judge Roger W. Titus ruled that Chicago-based Invenergy can complete 40 windmills it has begun to install on an Appalachian ridge in Greenbrier County. But he said the company cannot move forward on the $300 million project — slated to have 122 turbines along a 23-mile stretch — without a special permit from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service .

The bat in question is the Indiana bat, a creature with an eight-inch wingspan that has dwindled to half the population it had when it first came under Endangered Species Act classification in 1967. Judge Titus ruled that the current turbines could only operate during the bats’ hibernation season that spans from November to March. This is the first time a court has found a wind project violates federal environmental law. “The development of wind energy can and should be encouraged, but wind turbines must be good neighbors,” the court ruled .

http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/80beats/2009/12/10/green-vs-green-judge-halts-wind-project-to-protect-rare-bats/

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

1. We can't stop here!

This is BAT country!

[NJCher]

2. Good

Bats are very important. Between them and the honeybees, we need to do everything we can.


Cher

[FarCenter]

3. Wind turbines also kill lots of migrating birds

Just like bridges, tall buildings, TV transmitting towers, etc. Although the blades turn relatively slowly, the birds run into slowly moving or stationary objects at night.

There are other environmental impacts like building roads to tower sites; transport of huge tower sections, blades, and generators; putting in the footing for the towers and electrical substations; constructing the power lines for collection and long distance transmission to populated areas. For example, there was a huge fight over the high-voltage DC line from the North Dakota lignite generating plant to the Twin Cities. A number of lines with this capacity will be needed to bring the Wind Belt power east.

If existing environmental and wildlife laws aren't changed, wind power is probably not going to be a very large contributer to the energy supply in the near future.

[nemo137]

4. I only support wind-power out of chiroptophobia.

Seriously, though, I know that bats are very important to the ecosystem, but I also have great hopes for wind power.