The Arizona Dept. of Game and Fish recently released guidelines for solar and wind energy projects to "assist energy developers in identifying potential impacts to wildlife and wildlife habitats from their proposed project development and potential alternatives to avoid, minimize, and/or mitigate for these negative impacts." The agency said they are responding to plans for over 80 wind and solar projects across Arizona. Concerns include turbine impacts on birds and bats, the amount of land disturbed, the amounts of groundwater consumed, and alteration of surface water flows. [right, Dry Lake wind farm preliminary layout, Navajo Co. Credit, BLM]
AZGF has not felt the need to prepare similar guidelines for geothermal energy development.
Carcasses of eagles and other raptors are a common sight at wind farms across the country. According to a California Energy Commission study, over 1,000 birds of prey???
ReplyDeleteand no mention of other birds
that seems a fabricated figure
are killed every year by turbines at one wind farm?