Where we wouldn’t put wind turbines 9 November 2009
Posted by eatmorecookies in Arctic sea ice, Endangered Species Act, IUCN, animal behavior, bat conservation, biofuels, birding, birding community e-bulletin, birds/nature, deforestation, editorial, environment, evolution, migrants, overpopulation.add a comment
Let’s just say for the sake of argument that wind power actually was as “green” as developers and lobbyists would have us believe – a big stretch, but bear with me. It would make good energy sense to erect towers and transmission lines anywhere we had favorable winds, right? But I suspect there are some example of places that – again for the sake of argument – were windy enough for development to make sense but were otherwise so important to us that we wouldn’t actually want the spot developed for wind power. Here are a few examples:
Ellis Island?
Fenway Park?
The Rose Bowl?
Arlington National Cemetery?
Gettysburg National Park?
Colonial Williamsburg?
Disneyland?
Old Faithful?
Mount Rushmore?
Yosemite National Park?
The Hollywood sign?
Surely it’s only the truly deluded (or simply the biggest jerks) who would ever consider drastically altering the character and quality of these special places by establishing wind turbines and transmission lines through them. Why, then, can’t we also agree that the biggest expanses of open grassland in the American West – places that are especially valuable for their ability to support prairie wildlife that generally avoid any kind of human development – are also off limits? Why can’t we recognize that Appalachian ridges should not be sullied with tubines – turbines that are lethal obstacles to thousands of migrating raptors each fall and spring?
We must, as a progressive society, recognize that the free-for-all attitude of wind development has to stop. In its place, we need serious attention given to identifying those places and those resources that we do not want encroached by tubines and transmission lines.
The dark side of wind power 3 November 2009
Posted by eatmorecookies in Arctic sea ice, Endangered Species Act, IUCN, Links, animal behavior, bat conservation, biofuels, bird banding, birds/nature, editorial, environment, migrants, pressure drop, skepticism and science, vultures, wave energy, wildlife, wind power.6 comments
We can talk about numbers – more birds are killed by windows than anything else – so the number of birds killed by wind turbines is generally thought to be an acceptable amount of “collateral damage.” But what about seeing it as it happens? Is watching a majestic, soaring bird violently ripped from the air by the sweep of a wind turbine’s rotor blade enough to steer our national conversation on wind power toward greater attention in sustainability and the identification of absolute “no build” areas? See for yourself here.
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Much credit is due billionaire T. Boone Pickens for his effort to promote wind power as an alternative energy strategy, but the simple fact is that the most productive areas for development frequently overlap areas of great importance to native wildlife. Michael Fry’s opinion piece in yesterday’s Los Angeles Times points out the problem well.
It’s time we started talking seriously about whether or not it truly is a good idea to erect and operate tens of thousands of new wind turbines. So far, media attention has focused on nothing other than wind’s “green” image, but that image is not quite so green when you look at it more closely.
New enormous Pliosaur discovered in Great Britain 2 November 2009
Posted by eatmorecookies in Links, birds/nature, environment, evolution, life, paleontology, skepticism and science, wildlife.add a comment
BBS Science Reporter Rebecca Morelle wrote last week about the discovery of a massive skull unearthed in Dorset, UK. The skull belonged to a pliosaur – a giant, carnivorous, marine reptile from the Mesozoic Era. Check out the cool story here.
Nonanal – the new mosquito scent, by Calvin Klein 29 October 2009
Posted by eatmorecookies in Links, animal behavior, birds/nature, environment, evolution, migrants, skepticism and science, wildlife.add a comment
I suppose smelling “nonanal” should be considered a good thing, except that it makes one irresistible to certain mosquitoes.
In a neat ScienceNOW article by Martin Enserink, the author describes new research by entomologists at U.C. Davis to identify chemical compounds produced by our bodies that attract mosquitoes. It turns out that some people produce a good quantity of nonanal, a compound also produced by birds such as chickens and pigeons that are the preferred blood sources for mosquitoes like Culex pipiens, an important vector of West Nile Virus. The poor souls who produce nonanal in bird-like quantity are probably the same folks who get eaten alive at backyard cookouts while other folks suffer nary a nibble from those little winged fiends.
No doubt new research will build from this work, especially in the realm of mosquito traps that incorporate nonanal in their lures.
ESA Bulletin posted 28 October 2009
Posted by eatmorecookies in Attenborough, Endangered Species Act, IUCN, No Child Left Inside, animal behavior, bat conservation, biofuels, birds/nature, editorial, environment, evolution, life, nature deficit disorder, overpopulation, skepticism and science.add a comment
For the latest Bulletin of the Ecological Society of America, check here.
Bird Education Network – October newsletter 28 October 2009
Posted by eatmorecookies in Bird Education Network, Links, No Child Left Inside, birding, birding community e-bulletin, birds/nature, kids, life, nature deficit disorder.add a comment
For latest newsletter of the Bird Education Network, click here.
Boreal Birds E-Update 28 October 2009
Posted by eatmorecookies in Endangered Species Act, IUCN, No Child Left Inside, Northern Saw-Whet Owl, Scott Weidensaul, bird evolution, birding, birds/nature, deforestation, editorial, environment, migrants, monarch butterfly, nature deficit disorder, weather, wildlife, wind power, yellow-billed loon.add a comment
For the latest Boreal Birds newsletter, click here.
The Wildlifer – newsletter of The Wildlife Society 28 October 2009
Posted by eatmorecookies in Arctic sea ice, Endangered Species Act, No Child Left Inside, animal behavior, bat conservation, biofuels, birds/nature, editorial, environment, evolution, nature deficit disorder, wave energy, weather, wildlife, wind power.add a comment
Latest “The Wildlifer” posted here.
Exciting updates – The Birding Life 28 October 2009
Posted by eatmorecookies in Endangered Species Act, No Child Left Inside, animal behavior, bird banding, bird evolution, birdathon, birding, birds/nature, deforestation, editorial, environment, hummingbirds, immigration, life, migrants, nature deficit disorder, wildlife.add a comment
Check out some cool new features to “The Birding Life“, including a Yellow Rail rope drag in Oklahoma and reforestation program in the Lower Rio Grande Valley.
