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Caro's Adventures in Moldova!

Thursday, July 19, 2007

When tree huggers fight

Climate change bad. Renewable energy good. Birds good. Wind farms... great, ok, or the devil?
I've been sifting through the research and the blogs to weigh the impacts of wind farms on wildlife vs. their benefits of clean, renewable energy. (Full disclosure - this summer I'm working for NaiKun, a Vancouver-based company developing a 320MW offshore wind farm in northern BC.)

I'm convinced that the benefits of wind power - i.e. fighting climate change and resulting habitat loss - vastly outweigh the downside for a few birds. Wind turbines account for about 0.003% of all bird deaths estimated to be caused by human activities, according to the National Wind Coordinating Committee Wildlife Workgroup. Many environmental groups and individuals, including the Audubon Society, Greenpeace, and Bill McKibben, agree with me. Most endorsements come with the caveat that wind farms should carefully placed away from migratory routes and sensitive habitats.

What I'm more concerned about is an argument made by some anti-wind groups - that the studies by wind developers are biased, wind is big business (true; about $4b was invested this past year), and therefore can't be trusted. These statements come from those who purportedly have environmental interests in mind.

How does an individual or company counter such arguments against those who fundamentally disagree with your purpose? More data, empathy, or don't bother to respond?

Checks and balances are great, including for social enterprises, but what happens when these checks and balances get in the way of achieving real solutions?
(photo from ScienceDaily.com)

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