Posted on 07/04/2010 9:01:25 AM PDT by icwhatudo
A group of Western Maryland residents and a state conservation group have filed formal notice they'll sue to stop construction of a wind farm in Garrett County, contending the massive turbines "almost certainly" will harm endangered bats in the forested, mountainous region.
(Excerpt) Read more at weblogs.baltimoresun.com ...
IMO, this article is unscientific liberal social-political crap.
Experiments were run decades ago with regard to bats and fan blades -- smaller ones, like you're use in a window or on a desk -- running without protective screens or covers Up to a certain fan-blade rotational speed, the bats appear to play with the fan -- they fly through the fan and avoid the blades successfully.
Above a certain fan-blade speed, they avoid it, going around or up-and-over the blades, or staying away entirely. The cutoff speed is well above what we humans perceive as a blur -- I mean it's FAST. The bats have no problem, they either play with it or avoid it.
Granted that giant wind turbine blades are a different sort of echo-location target, and granted that the tip velocity of the big blades is quite fast (a significant fraction of the speed of sound, in some cases). The experiments with smaller blades may not be directly applicable, but I don't think anybody has re-done the experiments, using bigger blades.
IMO, wind turbines are just not a significant problem for bats. There's obviously some other anti-wind-power or NIMBY agenda going on here...
This is BS. Bats can avoid any obstacle in their paths using their built in sonar. I have seen bats fly around inside a cage, then suddenly fly toward the side of it and fold their wings and tumble through the bars without touching. That is how sensitive and accurate their sonar is. There is no way a bat will fly into a windmill blade, they will avoid them.
The evidence for this is examination of lots of bats killed at a wind turbine. Very few injuries due to blade impact. Lots of lung injuries.
....I’m in the N.C. mountains and we narrowly fought off wind mills two years ago...I know it’s not over however...the windmills companies are going to keep on trying as long as they can get the government subsidy...I’d don’t mind the envirnos using bats or anything else to thwart the wind farms...I don’t want my property values destroyed by the mills....oh and by the way, ever see the contract the windfarm offers the land owner?...they say they will pay the cost of errecting the mill....nothing about the cost of taking it down...so when the subsidy runs out the farmer gets stuck with an abandoned 38 story mill.
Gubmint dole will do that.
ROTFL! Greentards want us to live OUTSIDE caves, freezing in the dark.
nope - never wanted to get that close! But, I’ve seen them come out of a cave near SanAntonio.
Our future is natural gas, electric, and yes oil. Let's stop pussyfootin around, admit it and start building the plants.
...........and do I have to say it? Drill baby drill!
Birds or no birds it's an idiotic idea as an alternative energy source anyway.
‘There’s obviously some other anti-wind-power or NIMBY agenda going on here”
Whatever stops them is fine by me.
So far, W.MD has remained an unspoiled, mostly liberal-free paradise without developers ruining everything.
It’s bad enough we’re going to have to deal with the crime-magnet slot machines we -don’t- want, now we’ll have the maddening subsonics of giant fans running all the time.
We don’t -want- any “progressive” crap out here.
“IMO, this article is unscientific liberal social-political crap. “
It’s -liberals- who keep ramming this junk down our throats.
I hope the bats win.
Would this be an example of “Bat and Trade”??
True, which is why we like to watch them from our porch.
Mosquito free, of course.
Most things have uses.
They have to protect their own.
I like bats a lot. I've enjoyed the colony of little browns in my barn for the past 30 years, as they hold down the insects that breed in the nearby creek, and provide entertainment as well in the early evening hours.
Using them as an excuse to block wind turbines is lame, that's my point. Obviously, the "turbines kill birds" attempt has failed because nobody was able to provide pictures of the carcasses of all the birds that were allegedly killed by the blades. If such carcasses existed, it would be trivial to take pictures of them, since (d-uh!) they're all going to be within 50 yards of a wind turbine. If it was a real problem, it would have been documented as such long ago. It's not.
So now it's bats. Well, I for one don't believe it.
With regard to the "giant fans running all the time", I agree with you that wind power is noisy. I have a small (2.5KW) wind generator (a 1940's vintage Jacobs) on an 80-foot tower on my property, that I constructed years ago. I'm too far from the grid lines to get commercial power, so I produce my own. Primary source is photovoltaic, wind is secondary. I don't mind the noise, but that's because it lets me run my computer and log into FR every day!
I consider my situation to be a tiny minority, since most people have easy access to the grid and are happy to pay ever-increasing electric bills rather than listen to the wind turn some blades.
Much as I enjoy solar and wind power myself, I think the large-scale use of solar and wind power is a mistake. It makes great economic sense in out-of-the way places like mine, but not good sense as a primary source on the grid. Personally I'd rather see nuclear power feeding the grid.
Wind and solar are best in local application. I think it should be a local decision. So good luck with your fight against the big turbines in your area.
Them danged bats got a right to spread rabies too. It’s tradional with them. (scrsm)
We need another tax so the government can study bat rabies then.
Stop trying to avoid the inevitable Waco, we need to pay taxes some way to support political....I mean government....spending.
True statement.
Liberals are opposed to green energy.
Here in California they fight solar power.
Feinstein: Don’t Spoil Our Desert With Solar Panels
http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/03/21/feinstein-dont-spoil-desert-solar-panels/
The Endangered Species Act should be repealed. It is a millstone around America’s neck.
This lawsuit is a form of indulgence bordering on moral decadence.
Maryland “Freak State” PING!
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