Introduction
I have a friend whom I love very dearly, but she falls into
the trap of believing everything she sees online. (No offense, hun!) This is for everyone: most of
what you read online is incredibly biased or inaccurate. Look for sources and check
them. The most brilliant minds are those who question. Question everything. Don’t
make judgments or statements until you have ALL the information.
Wind Energy: A Bad
Article
My friend linked the following article on a social media
site:
We are graced with a shocking, graphic image of a bloody
bald eagle, which is supposed to draw out aggression in the reader. The article
is crass, unprofessional and biased and is part of a site that is possibly even crasser with an apparent goal of being as offensive as possible. At first, I
thought this was a joke news site.
The short article gives two links to resources in order to
support the article. The first source is a somewhat reasonable article based
on a University of Colorado Denver study on wind turbines killing bats. The
article provides excellent details based on the study, including sats. The
article, however, leaves out a very important part: what is the alternative?
How many bats are killed by nuclear and fossil fuel energies? The article poses
this question, but does not answer it. The article is current and I do give it
kudos in factoring in some possible errors in the study. The article gives
insight on one small fraction of a much bigger issue.
The second source is also a mixed article, giving some good information
backed up by research to answer the negatives with wind power but it only gives trivial, secluded accounts related to its fossil fuel counterparts. They again neglect the big
picture and the comparison.
Wind Energy: A Good
Article
It took me a while to find an article that was professional
and non-biased related to the subject of wind energy and bird deaths, but I did
find one alas. Finding quality information takes a while when searching online
due to the fact that anyone can post anything they want online!
This article presents research based on a number of credible
sources as well as looking at the big picture. The article looks at studies of
all types of energy and gives the facts straight up, without any smart aleck or
biased comments. The article is professional and has substance.
My Conclusion
From reading the two articles aforementioned, I will make my
own judgment based on the information in the second article because it is non-biased
and is written by a grown up. I’ll admit that I am a very liberal individual
and am very opinionated but I question everything. I believe that we have to
question our faith and our knowledge in order to grow as beings. Otherwise we
fall into ignorance and we fall backwards into humanity.
The following statement is what helped me find my answer to
the question of which is worst for the various bird species that roam
beautifully through our skies?
“In absolute terms, since wind
turbines produced a relatively small amount of national electricity in the
United States in 2006, they may have killed about 7,000 but fossil fueled
stations killed 14.5 million and nuclear power plants 327,000.”
The research based numbers paint
the picture clear as day to me. It is sad to see any birds dying for any reason
in large numbers, but that is just the nature of our current state of humanity and that is not going to change too quickly or too easily, if it ever will. While
researching for this article I found out that more birds are killed by
flying into buildings per year than any of these energy sources. I believe that we should
minimize our impact on hurting the environment. Wind energy is not perfect but
it is an improvement! And not just in the number of species it affects. Take
the time and research. Dig deep and question and maybe you’ll find out some
interesting things when you find trustworthy resources!
Final Thought
Blind faith is the same as having no faith at all.
