See more animal camouflage here on The Conservation Report.
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BEES: Beekeepers protest outside Downing Street: Britain will suffer “agricultural disaster” unless more money is put into discovering what it killing the nation’s bees, the Government has been warned., Bush officials plan to dial back environmental protections, International Pollinator Conference Highlights Importance of Bees: U.S. continues efforts to protect declining pollinator populations , Whither The Honey Bee?, What’s Killing the Honeybees?, Whither The Honey Bee?, Fruitless Fall: The Collapse of the Honey Bee and the Coming Agricultural Crisis
DEFORESTATION: Unknown Deforestation Exposed
DEREGULATION: Bush administration gives 10 days for species comments, So Little Time, So Much Damage , Bush team rushes environment policy changes, Bush’s parting moves on the environment, Bush officials plan to dial back environmental protections, To Gut Species Protection, Interior Calls “All Hands on Deck”
ELECTRIC VEHICLES: Australia plans electric vehicle network
EXTINCTION: Asking ‘Why Do Species Go Extinct?’
HYDROELECTRICITY: 99 Year Old Hydroelectric Plant Coming Back Online
HUMAN-WILDLIFE CONFLICT: Minnesota farmers: Wolf ruling threatens livestock
LED LIGHTS: New LED Bulbs Look Weirder, Save More Energy
NUCLEARIZATION OF ENERGY SOURCES: Nukenomics No Longer Add Up – Expert
POLITICS: Hackers and Spending Sprees: Highlights from NEWSWEEK’s special election project
SOLAR ENERGY: Solar Cells Set New Performance Mark
T. BOONE PICKENS: Pickens Plan Reality Check: Energy Freedom or Farce?
WAL-MART: WAL-MART SELLING LEAD PAINT…TO PUT ON YOUR KID’S FACE!
WHALING: Japan Accuses Animal Planet of EcoTerrorism Prior to “Whale Wars” Premiere
WILDLIFE: Hawk Kills Owl At Montrose Beach: Bird Watchers At Fault?
“Environmental News Picks” are made possible with help from Kevin.
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This is a setback for wind power, and it’s certainly a problem that needs a solution, since bats are a keystone species; therefore, bats are necessary for a healthy landscape. However, I still believe that wind power, on land and offshore, is very much needed and necessary for a cleaner environment. From Gizmodo
On the list of ways to go, having your lungs explode is definitely on the gnarlier side. Too bad for bats in treehugging locales, though, because that’s what’s happening to them, due to a pretty serious error with their awesome echolcation systems crossing with the seemingly benign forces of Bernoulli’s principle put into motion by the turbines’ huge spinning blades. Ouch all around.
What happens is the bats’ internal echolocation, which tracks movement, attracts them to the blades of wind turbines, which presents another fairly obvious problem. But a University of Calgary researcher, puzzled by bats dying off in large numbers around wind farms in southern Alberta has found that those that don’t get cut down by the blades (surprisingly only 50%) are actually dying from exploded lungs, or barotrauma; the low pressure areas around the spinning rotors, as explained by our friend Bernoulli, cause the bats’ tiny air sacs to burst. Even those that do get knocked out of the sky by the blades have their lungs popped beforehand—of the 188 dead bats in the study, 90% had barotrauma as the cause of death.
In Austin, Texas, a must see is the magnificent Texas State Capitol, Austin. Also, Congress Avenue shouldn’t be missed. The largest urban bat colony at Congress Avenue Bridge is a must see as well—especially when the pups take flight for the first time.
A random stop at the Texas Snake Farm, Petting Zoo, & Exotic Animal Park was worthwhile, but I didn’t like seeing the primates locked up in cages.
San Antonio, TX is a very touristy city, but it’s a pretty city, and The Alamo is located there.
I’ve traveled to some amazing places, but I love Round Top, Texas. Round Top, Texas, is a small Texas town, but you can find a highly recommended gourmet restaurant there—Royers Round Top Cafe—in addition to some amazing gardens at the International Festival-Institute.
The food at Royers Round Top Cafe is some of the best! While I was in Round Top for the second time, Royers Round Top Cafe was unfortunately closed, because they were catering the Round Top Antiques Fair, which is a very large and must see antiques fair. The International Festival-Institute at Round Top has some amazing gardens, statues, and homes to explore.
This anole was found in a home at Horseshoe Bay (located on Lake LBJ), and it’s obviously making use of the bamboo blinds for camouflage (and these blinds are certainly a good location to hunt food).
We will continue to save nonrenewable energy sources as we depend more on renewable energy.The “rush” to build wind farms is often compared to the past rush to build dams. However, I believe comparing the environmental impacts of wind power to dams is like comparing apples to oranges.
Furthermore, it is necessary to consider the time and place where winds farms have been constructed in the past, since previous decisions have not been wise. However, today we have environmental assessments (EAs) and watchdog organizations that place a higher level of scrutiny on construction projects than was available in the past.
A lot of dam construction occurred before the environmental movement, before the existence of EAs, and watchdog groups. No doubt, both dams and wind turbines have the potential to kill animals that encounter them. For example, a big concern with dams, are their impacts on fish such as salmon and American eels, but with wind farms it is birds and bats.
However, the grave and significant impact on bird populations from the spinning of wind turbines seems to be myth. Denmark is using “thermal animal detection systems” to monitor offshore wind farms for sea bird collisions. Results show seabirds avoid the turbines. Furthermore, other anthropogenic activities cause much greater bird mortalities than wind turbines. Nonetheless, the precautionary approach should be taken in areas where endangered or critically endangered bird populations occur, since any interaction with wind turbines—no matter how infrequent—may pose a significant risk for the survival of a population. A population can be so endangered that any taking of an individual would be too detrimental to the population as a whole.
I believe the pros and cons of any project should be compared and weighed objectively. I believe the benefits from wind power far outweigh the negatives, since many governments and organizations are using successful mitigatory and monitoring programs. Furthermore, given the level of attention and scrutiny, Cape Wind will not be haphazardly randomly placed junk in the ocean. Just like you and me, Cape Wind wants to make a profit and watchdog organizations want the turbines placed appropriately, so certainly a lot of attention has already been given to the placement and quality of these turbines.
Furthermore, Cape Wind represents technology that provides benefit away from the detriment of dirty energy sources. Coal factories translate to excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and mercury in the landscape and aquatic environments, and coal-powered plants are the largest producer of mercury. In addition, it is possible to rely on wind power to provide electricity for a large number of homes, and Denmark has plans to have 50% of their power come from wind. Ultimately and for many reasons, wind turbines are much more benign than coal power plants. True, the metal to construct the turbines will have to be constructed from the mechanization process, but this will be negated by the longevity of the project in addition to the benefits of clean power. Furthermore, we must use our oil supplies wisely to build the renewable infrastructure and allow for the continuation of a stable society that further produces new and improved technologies.
NIMBYism and the perceived impacts on marine life (and lack of hard evidence) are not significant enough when comparing how dirty power sources currently impact our backyards and marine organisms. It is scary to think about a world that has starved itself of energy with no way of producing more energy and new technologies. Ultimately, the backlash will be against nature before destroying ourselves. The world should be viewed as an island where resources are limited, so we must take the steps through negotiation to figure out the best solutions. Otherwise, we could be another Easter Island, just on a much larger scale.
On the Net: Wind Power and Birds Consultants: Curry & Kerlinger, LLC
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