How does wind power affect wildlife?
Despite frequent accusations to the contrary, wind turbines are not responsible for the deaths of large numbers of birds. A recent report released by the U.S. Department of Energy states that recent studies have found wind turbines are responsible for only 0.003% of bird deaths related to human activity4,. Another study performed in 2002 found that Avian deaths caused by communications towers (1 in 40)3, pesticides (1 in 14)3, vehicles (1 in 14)3, and even house cats (1 in 10)3 dwarfed those caused by wind turbines (1 in 1,333)3. That is not to say, however, that the deaths that do occur are being taken lightly. To the contrary, environmental impact studies continue to be performed by groups such as the BWEC (Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative) and the AWEA (American Wind Energy Association) in an attempt to reduce wildlife deaths even further. Moreover, recent studies estimate that even for conservative global mean temperature increases, between 11% and 34% of species alive today could
