Is the answer blowing in Alameda Countys wind turbines?
On Sep. 22 the Alameda County Board of Supervisors renewed 29 permits covering some 3,600 windmills at the Altamont Pass Wind Resources Area, allowing the wind companies to continue operating the turbines – and to continue killing thousands of birds each year. The Supervisors voted 4 – 1 (Gail Steele opposed) to approve 13-year permits allowing the windmills to continue operating. In early 2004 Golden Gate Audubon had joined with the Center for Biological Diversity and Californians for Renewable Energy to appeal the permits, asking the county to take strong steps to reduce the illegal bird kill and to comply with the California Environmental Quality Act by conducting an Environmental Impact Report (EIR). Thanks to pressure from those appellants, Sierra Club members, and the environmental and scientific community, the Supervisors did add additional conditions to the permits to reduce bird kill, including requirements to shut down turbines, some permanently and some during winter migrati
