"Harm Wildlife"
Myth: "Turbines Kill Many Birds and Bats"
Fact: Wind energy development's overall impact on birds is extremely low compared with other human-related activities. No matter how extensively wind is developed in the future, bird deaths from wind energy are unlikely to be ever more than a small fraction of bird deaths caused by other human-related sources, such as cats and buildings.
Raptor kills (of eagles, hawks, and owls) are a problem at one large older wind farm in California, in Altamont Pass, built in the 1980s. Wind farm operators there have worked with wildlife officials and experts to reduce the impacts on raptors, and those efforts continue today.
Prior to 2003, bat kills at wind farms studied were low. However, the frequency of bat deaths at a newly constructed wind farm in West Virginia in 2003 has caused concern. In response, AWEA and several of its member companies entered into a three-year cooperative effort with Bat Conservation International, the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to research wind/bat interaction and test ways to reduce bat mortality. That research is ongoing, and information about the results is being published as they become available.
Despite the minimal impact wind development has on bird and bat populations in most areas, the industry takes potential impacts seriously. In addition to special initiatives such as those described above, avian studies are routinely conducted at wind sites before projects are proposed. Pre-construction wildlife surveys are now common practice throughout the industry.
Myth: "Wind Projects Fragment Wildlife Habitat"
Fact: Wind farms are most often built in areas close to transmission lines where habitat has already been modified and fragmented, typically by farming and ranching. And, wind energy has a light footprint, with only the turbine itself, along with some roads and power lines, impacting the land, while pre-existing land use continues around the turbines as before. Windy land can also often be found in undeveloped areas, however, so habitat fragmentation can be a concern, especially in unbroken stretches of prairie grasslands or forests. The industry supports more research to better understand the extent of possible habitat or wildlife impacts in these areas, but those impacts must be balanced against the effects of not developing renewable energy sources and thereby aggravating global warming and pollution pressures on wildlife and their habitats--not just in prairie or forest areas, but around the world.