November 24, 2007...9:15 am
Spend Millions To Be Green And Still Get It Wrong
Stumbled across this story this morning, over coffee. Isn’t it amazing. You can spend millions of dollars to be environmentally friendly and still get it wrong! From the Atlanta Journal Constitution …
It is one of Emory University’s most environmentally friendly buildings, a hallmark of the institution’s efforts to “go green.” To hear John Wegner describe it, it’s also a slaughterhouse.
The soaring glass windows in Emory’s Mathematics and Science Center reflect the woodsy view, confusing hapless birds who smash into it at full speed.
The building killed 60 birds in the first year,” said Wegner, Emory’s chief environmental officer. “It was the wall of death.”
Reminds me of the efforts to grow windmill farms to help reduce our country’s dependence on fossil fuel and crude oil. From Cox Washington:
THOMAS, W.Va. — Towering up to 228 feet above the Appalachian Mountain ridge, far above the tree line, windmills are lined up like marching aliens from War of the Worlds.
[an error occurred while processing this directive]Up close, they emit a high-pitched electrical hum. From a distance of a few hundred yards, their 115-foot blades make a steady whooshing sound as their tips cut through the air at up to 140 mph.
Owned by Juno Beach, Fla.-based FPL Energy, a sister company to Florida Power & Light Co., they are part of the national effort to develop diverse — and more environmentally friendly — sources of energy.
The problem is they’re killing thousands of bats a year. [cut]
Opponents argue that the facilities’ not only kill bats and disturb other wildlife habitat but also are an eyesore, create noise pollution, startle livestock with the flickering of sunlight through the blades, decrease property values and could harm tourism on scenic mountain ridges.
Right up there with arguments against the expansion of the railroads!
Railroads brought hazards and inconveniences to the communities they crossed: noise, smoke, frightened horses, engines crossing streets at grade, and the possibility of property damage from fires.
It’s obvious to anyone who regularly stops by to read me that I am not an enviornmentalist. I do, however, believe that as we learn of ways to protect our air, soil and waters we should use them. We know how to recycle plastics, glass and paper and it’s just the right thing to do. I think we [as a country/government] should be encouraging the development of alternative ways to store energy. Personally, I’d love to have a house that runs on solar and completely get off the grid, but, I can’t afford it …. yet.
I’d bet my bottom dollar that there is some way to convince the bats that there is something in their path they want to avoid. Perhaps attaching the same mesh on the windmill blades that has been hung on the building at Emory. Would the drag on the blades be enough to reduce the efficiency below profitable levels? Would the bats and other birds fly into the mesh anyway? That’s way outside my area of expertise.
But, in the end, we as a country must decide what is of the most benefit. Bats are important ecologically, but when stacked against the enviornmental ‘costs’ of burning fossil fuels …. where do you draw the line?
2 Comments
November 25, 2007 at 4:18 pm
That’s wild. My son and I were talking, on Thanksgiving day, about those bats and the windmills. I rather doubt that there will be any great diminution of bats due to the windmills. And I know the windmills are safe from the bats (they can’t get their mouths open that wide.) I’d compare it more with the loss of songbirds to automobiles every year on WV roads. Or deer. Or opossums. Man will win but nature is flexible. The bats will have a few extra bat babies, so will the deer and opossums. The songbirds will move to Ohio , so take a little trip to Buckeyeland when you want to hear them!
November 27, 2007 at 11:23 pm
I guess that depends on if you like mosquitos.
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