From Envirowiki

There are a number of anti-wind power groups and individuals, usually anywhere where a windfarm might be built. some of these people may have genuine concerns, but most often, they seem to be either mis-informed, or actually working for groups with vested interests, such as nuclear industry lobby groups, coal power lobby groups, or other parts of the fossil fuel industry

Contents 1 arguments often used against wind power 1.1 bird kills 1.1.1 Altamont pass 1.1.2 Orange bellied parrot 1.2 wind power/renewables take jobs form coal industry 1.3 coal/cheap energy is good for the economy 2 Integrating wind farms into the environment 3 anti-wind power groups 4 external Links 5 References

[edit] arguments often used against wind power

[edit] bird kills

while is is true that birds do get killed by wind turbines, the incidence is very infrequent compared to, for example, birds killed by road transport, or those threatened by climate change^{[reference needed]}.

[edit] Altamont pass

the Altamont Pass Wind Farm is often cited by anti-wind groups, as it has an extremely high number of bird kills - over 800-1300 a year^[1], but this is a very extreme example, and is not representative of wind farms in general. the 6000 Altamont pass turbines are old (25-30 years), small (fast turning blades), and the towers are lattice structures, inviting bird to nest in them. newer, larger turbines do not suffer as much from these problems.

[edit] Orange bellied parrot

a wind farm in victoria (where?), was stopped early in 2006 (when?) by Federal Environment Minister, Senator Ian Campbell (?), due to supposed fears of damage to the population of the threatened orange bellied parrot. this was after the minister's own department's report concluded that the wind farm was outside the parrot's inhabited area, and that the parrots were only likely to be killed at a rate of around one every 600+ years. the orange bellied parrot is listed as threatened^{[2] [3]}.

[edit] wind power/renewables take jobs form coal industry

no matter what your reasons for supporting wind power, eventually you'll come up against a coal miner some where who'll say "but there's more jobs in coal mining." now you can rebut that.

the World Wildlife Fund brought out a report showing that there are 2-3 times as many jobs in a wind farm as there are in the coal chain - mine, transport, and power plant - per unit of energy generated^[4]. this is mostly due to the fact that most of the coal chain is extremely mechanised. a figure worth quoting is that while the profits and exports of the coal industry in australia has increased by rought 30% in the last couple of decades, the number of jobs in the industry has decreased by roughly the same percentage^{[reference needed]}

[edit] coal/cheap energy is good for the economy

wind power is generally more expensive than coal or other fossil fuels. therefore, in many economists' eyes,

coal = cheap energy = growth = good for economy = good for people

this has never been shown to be the case, unless "people" consists only of the rich. folks, the trickle down theory doesn't work. fossil fuel industries profits almost never have any positive impact on the living standards of those living in the neighbourhood of mines/wells.

[edit] Integrating wind farms into the environment

Many wind power companies work with local communities to reduce environmental and other concerns associated with particular wind farms.^[5][6][7] In other cases there is direct community ownership of wind farm projects. Appropriate government consultation, planning and approval procedures also help to minimize environmental risks.^[8][9][10] Some people may still object to wind farms, but their concerns should be weighed against the need to address the threats posed by climate change and the opinions of the broader community.^[11] Surveys of public attitudes across Europe and in many other countries show strong public support for wind power.^[8][12][13]

[edit] anti-wind power groups

• RATs of Tooborac - Tooborac, Victoria
• Guardian groups - apparently a worldwide network of anti-wind power groups supported by the nuclear industry lobby.

• Molonglo Landscape Guardians Inc. - http://www.mlg.org.au/index.htm
• Yarram South Gippsland anti-windfarm group - http://yarrampa.customer.netspace.net.au/windfarm.html
• Spring Range Landscape Guardians - http://www.springrange.org.au/index.shtml
• Coastal Guardians
• Scone Landscape Guardians(??)^[14]
• Dollar Affected Residents Network^[14][15] - anti-wind group from Dollar, on Wilson's Promontory, Victoria.

[edit] external Links

• http://www.iburlington.com/article.php?story=ridgeprotectors

[edit] References

1. ↑ hidden cost of wind turbines by Ed Douglas, Newscientist 8 july 2006
2. ↑ interview with Ian Campbell
3. ↑ list of species threatened by climate change - CANA
4. ↑ clean energy future report
5. ↑ Wind Power: MidAmerican's Intrepid Wind Farm
6. ↑ Stakeholder Engagement
7. ↑ Community Relations
8. ↑ ^{8.0 8.1} Wind Energy and the Environment
9. ↑ National Code for Wind Farms
10. ↑ New standard and big investment for wind energy
11. ↑ The Australia Institute (2006). Wind Farms The facts and the fallacies Discussion Paper Number 91, October, ISSN 1322-5421
12. ↑ A Summary of Opinion Surveys on Wind Power
13. ↑ Public attitudes to wind farms
14. ↑ ^{14.0 14.1} http://scone.yourguide.com.au/articles/1052545.html?src=topstories
15. ↑ http://ffggippslandletters.blogspot.com/2007/09/windfarm-opponent-not-credible.html