The clock is ticking toward a deadline to meet renewable-energy standards. But USA TODAY's analysis finds local governments banning wind turbines, solar plants.

Across America, clean energy plants are being banned faster than they’re being built::The clock is ticking toward a deadline to meet renewable-energy standards. But USA TODAY’s analysis finds local governments banning wind turbines, solar plants.

  • GrayoxEnglish
    968·
    10 months ago

    Wind mills do kill birds, but all you have to do to prevent it is paint one of the turbines black so it doesn’t blend into the sky when it is turning, allowing birds to avoid them. But unfortunately thay costs money and smooth brain fossil fuel stans would rather just poison the wind rather than harness it.

      • GrayoxEnglish
        249·
        10 months ago

        wind energy is going to continue increasing exponentially for a while, it would be wise to mitigate the death of more birds. I also support exterminating stray cats and putting harsh fines on folks who keep outside cats as well. Birds need protecting and we are woefully failing as a species to do so.

        • TurtleJoe@lemmy.worldEnglish
          17·
          10 months ago

          Non-native lawns are a huge reason for the native bird decline across NA in the last 3 decades.

          • GrayoxEnglish
            91·
            10 months ago

            Non-native cats are multiple orders of magnitudes worse for bird populations. Non-native lawns mainly effect polinators.

        • barsoap@lemm.eeEnglish
          6·
          10 months ago

          Meh with non-native cats over here gone the native cats would do the killing. The reason we spay strays is more to protect wildcats against c competition, they’re not interbreeding much but long-term it’s a concern.

          Obligatory picture and another yes they do look quite like domestic ones. Behaviour is quite different, though, particularly they’re impossible to domesticate. Behaviour you’d consider severely fucked-up cat psychology in African wildcats (which are the ones who domesticated themselves by moving into grain storages) are par for the course for European wildcats. They’re not asocial, they’re not broken, they just hate humans.

      • Flying Squid@lemmy.worldEnglish
        5·
        10 months ago

        Gotta love that the same guy who keeps complaining about windmills killing birds is the guy who also got famous building a giant glass tower in New York.

    • skulblaka@startrek.websiteEnglish
      2414·
      10 months ago

      The currently existing design of wind turbines is incredibly stupid anyway, I have no idea how we landed on that design. It’s one of the least effective designs possible for it’s use case. We should be using spiral turbines.

      • Labrad0r@lemmy.worldEnglish
        37·
        10 months ago

        The current three blade design of utility-scale turbines achieves about 80% of the Betz limit, are relatively efficient in materials for their output, and the blades’ pitch can be adjusted to control their speed in varying conditions (eg. during storms). I wouldn’t call their design “incredibly stupid”.

      • BradleyUffner@lemmy.worldEnglish
        13·
        10 months ago

        That looks like it would be hard to manufacture and transport at the size requirements that traditional blades are made. It’s already a massive pita to transport the traditional blades. I’m sure we’ll figure it out eventually, but that’s probably the current reasoning.

    • Duamerthrax@lemmy.worldEnglish
      4·
      10 months ago

      With the size they are, I wouldn’t just paint them black. It might throw off the balance. They should be shipping then black from factory.