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BobMann

Senior Member

Joined: 30/06/2011
Location: United States
Posts: 134

Posted: 02:12pm 08 Oct 2011

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Your ability to own a personal wind turbine is under dire and immediate threat by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) through a misapplication of wildlife protection, particularly birds, guidelines for land based utility scale wind projects to turbine installations of all sizes. We're asking for you to act today to prevent this action.
The "U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Land-Based Wind Energy Guidelines" states:
"The Guidelines are designed for "utility- scale" land-based wind energy projects to reduce potential impacts to species of concern, regardless of whether they are proposed for private or public lands. While these Guidelines are designed for utility- scale wind projects, the general principles may also apply to distributed and community-scale wind energy projects. Developers should contact the Service to determine applicability of the Guidelines to their particular project. Offshore wind energy projects may involve another suite of effects and analyses not addressed here."
The draft USFWS guidelines call for pre-installation studies and approvals, post-installation monitoring, and mitigation programs. The estimated cost of compliance for a single wind turbine, even a $15,000 2.4 kW turbine at a home, is $500,000! We have already been able to document significant distributed wind projects at schools and farms that have been killed by the draft guidelines.
Comments on the latest draft are due tomorrow, August 23, and we are asking any and all to submit an objection via e-mail or an attached letter. Even if you miss the deadline we believe your voice should be heard and you should still submit a comment.
Talking points:

�The available science, such as the 2008 Pennsylvania DCNR study at Presque Isle State Park, have concluded virtually no impact or risk to birds or bats.
�The cost of compliance, at an estimated $500,000, will kill every small distributed wind project it is applied to. School projects have already been killed by the guidelines, even though they are still in draft form.
�Distributed wind systems are typically much, much smaller than utility scale projects and they are always installed where man-made buildings and land development already exist.
�Distributed wind systems have been installed at National Wildlife Refuges, National Parks, State Parks, and Audubon Parks, where they have compiled decades of service with no hint of adverse impacts.
�The application of remedies to windfarm wildlife issues to all wind turbine installations, regardless of size, location, or configuration, is unjustified and unjust

Please act now: Address your comments to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service:
windenergy@fws.gov
(Subject: Revised Wind Energy Guidelines)
Thank you
Southwest Windpower

Our Tax money at work

VK4AYQ
Guru

Joined: 02/12/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2539

Posted: 03:39pm 08 Oct 2011

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Hi Bob

Look like your politicians are more stupid than ours.

Bob

Foolin Around

MacGyver

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Joined: 12/05/2009
Location: United States
Posts: 1329

Posted: 05:20pm 08 Oct 2011

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BobMann

Since our lawmakers seemingly have nothing better to do, perhaps it would be beneficial to have a congressman propose a bill restricting the use of motor vehicles on public and private lands. Motor vehicle exhausts pose a threat to wildlife. Indeed, their poisoness fumes pose a threat to all life.

Their noise levels create a disturbance frightening endangered species, forcing them to seek refuge in quieter areas and disrupting their natural habitats, which is detrimental to their nesting, breeding and survival.

An environmental impact report is necessary for each and every private and public-owned vehicle in the country to determine if future usage will affect wildlife. Until these reports are completed and their findings published, motor vehicle activity should be halted; banned from any furthere use throught the entire country. When these studies are completed, fear not; there's still the matter of "road kill" to be taken into consideration.

Only in America does a tiny hummingbird's existence somewhere have the ability to bring a world power to its knees!

Pardon me whilst I gag myself with a fork!

. . . . . Mac

Edit: Still in all, I drafted and sent the following email to the address listed in Bob's post:

Misapplication of Wildlife Protection

Efforts to ban wind-driven electricity generation applications based on their supposed threat to wildlife is a farse. You may as well try to ban automobiles, which account for more danger to wildlife in the form of road kill than a million wind farms.

Distributed wind systems have been installed at National Wildlife Refuges, National Parks, State Parks, and Audubon Parks, where they have compiled decades of service with no hint of adverse impacts.

This application of remedies to wildlife issues for all wind turbine installations, regardless of size, location, or configuration, is unjustified and unjust.

Edited by MacGyver 2011-10-10

Nothing difficult is ever easy!
Perhaps better stated in the words of Morgan Freeman,
"Where there is no struggle, there is no progress!"
Copeville, Texas

VK4AYQ
Guru

Joined: 02/12/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2539

Posted: 07:40am 09 Oct 2011

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Hi All

In the last two years with two mills running whenever the wind decides to blow, not a single casualty but unfortunately I loose a bird to the glass doors and windows every couple of weeks, when when I placed visibility patches and curtains on them.

Bob

Foolin Around

Air Bender
Senior Member

Joined: 25/01/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 206

Posted: 08:50am 09 Oct 2011

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Hi all,
Its strange how potitics works, for years our shire has not aprover any wind farms and then a couple of months ago the next shire along said there would be no more turbines put up in their shire. Then it was just been anounced that there is 22 large turbines goining up in our shire not far from our rubbish dump about five kms out of town and work is to start just after xmas. How can you work these guys out.

All the best Dean.

paceman
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Joined: 07/10/2011
Location: Australia
Posts: 1329

Posted: 12:33pm 09 Oct 2011

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"How to work them out" - very simple - just ask "who benefits".

VK4AYQ
Guru

Joined: 02/12/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 2539

Posted: 06:48am 10 Oct 2011

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Politicians at all levels of the food chain are basically corrupt and open to manipulation, this is just another example of their complete incompetence.

Bob

Foolin Around

powerednut

Senior Member

Joined: 09/12/2009
Location: Australia
Posts: 221

Posted: 07:56am 11 Oct 2011

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That sucks. I hate it when the pollies react to a myth like that.

the birds arn't bothered in the slightest by my turbine. no deaths to date.

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