Frequently Asked Questions - Environment

Is wind power subsidized?
“Support for wind enhances national energy independence, promotes rural economic development, contributes to energy price stability and helps address global climate change. Every energy technology is supported by the federal government. Wind energy is no exception, nor should it be. During the year 2003 alone, federal energy subsidies ranged from $37 billion to $64 billion, according to a study prepared for the National Commission on Energy Policy. Wind energy accounted for less than 1% of the total.”
(Source: American Wind Energy Association: http://www.awea.org/pubs/factsheets/Subsidy.pdf)

How green is wind power?

• Wind is clean, safe, abundant, reliable and renewable.
• Wind does not produce dangerous waste.
• Wind does not impact the health of our environment.
• Wind eliminates the need to burn fossil fuels and build power plants.
• Wind eliminates the need to rely on foreign sources.
• Wind is available right now and right here.
• Wind does not deplete any natural resources Wind Energy reduces the emissions that contribute to global warming.

How does wind power affect birds and bats?
It is unfortunate that many of our modern conveniences take their toll on our bird and bat population. According to the US Fish and Wildlife Service glass windows are the number one cause of bird mortality followed by power lines, house cats, motor vehicles and pesticides.

Birds occasionally collide with wind turbines, as they do with other tall, however a wind turbines overall impact on birds is low compared to other human related sources.

This on Bats from the American Wind Energy Association:
“Bat collisions at wind plants generally tend to be low in number and to involve common species which are quite numerous. Human disturbance of hibernating bats in caves is a far greater threat to species of concern. Still, a surprisingly high number of bat kills at a new wind plant in West Virginia in the fall of 2003 has raised concerns, and research at that plant and another in Pennsylvania in 2004 suggests that the problem may be a regional one. The wind industry has joined with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the U.S. Department of Energy’s National Renewable Energy Laboratory, and Bat Conservation International to form the Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative (BWEC), which funded the 2004 research program and is continuing to explore ways to avoid or reduce bat kills.”