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I’ve always appreciated the sight of a windmill on the horizon but otherwise, gave windmills little thought.That changed after I visited the boring-sounding American Wind Power Center in Lubbock, Texas where the huge collection of vintage windmills can only be described as folk art. First I was charmed, then I slapped my forehead when the center’s executive director, Coy Harris, pointed out that areas like Lubbock, with lots of wind and little ground water, could not have been settled without windmills. (Although in my defense, I was having my first taste of the powerful, persistent West Texas wind.) I’ve been a big windmill fan ever since. Windmills, they look good, they do good … surely they can do no harm.
So I loved The Windmill Farm B&B in Tolar, Texas, where transplanted South Dakotans Chuck and Ruby Rickgauer collect vintage windmills (which Chuck also restores), and visiting the Shattuck Windmill Museum in Shattuck, Oklahoma, which has a collection as appealing, if not as extensive, as Lubbock’s.I find modern wind turbines beautiful, too, in a different way. They are otherworldly, a little frightening, like something landed from outer space, marching ponderously over the horizon and across the prairie.
But since also falling in love with the lesser prairie chicken, I am conflicted about those turbines. Maybe all windmills aren’t benign.
Lesser prairie chickens are not on the endangered species list, but they are in peril and wind turbines interfere with the little fellas’ breeding grounds.
The birds won’t do their mating dance near tall structures, which in their birdie brains puts them at risk from predators from above. Now there’s a race between conservationists trying to get the species on the endangered list and wind-power companies, trying to get turbines up before it is. (In related horrifying news, it seems wind turbines also cause bats’ lungs to explode, poor things.)Oh dear, oh dear. I’m torn between two lovers. Of course wind power is good. But so are prairie chickens. And bats, for that matter.
Surely with some forethought and planning, it’s possible to both build windmills and keep our wildlife safe, yes?
I think you hit the nail on the head with the last line of your post! Alternative energy sources ARE the future and with a little thought and creativity, sources like wind turbines can be beneficial to humanity as well as wildlife! After all, I don’t think that bats and lesser prairie chickens enjoy the pollution generated from oil-powered mechanisms any more than people do. Of course that’s saddleing animals with anthropocentric ideals, but you get the point! I don’t understand people who say that wind tubines are ugly! So are power poles and power lines and they are just about everywhere we look but we don’t even think about them anymore! You never hear anyone say, “gee, those power poles sure do mar the landscape.” I guess people just don’t like change!
Thanks, Jennifer. I want to believe that we can compromise, but it’s going to take some real insistence and activism on the part of conservationists, I think.
Andy Rooney once did a segment about how ugly power poles are. FWIW.
First, the top photo is gorgeous. I can see it blown up big and taking up an entire wall over a couch or in a restaurant. But, to the issue itself, I agree: torn here, too (and I only have middle-of-the-road like for windmills and, cause of you, just a passing admiration for the lesser prairie chicken — though bats, I love). It’s such a strange thing to think of people involved in this biz rushing to get the things up before the chicken is declared endangered.
As for people saying power poles are ugly: add Frank Lloyd Wright to the Andy Rooney list. When he was building Taliesin West, he paid (or maybe he made local gov’t pay) to have the power system sunk below ground (or some such thing). He didn’t want the poles obscuring his view around the property. It is quite the gorgeous view but…still. Oh, that Frank.
There are two issues here – the one you brought up and the pesky little facts that don’t go away that say wind power is not nearly as green as the windy PR machines will have you believe. I have a friend who works for a big wind power company and she knows that wind energy is not nearly as efficient as they’ve gotten everyone to believe. Harnessing the wind is one thing – transferring it is a whole other enchilada.
Interesting, Tim. I guess it’s our best hope for the moment, though, if they can improve its efficiency. I suppose nothing is a panacea.
There’s a popular saying at NASA: anything is possible with enough time and money. The question is always whether we can and will spend the money to do it.
Tim is spot on about the efficiency too – the same is true of a lot of the ideas out there. Some basic research could solve most of those problems, but somebody has to pay for it.
A thoughtful, well balanced story. I love historic windmills and I endorse the concept of wind engergy. There can be a balance that saves the wildlife and saves the planet for all life.
Just wanted to say that the photo of the grouped windmills in silhouette is stunning beyond belief. And, weirdly, it reminded me of the Eameses Tower of the Four Winds that was outside the Small World ride at the ’64 World’s Fair.
Thanks, L’il Badger. It’s pretty much impossible to take a bad photo at a windmill museum.
Wind turbines have wreaked havoc with birds — particularly raptors — for years. The turbines at Altamont are located in a particularly nice flyway for raptors and bird rehabbers have been dealing with the fallout for a long time. The company who has those turbines has experimented with shorter blades and altering the speed of the blades as way to lessen the damage but the jury is out.
Here’s a recent article on the topic from the Cornell’s Lab of Ornithology website:
http://www.birds.cornell.edu/NetCommunity/Page.aspx?pid=1331&srctid=1&erid=1233766
Also, when doing research for my book on falconry, I read a lot about sage grouse and can tell you that natural gas exploration and drilling has the same impact on those birds that you’ve found with lesser prairie chickens and wind turbines. These are problems that would be common to all lekking birds. It’s a big bummer.
Hey, sorry to take a while to get your great comment up, Rachel. It got caught up in our spam filter for some reason.
Are quails lekking birds? I got a press release recently about a quail restoration workshop coming up in Cat Spring, Texas.