Wind farms in the state of Wyoming kill 28% of that state’s golden eagle population every year, according to some reports. In 2022, wind farm operator NextEra Energy pleaded guilty and paid an $8 million fine for killing 150 eagles. This slaughter of eagles and other migratory birds is happening around the world, though. What I have noted here are just a couple of documented examples.
The number one cause of death for those working with windmills is falls. Other common causes of death include being struck by an object and electrocution. According to Forbes, the human toll in this country is 100 fatalities or so per trillion kilowatt hours. For the rest of the planet, it’s more like 150.
A nuclear power plant at Hanford, now called the “Columbia Generating Station,” was completed almost 40 years ago and has been supplying affordable carbon-free electrical energy ever since. No dead people. No dead eagles. This performance is duplicated decade after decade at the other 435 operational nuclear power plants around the world and our nuclear Navy.
Expect the same from the 100 or so new nuclear power plants now planned around the world, with another 300 in the proposal stage.
Despite massive and shameless happy talk lauding the importance of wind power to our sustainable energy future, real documented contribution is still in the single digits and could easily be replaced by building a few dozen new nuclear power plants.
The time has come to build these plants and deconstruct all those deadly unsightly windmills.
Robert Crocker
Chehalis
