Uh oh. From Environment & Climate News:

Though wind power supplies the United States with barely 1 percent of its electricity, the number of wind turbines dotting the American landscape has grown exponentially in recent years. That poses a problem for the migrating whooping cranes.

The birds fly during the day and do so at heights, between 500 and 5,000 feet, well out of the way of the rotating blades found on wind turbines. But at night, the birds land in search of food and rest.

During the landings at dusk and the takeoffs at dawn, the birds run the risk of flying directly into the deadly blades.

“These birds are sometimes flying when it’s cloudy, foggy, and rainy, and that could magnify the potential harm that these structures present,” Klataske explained.

“The blades are deceptive in their speed. If the wind is blowing 30 miles per hour, the tips of those blades may be going at 150 miles per hour. They don’t look like they are going that fast, and this deceives birds and bats,” Klataske added.

If that’s not bad enough, consider these issues as outlined by JLF Legal and Regulatory Policy Analyst Daren Bakst:

# The National Academy of Sciences has reported that wind power would not significantly reduce emissions of nitrogen oxide or sulfur dioxide. Its impact on carbon dioxide emissions would be miniscule.

# Wind power would have no effect on energy independence. Electricity generation accounted for only 1.5 percent of all petroleum consumption in the United States. With respect to electricity, the U.S. already is energy independent.

# Wind power plants take up to 88 times more land than coal plants. To generate 1,000 MW of electricity would require acreage the size of Fayetteville, Raleigh, and Wilmington combined. Placed in the mountains, it would require 300 miles of ridgeline.

Wind power is one of the sources North Carolina utilities must now consider due to the 2007 passage of Senate Bill 3, which requires utility companies to generate 7.5 percent of their energy from sources such as wind, solar and biomass.

Bakst recommends the following:

North Carolina’s legislature should develop a “Coast Law” to prohibit the construction of industrial wind turbines on the coast. Both the coast and the mountains should be protected from this unreliable form of electricity that would permanently ruin local landscapes, harm wildlife, and pose potential health risks to residents.