[crdoconnor]

>This is a clever turn of phrase. One could also say wind projects are also relatively uncommon

One could. I could also say that I drove by about five or six hundred wind generators today...

Nothing in what you said above really convinces me that you should have anything against wind farms in general. It's all FUD.

[cathartes]

I'm sorry it was not convincing, but I'm not sure why you're saying my rebuttal is FUD when the PR page is crafted exactly to muddy the very waters of this topic. You driving by "five or six hundred wind generators" tells me you went by one larger park, or perhaps a handful of small or medium sized parks. If you're in the USA, you've also pinpointed a few locations on the map where you probably live, because there are only a few places presently in the country with that much installed capacity. Yes, I'm saying that even "five or six hundred" is miniscule.

But, seriously, I see too many bad faith owners/operators who really don't give a shit about their effects on wildlife. And I see regulators setting a low bar and showing no teeth when it actually matters. Altamont Pass is a prime example--despite knowing about the "bird problem" there for many years, there has never been a requirement by state or federal regulators for any sort of mitigation at all. I find that honestly a bit disgusting.

Even the Eagle Take Permit's primary tool of "compensatory mitigation" (usually in the form of utility pole retrofitting) does not address where the problem actually occurs. You don't balance wildlife populations like you would an algebra equation--instead, the side subtracted from is simply subtracted, even if you conceivably enable gains elsewhere.