Death by solar farms

[SnakeBoy]

Death by solar farms: 71 species of birds killed, ‘entire food chains’ disrupted

A new report by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finds that solar facilities in California are acting like “mega traps” that kill and injure birds. As a result, “entire food chains” are being disrupted.

USFWS’s National Fish and Wildlife Forensics Laboratory studied three solar farms in Southern California: Desert Sunlight, Genesis Solar and Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System (ISEGS). Two-hundred and thirty-three different birds from 71 species were found over the course of a two-year study.


SPECIAL COVERAGE: Energy and Environment


The three main causes of death were:

1. Solar flux: Exposure to temperatures over 800 degrees F.

2. Impact (or blunt force) trauma: The birds’ wings are rendered inoperable while flying, causing them to crash into the ground. Birds that do not die are often injured badly enough to make them vulnerable to predators.


3. Predators: When a bird’s wings are singed and it can not fly, it loses its primary means of defense against animals like foxes and coyotes.

Hummingbirds, swifts, swallows, doves, hawks, finches, warblers and owls were just some dead birds found at the solar facilities’ “equal opportunity” mortality hazards.

In one instance, lab staff observed a “falcon-type bird with a plume of smoke arising from the tail as it passed through [a] flux field.”


The study found that besides the intense heat, birds may be mistaking large solar panels for bodies of water. The injured birds then attract insects and other predators to the area. They, too, are then vulnerable to injury or death.

In one instance, researchers found “hundreds upon hundreds” of butterfly carcasses (including Monarchs). The insects were attracted to the light from the solar farms, which in turn attracted birds and perpetuated a cycle of death and injury.

One of the recommendations of the study, which stated that the number of deaths was likely underrepresented, was to retrofit solar panels to discourage birds and insects from congregating in the area.

California’s KCET, a public television station, reported the findings of the USFWS’s report may affect the state’s decision to proceed with the Palen Solar Electric Generating System, “a much larger version of Ivanpah proposed for the Chuckwalla Valley in Riverside County.”


Read more: http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2014/apr/11/death-calif-solar-farms-71-species-bird-found-enti/#ixzz2ycaJDdHx
Follow us: @washtimes on Twitter


Stupid birds don't know we're trying to cool them off.

[Leetonidas]

So over two years a bird died about every two days? Cool story bro

[The Reckoning]

get boutons in here.


first the herring, now the birds???

this is a hard pill to swallow

[pgardn]

I have had 4 birds die in the last year striking my vaulted ceiling windows.

I have now reported myself and ask mercy from the snake gone green.

[The Reckoning]

can someone tweet this to boutons? his lack of presence is getting hawkward.

[boutons_deux]

Killer Kitties? Cats Kill Billions Of Creatures Every Year


http://media.npr.org/assets/img/2013/01/29/cat-bird_wide-85ce4b8383b9440d3ff03413cdd913513e9737bf-s40-c85.jpg

Previous studies had suggested that cats kill about 500 million birds a year. Marra's group came up with something very different. "We estimate that cats kill somewhere between 1.4 and 3.7 billion birds a year," Marra says. "For mammals, it's upward of about 15 billion."

Marra says based on those new figures, cat-caused mortality far exceeds deaths from other sources, like collisions with cars or wind turbines.

http://www.npr.org/2013/01/29/170588511/killer-kitties-cats-kill-billions-every-year

[SnakeBoy]

I have had 4 birds die in the last year striking my vaulted ceiling windows.

I have now reported myself and ask mercy from the snake gone green.

Did your vaulted ceiling windows require 100's of million of dollars of taxpayer money, and permanently destroy 1000's of acres of protected park land under the guise of being environmentally friendly when if fact the provide zero environmental benefit...zero.

I'm not green and neither are the enlightened progressive environmentalists who support these projects.

[SnakeBoy]

Killer Kitties? Cats Kill Billions Of Creatures Every Year



Fish kill fish...BP did the gulf of favor. lol your logic boutons

[Blake]

Link to the 1000s of acres of permanently destroyed protected park land please

[ChumpDumper]

lol talking points

[SnakeBoy]

lol talking points

Do you support funding solar farms? Why?

[ChumpDumper]

Do you support funding solar farms? Why?If we fund oil and coal, why not solar?

[SnakeBoy]

If we fund oil and coal, why not solar?

Provides no benefits over oil and coal. Do you think it does?

edit...Solar farms that is.

[ChumpDumper]

Provides no benefits over oil and coal. Do you think it does?

edit...Solar farms that is.There is more solar power available for the long term future than oil and coal.

Let me know how many birds were killed by oil and coal in the past two years since you care so much about the birds.

Or are you just putting up a talking point and don't really give a shit about birds?

[boutons_deux]

Fish kill fish...BP did the gulf of favor. lol your logic boutons

:lol the cats are not natural cats, but an invasive species own as pets, plus the pet cats that go feral

[SnakeBoy]

There is more solar power available for the long term future than oil and coal.

Let me know how many birds were killed by oil and coal in the past two years since you care so much about the birds.

Or are you just putting up a talking point and don't really give a shit about birds?

So because oil and coal will someday run out you support permanently destroying federally protected lands for large scale solar projects. Do you support opening up protected lands for oil and coal development?

[SnakeBoy]

:lol the cats are not natural cats

Neither are solar farms dumbass. lol boutons logic

[ChumpDumper]

So because oil and coal will someday run out you support permanently destroying federally protected lands for large scale solar projects. Do you support opening up protected lands for oil and coal development?Define "permanently destroying" -- and which protected lands?

Give us a list of all the lands and the size of the solar projects on those lands compared to the total square mileage of each.

Thanks in advance.

[POPownsJackson]

yes, outside apt I is see how fat cat that live by complex is take baby bird and eat. At end all I see is feather on floor and feel like cry :cry

[SnakeBoy]

Bird Deaths Continue at Ivanpah Solar as Tortoises Go Missing

http://www.kcet.org/news/rewire/solar/concentrating-solar/bird-deaths-continue-at-ivanpah-solar-as-tortoises-go-missing.html

:cry tortoises :cry

Oh wait....never mind...fuck those tortoises...in this case.

[The Reckoning]

what's the matter boutons? cat got ya tongue?

[boutons_deux]

Neither are solar farms dumbass. lol boutons logic

but you rightwingers don't whimper, whimper, and bitch about cats killings 100Ms of birds, do you?

[The Reckoning]

:cat

[The Reckoning]

:dramaquee

[Winehole23]

Do you support opening up protected lands for oil and coal development?Already the case, I believe. Federal lands are leased to oil and gas companies, coal I'm not sure of.

[SnakeBoy]

Already the case, I believe. Federal lands are leased to oil and gas companies, coal I'm not sure of.

Some, but I was asking him if he supports it. Really I was asking him why he supports these particular types of solar projects. He couldn't come up with a good answer other than he supports solar in general, so he reverted to his chump routine.

No surprise, this is the nature of this forum and current politics. You are either for or against <insert broad complicated issue>, no room for nuance.

[ChumpDumper]

Some, but I was asking him if he supports it. Really I was asking him why he supports these particular types of solar projects. He couldn't come up with a good answer other than he supports solar in general, so he reverted to his chump routine.

No surprise, this is the nature of this forum and current politics. You are either for or against <insert broad complicated issue>, no room for nuance.You have given no reasons whatsoever to be against these projects.

You just started making up a bunch of shit. No surprise, this is the nature of this forum and current politics.

[boutons_deux]

Already the case, I believe. Federal lands are leased to oil and gas companies, coal I'm not sure of.

Grand Canyon uranium mining set to go ahead despite ban from Obama

Uranium mining (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/mining) on the doorstep of the Grand Canyon national park is set to go ahead in 2015 despite a ban imposed last year by Barack Obama.

Energy Fuels Resources (http://www.energyfuels.com/) has been given federal approval to reopen itsold Canyon Mine (http://www.energyfuels.com/projects/canyon/), located six miles south of the canyon's popular South Rim entrance, that attracts nearly 5 million visitors a year.

The Canadian company says that the Obama administration's ban on new hard-rock mining over 1m acres (http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2012/jan/09/grand-canyon-uranium-mining-banned) doesn't apply because its rights date from when it closed over 20 years ago.

However, its approval is based on an environmental study the US Forest Service conducted more than 25 years ago, in 1986.
Several environment groups – including the Grand Canyon Trust (http://www.grandcanyontrust.org/), theSierra Club (http://www.sierraclub.org/) and the Centre for Biological Diversity (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/) – and the Havasupai tribe (http://www.havasupai-nsn.gov/) filed suit in March against the Forest Service (http://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/public_lands/mining/Grand_Canyon_Uranium_Mining/pdfs/Complaint_03-07-2013.pdf), arguing that the study is badly outdated.

Curtis H Moore, a spokesman for Energy (http://www.theguardian.com/environment/energy) Resources, disagrees. "The Forest Service looked at that review with modern eyes and determined that it's adequate. And 1986 was not that long ago. These are tiny mines (http://energyfuels.com/projects/arizona_one/)– about 20 acres."

http://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/apr/30/grand-canyon-uranium-mining

20 acres? no runoff?

[The Reckoning]

fucking canadians

[boutons_deux]

Stupid birds don't know we're trying to cool them off.

what's your policy suggestion? must have something in mind, right?

[SnakeBoy]

You have given no reasons whatsoever to be against these projects.


I said they provide zero environmental benefits and zero benefits over oil and coal. I asked you what benefits they provided and you were unable to give any.

[SnakeBoy]

what's your policy suggestion? must have something in mind, right?

Stop pretending solar is ever going to replace fossil fuels and prevent global warming. Here's an appropriate use of a feel good supplemental energy source...
http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=206355&highlight=solar

[SnakeBoy]

You have given no reasons whatsoever to be against these projects.


Here are some more reasons...look for the posts by someone named Chumpdumper :lol

http://www.spurstalk.com/forums/showthread.php?t=120676&highlight=solar

[boutons_deux]

"Stop pretending solar is ever going to replace fossil fuels and prevent global warming"

replace, no. reduce heavy dependence upon? yes

even now, there are several conventional energy sources: hydro, nuclear, coal, gas.

solar, both centralized and distributed, and wind can and will make significant contributions, if not blocked by the corporations invested in those 4 conventional sources who give lip service to "free market" but do everything they can to block competition by buy politicians.

[boutons_deux]

retrograde Repug assholes like LePage

Maine Gov. Paul LePage Vetoes Popular, Bipartisan Solar Energy Bill (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/12/3426144/maine-solar-veto-lepage/)

On Friday evening, Maine Governor Paul LePage vetoed a bill (http://bangordailynews.com/2014/04/11/politics/lepage-vetoes-solar-energy-bill-two-others/) to expand solar power in Maine that had passed the legislature with broad bipartisan (https://bangordailynews.com/2014/03/26/politics/state-house/heat-pump-amendment-helps-maine-solar-energy-rebate-bill-win-broad-support-in-house/) support last month.

The bill (http://www.mainelegislature.org/LawMakerWeb/summary.asp?ID=280048144) aimed to restore a $2,000 solar energy rebate program that ended last year that helped Maine homes and businesses install solar and hot water projects. This was paid for by placing a one-hundredth of a cent per kilowatt-hour fee on consumers’ electric bills — amounting to what supporters say (https://bangordailynews.com/2014/03/26/politics/state-house/heat-pump-amendment-helps-maine-solar-energy-rebate-bill-win-broad-support-in-house/) is about a five-cent per month increase. Uncontroversial enough to pass the House 109-30 and the Senate 22-12 despite much narrower Democratic majorities in both chambers, the bill’s veto leaves Maine as the only state in New England without a program in place to help residents install solar projects in homes and businesses.

According to the Bangor Daily News (http://bangordailynews.com/2014/04/11/politics/lepage-vetoes-solar-energy-bill-two-others/), Governor LePage cited energy bills and colder weather as reasons he opposed the bill, calling LD 1252 “bad energy policy” in his veto letter (https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B2GGUTXhI8gQaUh3THZWLWpma0k/edit?ref=inline).

Maine may not have the solar capacity that a state like Arizona or New Mexico does, but it is at a lower latitude than Germany, a country which has been breaking records (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/08/22/2508191/germany-solar-generation-record/) on total and per-capita solar power output. Maine receives a third more sunshine than Germany, yet there were times when that sunshine produced 30 percent (http://www.pressherald.com/news/Lawmakers_looking_for_Maine_s_place_in_the_sun_.ht ml?pagenum=full) of Germany’s total power demand. While the Germans have done this, they have made solar power just as cheap (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/03/24/3418145/solar-grid-parity-italy-germany/) as conventional power.

LePage has opposed efforts to increase energy efficiency (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/06/07/2091121/maine-tries-to-increase-energy-efficiency-gov-lepage-threatens-veto/),

tried to roll back renewable energy targets (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/01/06/3121821/maines-governor-clean-energy-rollback/),

moved to get out of anti-smog regulations (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/08/02/2407451/maine-moves-to-opt-out-of-longstanding-anti-smog-regulations/),

vetoed a bill creating a climate adaptation working group (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/06/27/2224671/lepage-climate-change-adaptation-veto/), and

touted the benefits (http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2013/12/05/3027091/lepage-climate-change-benefits/) climate change will have on Maine after agreeing with a radio talk show host (http://grist.org/article/2010-09-27-republican-governor-candidates-deny-climate-change/2/) who called climate science a “hoax” and “lying science.” :lol

http://thinkprogress.org/climate/2014/04/12/3426144/maine-solar-veto-lepage/

aka, checkbox Repug asshole

[FuzzyLumpkins]

When you link truthout, naked capitalism, and alternet, you are basically saying that survivalist right wing nut jobs like in the OP are legitimate sources as well.

This is what I have gotten at bouties about before. Does he actually want to appeal to people's reason or does he just want to masturbate?

Bouties whacks off a lot.

[boutons_deux]

When you link truthout, naked capitalism, and alternet, you are basically saying that survivalist right wing nut jobs like in the OP are legitimate sources as well.

This is what I have gotten at bouties about before. Does he actually want to appeal to people's reason or does he just want to masturbate?

Bouties whacks off a lot.

:lol GFY

[ChumpDumper]

I said they provide zero environmental benefits and zero benefits over oil and coal.Prove it.

You said some birds were killed then made up a bunch of shit.

Prove all your contentions.

[pgardn]

Did your vaulted ceiling windows require 100's of million of dollars of taxpayer money, and permanently destroy 1000's of acres of protected park land under the guise of being environmentally friendly when if fact the provide zero environmental benefit...zero.

I'm not green and neither are the enlightened progressive environmentalists who support these projects.

You are not green? Wow, what surprise...

And your concern for the birds via your title for this thread is heartfelt and touching.

Can you cry on command as well, or do you have to get into character ?
Work with me here, you're a bird... with a bird concussion that's just been vaporized by giant mirrors...And the park is gone.

[SnakeBoy]

And your concern for the birds via your title for this thread is heartfelt and touching.


Title of the thread is the title of the article. Common forum practice. How many times am I going to have to point this out to you lol

[FuzzyLumpkins]

Time for artificial selection to get to work.

[pgardn]

Title of the thread is the title of the article. Common forum practice. How many times am I going to have to point this out to you lol

Ok so you posted it for a reason.

You have a profound love for the birds just like the author.

The intent of the article and you posting it are touching, ok now...

[MannyIsGod]

I said they provide zero environmental benefits and zero benefits over oil and coal. I asked you what benefits they provided and you were unable to give any.

1. Complains about not being able to have a serious conversation :( :( :(

2. Trolls in his own threads.

[boutons_deux]

Did your vaulted ceiling windows require 100's of million of dollars of taxpayer money, and permanently destroy 1000's of acres of protected park land under the guise of being environmentally friendly when if fact the provide zero environmental benefit...zero.

I'm not green and neither are the enlightened progressive environmentalists who support these projects.

"100's of million of dollars of taxpayer money"

loan guarantees aren't gifts. Has the CSP project defaulted on its govt guaranteed loans?

"permanently destroy 1000's of acres of protected park land"

lost water? lost camping sites? lost recreations how many Americans have visited this lifeless desert area per year?

"provide zero environmental benefit"

:lol

hmm, no miners dead from black lung or killed by BigCoal's unsafe mines.

No air/water/human pollution from fracking.

No nuclear waste to dispose of.

No $10Bs of TAXPAYER-liable insurance for nuclear plants