Wind turbines at Flakfortet near Copenhagen. (Jens Dresling / AP)
Michael Hutchins
The rush is on to build scores of large, commercial wind energy facilities in and around the Great Lakes, in Canada and the United States. From the proposed Galloo Island and Lighthouse projects in New York to Camp Perry and Icebreaker in Ohio and Amherst Island and White Pines in Ontario, developers are looking to flood the region with renewable energy. But at what cost?

Many see renewable energy, including wind energy, as an important way to cut our dependence on fossil fuels and address global climate change. But this “green” revolution has a dark side. Collisions with wind turbines are killing hundreds of thousands of birds and bats annually. When you include collisions and electrocutions at associated power lines and towers, the number of birds killed climbs into the tens of millions.

via Wind turbines around the Great Lakes? A terrible idea for birds, bats – Chicago Tribune