I like green energy, I dislike bats. Seems like a win-win solution.

The bats people are batty. From that logic, we should not have any airplanes either, because birds keep getting killed in the turbines. While it's good to consider the needs of specific animals, the needs of the planet as a whole are more important.

How would wind farms kill bats? Do they think that they would be hit by the blades? Have you ever tried to hit a bat with a rock? Their sonar is awesome. I am sure if it can detect something as small as a mosquito, those blades aren't going to be much of a problem. I am for green energy, but bats are good, too (favorite food...mosquitos!).

I'm not certain that fact is accurate, however, let's take it as concrete... As it is, our people need energy. I guess the way to look at it is the lesser of two evils. Will the bat population have more harm done to it from pollution from not using the wind farms than if the wind farms were used? An immediate phrase comes to mind.... GLOBAL WARMING! It may be a sad truth to face, but, the bats will probably lose in this bat(tle)...

The bat people must be the NIMBY's (Not In My BackYard)

Give me the Green Energy anyday! The bats will just have to go somewhere else. If we don't get Green Energy going, all of us may be doomed.

+5. Lets see... Wind farm....clean renewable energy Bats......Quano . . . Wind mills win !!!

Wind energy first. Screw the bats, the welfare and well being of humans comes first than that of some stupid bat.

Bats and birds can adapt. Those same bats and birds will suffer even greater consequences than fan blades if we don't convert to reusable energy. It's worth the risk.

If it is in California the bat will win! http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2009/05/09/fnc-drought-stricken-farmers-lose-fight-water-endangered-fish . http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=103950335 . They are picking a stupid fish over human lives. Hey ANYTHING for a fish.

Well wind engergy is new, and traditional power houses generators inside concrete, with wind it makes an magnetic field outside sometime 300 ft in the air, it may do more than hurt the bat, it can interfere with bees, birds, etc and an FYI no bees no food I looked at getting a wind turbine, but was put off by the 3 car garage full of lead acid batteries I would have needed (this was 2 yrs ago) not to mention the inversion equipt. I would need. It is not efficent to make AC power by wind. My point is we don't really know the full effect of wind generation. In the late 60's early 70's officials swore on a stack of bibles and dead relatives that Agent orange was safe, well it wasn't I'm not sold on this type of power yet, it's too new. Its like gas from corn, to keep up with demand we would release too much nitrogen into the air, not to mention the fuel used to harvest it

I apologize for any glee I take at the prospect of PETA going head-to-head against Greenpeace. *chortle* *snicker*

Beyond my opinon that the bat beople are full of it, I doubt windmills will kill as many bats as pesticides do. I vote for windmills.

I think the bat people have bats in their belfries. Bats can be moved anyway.. Tell em to go collect all the bats and move them elsewhere.. Non-the-less EVEN IF it's true once the word gets out on the bat Twitter I'm sure all the bats will learn to avoid the blades. ;)

so I'm guessing there are all kinds of dead bats lying on the ground next to the existing wind farms?

Both sides have problems. Windmills probably don't harm bats, since bats are active at night, when the wind isn't often blowing. OTOH, wind power is comparatively expensive, and creates other hazards and annoyances (noise and flashing shadows). It is believed that the windmills on a farmer's island killed his 400 goats, due to (yes!) insomnia. (i guess this was somewhere where the wind blows 24/7) I would rather live next to a nuclear power plant than a wind farm.

wind mills are a great and valuable source of energy.

I don't think that is accurate... it depends upon the size of the turbines, but commercial farms usually have tall turbines of around 60 metres, which is higher than bats fly. Bats are normally flying at a lower level in order to catch insects. Birds are more likely to be a problem than bats. I think people are hostile to wind farms for other reasons and bats are just an excuse. People are hostile to new development - whether housing, industrial or wind farms - and wind farms tend to be built on the open spaces where nothing else can be built and which people have thus tended to view as sacred and immune from infringement. Therefore they are doubly hostile to windfarms due to a perception that they are sullying virgin land. People also see views as very important and believe that turbines defile those views. This is especially true since turbines have to be built either on high ground or on flat places in order to catch the wind. They are also very tall which means they are highly visible. Our local windfarm is visible for 15 miles. However, speaking for myself I actually think it looks good. 20-odd streamlined white turbines on the skyline of the hill is not unattractive. The final concern is noise. There is a perception that they are noisy. However, speaking for our local farm which I visited a couple of days ago, modern turbines are completely silent unless you are within 100 yards of them, and even then they only make a very gentle swooshing sound. Personally, I like them. There was a LOT of hostility to the farm in the local area here, but all the people I know who were dead set against it have ended up not finding it offensive at all, and even admitting that it looks ok and is a local landmark.

The biggest cause of bird and bat mortality in wind turbines is poor placement and outdated differential design. Most statistics cited in criticizing windmills dates from before 2000, before the new 1 1/2 and 2 Mw turbines were available, which turn so slowly anything can avoid them. The lesser models can create a wind tunnel that sucks animals too weak to flap out into the path of the blades, as well as use materials that can confuse animals. The most common reasons birds get killed in wind turbines is that they are placed in areas used as large migratory paths, large nesting areas, and usage of outdated or inefficient models. While the new models are very subsidized and experts on windmill placement are becoming a dime a half-dozen, older, cheaper models and poor placement will continue to be problematic for bird populations. As long as the new zoning legislature, which includes keeping windmills out of the paths and environments of endangered species, passes, and better zoning and current model adoption are applied, there's no reason why wind power and local avian life can't coexist.

LIFE CHANGES FOR PROGRESS. BATS WILL HAVE TO FIND ANOTHER LOCATION OR LEARN TO LIVE WITH PROGRESS.