A recent article in the Seattle PI.com discusses an additional environmental cost of wind farms: transmission lines.  In order to carry the energy produced by wind farms to users, transmission lines are needed. Wildlife conservationists and managers have been worried about the potential impact of huge wind towers and their blades on bats and birds, but the transmission lines can pass through and disturb sensitive species and habitats as well. That is why the siting of wind farms is critical if this clean form of evergy is to–in the final analysis–be considered a “green” form of energy.  If wind farms have a substantial negative impact on wildlife and their habitats, particularly endangered or threatened species, they can hardly be considered green.

Michael Hutchins energy development, wildlife conservation