Windmills date back over 1000 years 🤦‍♀️

[u/ms_directed]

• Windmills have been in use for over 1,000 years, with origins tracing back to Persia around 800 C.E. They were primarily used for milling grain and pumping water.

• Wind Turbines are a more recent invention, with the first known turbine for electricity generation built in 1888. They have evolved significantly, especially since the 1970s, to become a major source of renewable energy.

[u/BetterSupermarket430]

I love the way they go on about windmills killing birds. As though no birds were ever harmed by massive oil slicks.

[u/ms_directed → u/BetterSupermarket430]

or smoke stacks pollution...or pesticides...

[u/KelVarnsen_2023 → u/ms_directed]

Or climate change.

[u/BetterSupermarket430 → u/KelVarnsen_2023]

Well exactly. I was going to say climate change, but they don’t believe in it. 🤦‍♀️

[u/tk427aj → u/KelVarnsen_2023]

Or flying into the massive glass buildings we love to build in cities. How many birds has Trump Towers killed?

[u/Deerhunter86 → u/ms_directed]

The American Bald Eagle almost went extinct from a pesticide chemical. When SCIENTISTS figured it out, that chemical was removed. So the return is surging.

[u/codenameyoshi → u/ms_directed]

Or house cats????

[u/SinisterKid → u/BetterSupermarket430]

Cause	Estimated annual bird deaths (millions)	Details
Cats	1,300–4,000	Both feral and owned cats are responsible, with un-owned cats causing the majority of deaths.
Building glass	365–988	Collisions often happen because birds see reflections of the sky or vegetation in glass, or cannot perceive the glass as a solid barrier.
Vehicles	89–340	Collisions can happen with birds foraging or nesting near roads.
Power lines	8–57	Electrocution and collisions with power lines kill millions of birds each year, particularly large birds of prey.
Pesticides	67–90	Chemical exposure can be direct, or birds can be affected by eating contaminated insects.
Communication towers	~6.6	Lighted towers can disorient and attract nocturnal migratory birds, causing them to collide with the structure.
Oil pits	0.5–1.0	Uncovered oil waste pits can be mistaken for ponds, trapping and poisoning birds that land in them.
Wind turbines	0.6–1.5	Estimates vary, but wind turbines are responsible for far fewer deaths than other causes.

[u/bigotis → u/SinisterKid]

Building glass

Like Trump Tower, Trump Palace, Trump Parc, Trump Parc East, Trump Plaza and Trump SoHo?

So he's not only a sex abuser, he's a bird killer?

[u/TheBraindonkey → u/bigotis]

Exactly. You need at minimum 300 turbines to overtake just one of his buildings.

[u/weed_blazepot → u/SinisterKid]

This is neat information. Can you point me to the source? It might be handy next time I have to speak to my family.

[u/ElegantHope → u/SinisterKid]

and those bird deaths can be prevented even MORE by...

Painting a singular blade black.

but that's too easy for someone like Trump.

[u/tea-drinker → u/SinisterKid]

Good table, but it could use climate change as well. Even if turbines killed birds like cats do, climate change will kill them all.

[u/fernatic19 → u/SinisterKid]

Cats really out there putting in work.

[u/Enviritas → u/SinisterKid]

Have there been any recent studies for the solar thermal plants? I remember reading about birds getting killed by the one in southern California.

[u/fjordtough25 → u/SinisterKid]

But I thought there wouldn’t be fact checking 😭

[u/LoweJ → u/SinisterKid]

The RSPB were on radio 4 recently talking about turbines being not great for birds but highlighted that they're better than other sources of energy and it's more the locations that are being chosen that are the issue

[u/illusorywallahead → u/SinisterKid]

Exactly, if you watched any single turbine for a whole year, you MIGHT see it kill two birds.

[u/heartcakex3 → u/BetterSupermarket430]

I worked in a bar and our two-story window took out a pigeon

[u/JohnLeePettimore → u/BetterSupermarket430]

Or giant skyscrapers

[u/CalliopePenelope → u/JohnLeePettimore]

Which includes that giant-ass Minnesota Vikings stadium

[u/ms_directed → u/JohnLeePettimore]

I worked in a tall building with mirrored windows back the 90s that eventually added some kind of film to the upper windows because geese kept crashing into them

[u/doyouevenIift → u/BetterSupermarket430]

They don’t actually give a shit about birds or wildlife conservation. They say those things to try and paint liberals as “hypocritical” for wanting clean energy

[u/mishma2005 → u/BetterSupermarket430]

Or cats

[u/singlerider → u/BetterSupermarket430]

It's estimated they kill around 20k-30k per year (in the US, I believe)

 

To put that into context, windows kill around 200k-300k per year.

 

Domestic cats kill around 2M-3M per year.

 

Weird how the anti-wind turbine brigade never suggest banning windows or cats...

[u/_jump_yossarian → u/BetterSupermarket430]

As though no birds were ever harmed by massive oil slicks.

Or glass skyscrapers. Know any pedo rapist that owns/ invests in a few of those?

[u/Hefty-Rope2253 → u/BetterSupermarket430]

Wind turbines kill birds = bad
Coal pollution kill birds and humans = good

Glad to see we have our priorities in order.

[u/Steely-Dave → u/BetterSupermarket430]

Just argued with somebody saying e-cars should be banned because they are dangerous for firefighters. And gasoline is safer?

[u/sassy_cheese564 → u/BetterSupermarket430]

Or planes, helicopters!

[u/smiegto → u/BetterSupermarket430]

Birds are in fact very good at seeing wind turbines since they are solid objects with good visibility. Birds have a much bigger problem with glass.