Wind power set to soar – ’05 tax credits to propel windmill use – But there are still problems

Thousands of giant wind turbines will spring up around the country this year to generate more eco-friendly power.

Nearly 30 energy companies are rushing to take advantage of a 2005 tax break and plan to install thousands of windmills in at least 21 states, according to the American Wind Energy Association.

Doug Abrahms
Gannett News Service

Full Story: http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/business/articles/0105windpower05.html

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Wind turbines taking toll on birds of prey

By John Ritter, USA TODAY

ALTAMONT PASS, Calif. — The big turbines that stretch for miles along these rolling, grassy hills have churned out clean, renewable electricity for two decades in one of the nation’s first big wind-power projects.

But for just as long, massive fiberglass blades on the more than 4,000 windmills have been chopping up tens of thousands of birds that fly into them, including golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, burrowing owls and other raptors.

After years of study but little progress reducing bird kills, environmentalists have sued to force turbine owners to take tough corrective measures. The companies, at risk of federal prosecution, say they see the need to protect birds. "Once we finally realized that this issue was really serious, that we had to solve it to move forward, we got religion," says George Hardie, president of G3 Energy.

Full Story: http://www.usatoday.com/tech/science/2005-01-04-windmills-usat_x.htm