Clean Energy in New Jersey is Important to meet Environmental Needs Fossil Fuel derived energy contributes to: Global Warming / Air Pollution Local Air Quality Problems External Effects

Focus: Pollution and Birds "Neotropical migratory birds are important for our ecosystems. They work as nature's pest controllers and pollinators and provide many hours of enjoyment for birdwatchers and outdoor enthusiasts. " (Secretary Gail Norton; 6/9/04 USFW press release)

Importance of Birds Insect control and pollination Seed dispersal Enjoyment- in 2001 wildlife watchers spent $1.23 Billion in New Jersey (USFWS). Changes in weather mark the initiation of migration.

Global warming threatens to create shifts in vegetative communities and regional climatic patterns. These changes could greatly disrupt migratory birds if the plants they depend on for food become absent in a region, flower or fruit earlier or later due to climatic changes. A study of 35 North American warblers found that the range of seven species have shifted northward an average of > 65 miles over the past 24 years, while none of the 35 species shifted southward (Price and Root, unpubl. data in Price and Glick 2002).

Scientists have discovered behavioral changes in birds that correspond with warming spring temperatures, resulting in earlier migration. Changes in migration chronology could have devastating consequences for some birds. Birds that are associated with very specialized habitat types are very vulnerable to climatic shifts because such shifts may eliminate their habitats. (Both and Visser 2000). These include Black-throated Blue Warbler, Golden-winged Warbler, Chestnut-sided Warbler, Blackburnian Warbler, and Rose-breasted Grosbeak (Price 2002).

Pollution can have other effects on ecological communities Concentrations of air pollutants common in many areas of the United States can alter vegetational communities. Leaching of calcium from the soil by acid rain may be having a negative impact on the nesting success of species dependent on environmental calcium for egg laying (Hames et al. 2002). Changing of ecosystem structure will likely cause an impact on avian, and other wildlife, populations.

POINT: Green Matters! Increased use of clean energy is needed to protect the ecological health of our environment. Potential Solution The effects of global warming will need to be ameliorated through changes to rules governing emissions, and incentives for increased fuel efficiency, energy conservation, and renewable energy.

Wind Energy is Compatible with Ecology – Sticking with birds: A major environmental concern with the locating and development of wind turbines or wind power farms is the impact the facilities may have on bird (and bat) populations.

Is avian species mortality really an issue? - Yes: Wind derived electricity now represents only small component of the total electric produced in the U.S. (0.3%?), but growing rapidly. Today's utility-scale wind turbines can be quite large – blades 130' in length, total heights of 400'. See the web site for the American Wind Energy Association for background data on wind plant operations: Any structure has the potential to harm birds. It has been estimated that communication towers kill up to 50 million birds a year, 90% of which are neotropical migratory birds. Tall-building collisions (office buildings) kill millions of birds each year.

Wind turbines impact birds through: i) collisions with the turbine blades, towers, power lines, or with other related structures; ii) Turbulence / wind shear iii) habitat impacts (the infrastructure) Recent information from U.S. projects indicates that bird mortality at wind turbine projects varies from less than one bird/turbine/year to as high as 7.5 birds/per turbine/year.

The numbers of fatalities add up quickly. The Mountaineer Wind Energy Project in West Virginia, a wind farm of 44 large turbines and related structures, is believed to have caused an estimated mortality of 4.80 birds per turbine in 2003 ( 211 birds ). The National Wind Coordinating Committee reported that the annual estimate of all avian mortality from the 15,000 operational wind turbines in the U.S. in 2001 was 10,000 to 40,000 birds. See the National Wind Coordinating Council’s web site at Poor planning could conspire to cause significant mortality. One calculation for a proposed 180 turbine facility calculates a potential for 15,000 bird/bat kills per year at that site alone. Add to this the cumulative effect on migrating populations as they move across multiple wind farms, and population impacts become an issue.

POINT: Development and implementation of wind-power facilities have the potential to cause significant harm to avian species, and so to ecological systems in general …

POINT CONTINUED: BUT IT DOES NOT HAVE TOO. We need wind energy WHY?

Can we develop ecologically friendly wind power? Very Likely YES Prior to constructing wind power projects, the potential risks to birds and bats can be evaluated. Pre-construction, a proper siting analysis can be done for each new wind turbine farm. Sites known to be used by rare birds could be avoided, as could known heavy migration pathways, or landscape features known to attract large numbers of birds. Lighting could be minimized.

What Are We Doing About All This? Power industry, wind industry, private parties, NGO's and government agencies are collaborating to design policies and guidelines to implement wind power in an ecologically friendly way.

Bottom Line: We believe that by engaging in open dialogue with commercial interests and regulators, and by carrying out research on potential impacts and impact avoidance in the mid-Atlantic flyway, we will likely be able to implement much needed, commercially viable, technologically feasible, and ecologically friendly wind energy in New Jersey.

Clean Energy Is Environmentally Necessary and Ecologically Viable – Help It Happen