Bat Conservation International supports the development of alternative energy sources. Nevertheless, there is growing concern among leading experts that cumulative impacts of wind energy development on wildlife could become unsustainable if facilities continue to operate without careful planning to minimize harm to birds and bats, both of which are ecologically essential. We believe that minimizing harmful impacts to wildlife is an essential element of “green energy” and that developers of wind energy must substantially increase efforts to improve siting and develop and test methods to reduce harm to wildlife. Additionally, state and federal agencies must increase support for responsible development of wind energy in a manner compatible with protecting wildlife resources. Cooperation, including access to study sites, funding, and transparency of information obtained, are fundamental elements needed to successfully resolve wind and wildlife conflicts. Response from industry has been mixed and while we applaud those companies and organizations working proactively with resource agency specialists and scientists to solve problems, more has to be done immediately to expand and improve the breadth of our cooperation in developing a sound, scientific basis for decision-making. This is especially true in Texas, which leads the nation in installed wind energy capacity, but woefully trails most states in regard to proactively addressing wildlife impacts.

Please visit our Bats and Wind Energy Cooperative website for more information.