Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
distance from the development site. The mere extraction of minerals used in
renewable energy devices can harm animal habitats, and the manufacturing
of turbines or solar panels requires energy that may be generated in wildlife-
harming ways. Hazardous substances in photovoltaic solar cells and wind
turbines can also pose risks to animals if they are improperly disposed of at
the end of a project's life cycle.
Even if all of the harms and benefits to specific animal species from a
proposed renewable energy project were somehow perfectly known, the
analysis would not stop there. Other questions would inevitably remain.
Some species are capable of generating tourism dollars, pollinating
crops, and even helping to control pests—those benefits would have
to be measured, too. 20 Other species might unexpectedly hold cures
for diseases or keys to innovations with tremendous social value. An
accurate harm estimate would need to incorporate these and still other
factors.
In summary, uncertainty and ambiguity inevitably complicate attempts to
accurately balance renewable energy development with competing interests
in wildlife protection. Courts increasingly seem to recognize the tension
between these two policy interests, 21 and even conservation groups have
struggled to reconcile the complex relationship between them. Over the
years, conservation groups have been somewhat divided in their support for
or opposition to wind energy in areas where protected wildlife is present. 22
That said, many prominent groups such as the Audubon Society, American
Bird Conservancy, and Royal Society for the Protection of Birds have each
recently expressed support for wind energy development so long as devel-
opers assess wildlife impacts prior to construction and follow government
guidelines for siting and design. This apparent trend suggests that wildlife
advocates' opposition to renewable energy development may gradually
diminish as the industry matures. 23
In the meantime, the best that stakeholders can do is to improve their
understanding of how renewable energy development can harm wildlife
populations and to be careful when crafting policies to govern these
conflicts. Fortunately, it is possible to minimize most of these impacts by
assessing a given project's potential threats to wildlife early in the planning
process and implementing all reasonable and cost-effective measures for
mitigating significant threats.
Assessing a project's threat to wildlife
When a proposed renewable energy project poses some sort of threat to an
animal species, initial questions about the potential conflict generally seek
to assess how serious the harm will be. These inquiries typically require
permit applicants or other stakeholders to gather information about the
extent to which the species is already endangered and the likely severity of
the project's impact on its population.
 
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