Wildlife expert Dan Boone presented these slides at the 38th North American Symposium on Bat Research held in Scranton, PA in October 2008. Mr. Boone's presentation focused on the trade-offs of wind energy development in Eastern US balancing the benefits of this energy resource against the environmental risks, particularly to bats. Note that slides # 27, 32 and 33 of the presentation provide graphs which quantitatively estimate the potential impacts on bats and forest habitat resulting from the projected intensity of wind energy development within the eastern US states which comprise the bulk of the Appalachian mountain region. The summary slide from the presentation is listed below. The full presentation can be accessed by clicking on the link at the bottom of this page.

Policy analyst and attorney, Drew Thornley, of the Texas Public Policy Foundation examines the growth of wind energy in Texas over the last decade. While many policymakers and business leaders foresee wind as a major contributor to America’s electricity supply, his report identifies several practical obstacles that stand in the way of achieving that vision.

The Deerfield Wind Energy facility is the first wind plant to be proposed for US National Forest lands. The Draft Environmental Impact Statement released by the US Forest Service can be accessed by clicking on the link(s) below. Comments will be accepted through until the end of November 2008.

Texas oilman T. Boone Pickens is on a mission, and wants you to support his energy plan away from imported oil and towards natural gas and wind power. But commentator Will Wilkinson says to be wary of what you hear.

This paper, prepared by community noise experts George Kamperman and Richard R. James, was presented at the 2008 International Noise Conference held in Dearborn, Michigan. The abstract of the paper appears below. The full body of the report can be accessed by clicking on the link below.

Testimony from the House Subcommittee on Fisheries, Wildlife and Oceans Oversight Hearing on "Going, Going, Gone? An Assessment of the Global Decline in Bird Populations"

This agreement was drafted by attorneys in the State of Illinois. If adopted as a condition of approving a wind energy facility, the agreement would guarantee property value protections for landowners whose property is located within the footprint of the project site.

This paper documents the results of an in-field test at the Maple Ridge wind energy facility in New York to determine the effectiveness of using an experimental acoustic bat deterrent to reduce bat mortality. The executive summary excerpted below suggests the results were inconclusive. Most bat experts remain unconvinced that acoustic deterrence will be a suitable mitigation approach to reduce bat fatalities at existing turbines.