Just had to deal with a bunch of wind turbine conspiracy theories at #StateOfEU, this polite political event I’m at in Brussels.

[jon@gruene.social]

There’s some argument here that electricity is too costly in the EU. If that *is* true, how do you fix it? Renewables are the only way. Even *were* nuclear the solution you can’t get it in a decade. And you don’t want to burn gas. #StateOfEU

[gracelesshippo@mastodon.ie]

@jon

I don't even know what a wind turbine conspiracy theory is. (Please do not enlighten/endumben* me)

*delete as appropriate

[jon@gruene.social]

@GracelessHippo for your sake I’m glad you’ve not heard them

[nemobis@mamot.fr]

@jon Fortum argues it's too cheap. https://mamot.fr/@nemobis/117270241969099380

[florine@mastodon.green]

@jon thanks for fighting the good fight

[jon@gruene.social]

This is just basically a question of big business profitability. Drive down electricity costs, and shove those costs onto the state to add network capacity to drive down your costs. #StateOfEU

[derek_diy@mastodon.ie]

@jt_rebelo @jon

Our cats would love to have a bird to kill.

Thanks to conventional agriculture and overdoing gardenweeders all around here, there is nothing left to feed on for birds.

Neither windturbines, nor cats are the biggest theeat to the birds population.

We humans with our tidy fields and gardens are the cause.

Sad enough

[jt_rebelo@ciberlandia.pt]

@Derek_DIY "free-ranging cats cause substantially greater wildlife mortality than previously thought and are likely the single greatest source of anthropogenic mortality for US birds and mammals (...)
More birds die from cat encounters than from collisions with buildings, communication tower, or vehicles, or poisoning by pesticides".
https://www.audubon.org/news/cats-pose-even-bigger-threat-birds-previously-thought
It's a bad conclusion for cat lovers, but all they have to do is keep their cats indoors, simple as that.
@jon

[jon@gruene.social]

At least the business dude knows how to present. The politicians, not so much. #StateOfEU

[dnavinci@genomic.social]

@jon
I wonder how many birds and fish and mammals are killed by coal plants...?
Or heat waves, for that matter.

Nobody likes loving next to industrial infrastructure, and quite a lot of land is used to import, export, refine, and distribute those archaic power sources.

Whose houses voted to have the gas peaker plants pop up next to them?

Many of those generators were built with the truncheon of State power and later "sold" for "private management"

I'm done asking. I'm demanding parity.

[lucalicalzi@zug.network]

@jon well I strongly agree with your point but then the natural consequence is "I'm ready to accept an increase in inequality in order to stop climate change". I do but this seems to be very uncommon.

[springdiesel@spore.social]

@jon and anyone who's worried about it can paint one blade black and reduce deaths dramatically. If that were standard at the factory, the cost could be negligible.

[simon_brooke@mastodon.scot]

@giggls @jon except in the #UK, where they're mainly caused by shooting. Which is illegal, but it's done by the servants of rich landowners, and, as everyone knows, the law doesn't apply to the rich — or, it seems, to their servants.

#RaptorPersecution
#LandReform

[sean@mastodon.me.uk]

@jon do they all have stickers on their windows ?

More birds killed by windows than turbines - a simple sticker can help ..

https://www.birdfood.co.uk/bird-window-stickers

[grimblob@mastodon.social]

@mikaeleiman @jon The same can be done to cats but it sadly has no effect on bird deaths.

[waledg@cyberplace.social]

@jon WelcomePlease help us, we need food and we are crying from hunger. Please, if$20 🥹

[giggls@karlsruhe-social.de]

@simon_brooke @jon
"At the moment (09/2024), 1,377 tagged red kites have died (506 red kites with transmitter failures). 195 tagged red kites died from poisoning and 54 from illegal shooting. 622 tagged red kites died from other anthropogenic and natural causes such as predation, collision, electrocution or disease."
Regarding Wind turbines it is also interesting that the newer, bigger ones are even less dangerous for birds as they usually simply do not fly this high.

[cthw@mstdn.ca]

@jon

I suspect governments will,resist renewable energy until they figure out a way to tax it. As you point out, once the infrastructure is installed, once the capital costs are met;
The energy is free …

[adipoeserpursch@troet.cafe]

@jon https://mastodon.social/@EricAlper/117366069806733105

[ignaloidas@not.acu.lt]

@jon@gruene.social As Technology Connections says - "Renewable energy means we can stop setting money on fire"