Wind Turbines in Wisconsin: The Problems They Create

Adeline Holte, Staff Writer

We are all familiar with these last few decades trying to show environmental importance and pushing a much-needed appreciative attitude of our environment. It has been incredible to see how far our society has come in caring for our earth, but have we gone far enough?

No. In my opinion, we can never go far enough. We should do everything we can and more to help our environment, and sadly, even then, things will never be perfect.

Take wind turbines, for example. There is a lot a lot of controversy around them, whether they are good for the environment, or bad. It is safe to say that controversy is a back and forth, never-ending issue. So, what exactly is the controversy?

Well, for starters, wind turbines kill up to 500,000 wild birds a year in the United States alone. Considering exactly how many birds have died from wind turbines, that seems like enough of a reason for there to be a lot of controversy surrounding it. Birds are an important part of the environment and seeing so many of them die from such an unnatural occurrence is sickening to a lot of people.

Not only do they kill many birds, but they also play a large part in deforestation across the United States. In order to have space for the wind farms, often times many forest and trees are destroyed to make way for the farms. Deforestation is a huge problem regarding environmental issues, and wind turbines are no help to that.

On the flip side of the coin, there is an argument that wind turbines are a better energy alternative compared to their competitors. While wind turbines are slightly more environmentally friendly than some other energy sources, they still do not completely stop harming our environment. In fact, it seems like they almost do more harm than good, if it is compared with better alternatives, such as solar power.

Sadly, wind turbines continue to do harm to the environment, and there is no sign of an end. But, since environmental awareness has been continually rising with people around the globe, there is hope for the future of reliable energy, in an environmentally safe way.