Brain Dump

I heard an interview with Mark Steyn, who wrote "A Disgrace to Their Profession." He started me thinking and tied into a meme posted on FB. It showed a serene wind farm and boring solar panels. It decreed the cleanliness of these forms of energy compared to oil, picturing a pelican, sadly the victim of an oil spill. The comparison is quite shocking.

Yes, animals die in oil spills.

The truth:

Wind farms and solar panels also kill animals. A lot of them.

Wind farms chop up thousands of birds every year. Okay, they may not actually slice them, but they do beat them out of the sky. Sorry, but the birds do not grasp the concept of those steel arms moving. Birds run into buildings that don't move. The arms of the windmills knock the birds out of the sky. It's a long way to the ground. The birds do not survive. It isn't a cartoon where the birds stagger around, dazed, and fly off. The birds are hurled to the ground and die, thousands of them every single year.

Solar farms fry animals, every year, year after year. No end in sight. I've been to a parking area where they cleverly use the parking covers to hold solar panels. For the record: It was cooler in the full sun than it was under that parking cover. (Additional note: Several people I know, who live in cooler climes, have reported that the shade provided is cooler.) Again, birds don't recognize the danger of a solar farm. Birds fly too low and are overcome by the heat. Landing on a solar panel is not the same as landing on asphalt, though they look similar. I'll refrain from going into how energy inefficient solar panels are when you include actually making the panel.

Oil spills happen. The oil companies have become quite good at cleaning up their messes. Many animals caught in oil spills can be saved. Dawn really does take grease out of your way.

As for electric cars, what a joke. Electric cars are only efficient at 75 degrees. If it's cold or hot, their milage capabilities can be cut by more than half. For the record: Electricity is produced mostly by coal and oil plants.

Rule #1: Stop lying, especially to yourself.