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Here we are in December 2024 and there can be little doubt that this year will be the warmest in human history. It also stands a more than reasonable chance of breaching the mark set at the 2015 Paris climate accords of 1.5 degreesC above pre-industrial levels, which wasn't expected to be reached until the end of this century. And in case you think that things aren't going to get worse, as the Guardian recently reported, "A $200bn wave of new [natural] gas projects could lead to a 'climate bomb' equivalent to releasing the annual emissions of all the world's operating coal power plants" produc[ing] an estimated 10 gigatonnes of greenhouse gas emissions by the end of the decade, or almost as much as the annual emissions of all the coal plants in operation worldwide."
That is indeed our world right now -- though, given the endlessly headline-grabbing wars we're fighting, also in their own fashion pouring greenhouse gases into the atmosphere, who even really notices these days? And if that weren't bad enough, there's yet another crisis on Planet Earth, the decline and extinction of species (yes, species!) that's now happening at a rate that (yet again!) is both unprecedented in human history and -- sigh -- accelerating. (Half of the world's bird species are typically in decline.)
And as TomDispatch regular Joshua Frank, author of Atomic Days: The Untold Story of the Most Toxic Place in America, reports today, dealing with the two crises humans are causing on Planet Earth -- climate change and the loss of biodiversity -- not only isn't easy, but sometimes, as with a new wind-power project he describes, they come into almost instant conflict with each other. And yet, as he also points out, given the disaster our planet is in danger of becoming, new wind and solar power plants are an absolute necessity. The question is: how to create them with the least loss of life and habitat for other species. Tom
Murdering Eagles to Save the Climate?
The Downside of Wyoming's Wind Energy Boom
By Joshua Frank
Like many roads that cut through Wyoming, the highway into the town of Rawlins is a long, winding one surrounded by rolling hills, barbed wire fences, and cattle ranches. I'd traveled this stretch of Wyoming many times. Once during a dangerous blizzard, another time during a car-rattling thunderstorm, the rain so heavy my windshield wipers couldn't keep pace with the deluge. The weather might be wild and unpredictable in Wyoming's outback, but the people are friendly and welcoming as long as you don't talk politics or mention that you live in a place like California.
One late summer afternoon on a trip at the height of the Covid pandemic, I stopped off in Rawlins for lunch. There wasn't a mask in sight, never mind any attempt at social distancing. Two men sat in a booth right behind me, one in a dark suit and the other in overalls, who struck me as a bit of an odd couple. Across from them were an older gentleman and his wife, clearly Rawlins locals. They wondered what those two were up to.
"Are you guys here to work on that massive wind farm?" asked the husband, who clearly had spent decades in the sun. He directed his question to the clean-cut guy in the suit with a straight mustache. His truck, shiny and spotless, was visible out the window, a hardhat and clipboard sitting on the dashboard.
"Yes, we'll be in and out of town for a few years if things go right. There's a lot of work to be done before it's in working order. We're mapping it all out," the man replied.
"Well, at least we'll have some clean energy around here," the old man said, chuckling. "Finally, putting all of this damned wind to work for once!"
I ate my sandwich silently, already uncomfortable in a restaurant for the first time in months.
"There will sure be a lot of wind energy," the worker in overalls replied. "But none of it's for Wyoming." He added that it would all be directed to California.
"What?!" exclaimed the man as his wife shook her head in frustration. "Commiefornia?! That's nuts!"
Right-wing hyperbole aside, he had a point: it was pretty crazy. Projected to be the largest wind farm in the country, it would indeed make a bundle of electricity, just not for transmission to any homes in Rawlins. The power produced by that future 600-turbine, 3,000 MW Chokecherry and Sierra Madre wind farm, with its $5-billion price tag, won't, in fact, flow anywhere in Colorado, even though it's owned by the Denver-based Anschutz Corporation. Instead, its electricity will travel 1,000 miles southwest to exclusively supply residents in Southern California.
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