Garbanzo Toons

Animal Education

I know making assumptions is one of those practices that can make one look foolish, but I'm going to assume that the following letter from Thursday's Detroit Free Press is from someone who proudly refers to herself as an environmentalist.

I'm an old woman who strives to lessen the impact of my carbon footprint so my grandchildren and their children can flourish on a healthy Earth. I have little patience for those who whine about looking at a sunset through the wings of a windmill that's a mile or more distant.

I have seen the windmills in Pennsylvania and think they look majestic. They have an aura of power with grace. The concern that waterfront properties would drop in value is nonsense. People will always want waterfront property, and those who can afford it will buy it.

Michigan has nearly 1,000 miles of shoreline where clean wind energy is available. Why is it taking us so long to take advantage of this?

That windmills may be a danger to migratory birds is a concern, but birds will learn the dangers of flying near windmills and avoid them. Your recent article focused only on opposition to wind power ("Will Canada's wind turbine's invade lakes?" Feb. 26). Your coverage should be more balanced.

Earth will survive no matter what we do. What's at stake is the planet's ability to support human life.

I have no problem with a person thinking that windmills look majestic even though I think they are as attractive as a barbed wire fence. I don't care that she thinks property values won't go down. Maybe they won't if the entire Lake Michigan coastline is filled with them and there is no way to escape them if one wants property on Lake Michigan.

But, "birds will learn the dangers . . . and avoid them"? Under that line of reasoning, we no longer need the Endangered Species Act. If migratory birds can learn to avoid windmills, surely other animals can learn to avoid the human caused dangers that affect them. Whales can learn to dodge harpoons. Wolves can learn to avoid hunters and traps. Spotted owls can learn to nest in other trees. Migratory sea turtles can learn to lay their eggs on beaches that don't attract tourists.

In fact, rather than protect any animal species, can't we find animal trainers who will teach them to alter their behavior so that they aren't affected by human activities? I suggest this as the new mission of PETA, Greenpeace, and all of those other "save the earth" groups. Teach the animals new modes of behavior so that they on longer need protection.

And then start building nuclear power plants and allow drilling for oil in the United States. Windmills are still a bad idea.

Labels: Detroit Free Press, environment

posted by Harry @ 7:46 PM