This article was originally published by Rhoda Wilson at The Exposé.
Wind turbines are destroying wildlife, including endangered species, such as whales, eagles, and migratory birds, due to collisions, sonar surveys, and other hazards.
The construction and operation of wind turbines and their associated infrastructure, such as transmission lines, can have devastating effects on marine life, including physical deformities, disorientation, and disruptions to migratory patterns and habitats.
In addition to the hazards to marine and bird life, wind power increases the demand for rare earths, the mining for which involves serious threats to human health and the environment.
How Wind Turbines Are Destroying the Environment and Ecology of Planet Earth
By Al Christie
“Wind turbines and generators require very strong permanent magnets. Rare earth magnets, like neodymium magnets, are used in some of the largest wind turbines in the world. These magnets, made of neodymium, iron and boron, are the strongest type of commercially available permanent magnet. Neodymium magnets provide efficient electricity generation. They’re used in wind-turbine designs to reduce costs, improve reliability, and lower the need for expensive maintenance.”
The first problem: The demand, limited supply and destructive mining practices of rare earth elements
From the Union of Concerned Scientists:
The most common type of magnets used in wind applications are neodymium–iron–boron magnets (NdFeB). These magnets typically contain four rare earth elements: neodymium and praseodymium strengthen the magnet, while dysprosium and terbium make it resistant to demagnetisation at high temperatures … Global demand for neodymium for wind turbines is estimated to increase 48% by 2050. Rare earth elements are critical to the renewable energy future and are the main “critical metals” used in wind turbines.
Mining rare earth elements can also involve serious human and environmental health threats. The fluoride and arsenic unearthed through rare earth element mining can cause lower birth rates and cause diseases such as skeletal fluorosis, which causes deformation in bone structure. In Baotou, Inner Mongolia, 1 in 7 Baotou residents – a city of several million – has cancer. A large rare earth element waste lake is located twenty minutes from the city centre … [it’s toxic].
In 2010, China was producing 95% of rare earth elements, but since 2016 has decreased rare earth element mining down to 60% of world production today [some with slave labour]. Fifteen per cent of rare earth elements are produced in the US, and 9% in Myanmar, where mining – particularly unregulated, illegal mining – has been increasing since the military coup in 2021. Kachin-based environmental groups estimate that there are over 100 rare earth element mines in the Pangwa and Chipwe Townships, owned by Myanmar military-affiliated militia. Radioactive waste from the mines pollutes the soil and waterways of dozens of nearby villages. A Pangwa activist told Radio Free Asia earlier this year, “These miners usually clear the ground and then dig holes. After that, they pour in chemically treated liquid into the holes. When they are done, they don’t cover up the holes in the ground, causing landslides when the rains come.”
Just and Sustainable Solutions for the Mining and Recycling of Rare Earth Elements in Wind Turbines, Union of Concerned Scientists, 12 December 2022
The next problem: Deadly destruction of wildlife, including endangered species
Last September, I wrote an article titled ‘Wind Turbines- a Heartbreaking Story of Environmental Destruction’, read HERE.
Thomas Shepstone’s ‘Energy Security and Freedom’ writes, “Systematic statistical analysis indicates that offshore wind development has likely been killing lots of whales since it began around 2016. This long-standing conjecture that wind kills whales has now been clearly confirmed.”
A study by the British Ecological Society discovered “hot spots” where migratory birds get killed, presumably where wind turbines are in or close to the birds’ migratory paths.
Note: The graphic above was published in June 2022. Since then, wind turbine towers have gotten even higher – up to 280 metres (919 feet); and the blades can now be 130 metres (430 feet), so that much more slaughter of birds. Where are the environmentalists?
Also, the graphic points out that transmission towers are a hazard for birds. Since wind farms are out on the prairies and deserts and so on, out of the cities, where the wind blows the most, miles and miles of new transmission lines are being built – and killing even more birds.
Eagles – According to AP News, wind farms get a free pass from the Fish and Wildlife Service to kill eagles: “Criminal cases brought by US wildlife officials for killing or harming protected bald and golden eagles dropped sharply in recent years, even as officials ramped up issuing permits that will allow wind energy companies to kill thousands of eagles without legal consequence.”
Whales – Energy Security and Freedom wrote: “Professor Gerasoulis [Rutgers University computer science professor emeritus] has confirmed with profound statistical evidence the widespread conjecture that offshore wind sonar surveys have been killing whales. There is now no reasonable doubt that the extensive sonar harassment authorised by NOAA since 2016 has caused the massive increase in whale deaths that NOAA first flagged in 2016-17.”
The Joule Thief wrote: “Per testimony given before Congress in May 2023, acoustical scientist Robert Rand concluded that sonar survey activities related to offshore wind were as loud as 220 decibels (dB) at the source, and up to 151.6 dB at half a nautical mile’s distance. NOAA estimates that whales can experience temporary hearing loss at a continuous blast of 152 dB, and suffer permanent deafness at 173 dB and above. Thus, these findings corroborate Gerasoulis’ data, as whales depend on echolocation to navigate dark waters, and deafness increases the likelihood of collision accidents with ships, fishing nets, and other ocean detritus. Lack of hearing can also lead to starvation, as the animals are unable to locate adequate food resources … The potentially devastating effects on marine life are myriad, and whales are not the only victims. According to one damning report entered into the CEC’s public record, EMF exposure [electromagnetic field, which is very strong when close to large electric transmission cables]posed by underwater power cables has been causally linked to physical deformities in lobsters, leading to stunted growth that prevents predator evasion and inducing malformations in claw architecture, which has a deleterious effect on lobster swimming and hunting abilities. Altered magnetic fields under the ocean also affect fish, and have been shown to disorient fish in their migratory patterns, and cause disruptions in hormonal secretion and mating practices. [Emphasis mine]
Letter from a whistle-blower: “NOAA’s [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA Fisheries)] own Chief of Endangered Species, Dr. Sean Hayes, bravely sounded the alarm, noting that not only the construction but also the operation of wind turbines could result in extinction [of right whales].”
Save Right Whales not only disagrees with the consensus of government officials who say there is no evidence offshore wind is killing whales, but they are one of the very few environmentalist organisations with the courage to speak out.
(I remember that one of Greenpeace and the Sierra Club’s top priorities was “Save the Whales.”What happened? Apparently, saving the planet is worth sacrificing the whales. But saving the planet from what? They think 0.04% of CO2 in the atmosphere is bad. They are deluded. See my post earlier today, 14 May 2025, on Satanic Influence HERE.)
The critically-endangered North Atlantic right whale, one of the most imperilled mammals in the world, seemed until just a few years ago to be on a path to recovery.
Today, the whale is in more danger than ever. An “unusual mortality event” beginning in 2017 has reduced the population by 30 per cent. The North Atlantic Right Whale Consortium’s October 2022 count estimates that only 340 individuals survive, with fewer than 70 breeding females and an overall decline in body size. Major sources of stress today include fishing gear entanglements, vehicle collisions and climate change.
But one source of danger to the right whale is rarely discussed: the industrialisation of their habitat by offshore wind companies, enabled by two government agencies, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries (NOAA Fisheries) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).
Whistle-blower Speaks Out: Offshore Wind Will Drive Whales to Extinction, Save Right Whales, 4 December 2024
Next: The hazards of wind turbines. I’m out of time tonight – tune in next week for a few more thoughts on wind farm impact on the environment and ecology.
About the Author
Al Christie self-describes as a former agnostic physics major in college, later a born-again Christian. He’s interested in science related to energy, microbiology, the danger of mRNA vaccines, and finance and investing, as well as keeping up on evidence for the Bible’s absolute truth. He publishes articles on a Substack page titled ‘My Two Cents’ which you can subscribe to and follow HERE.
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