George Will: American Bird Conservancy estimates wind turbines kill between 75-275,000 birds a year.
In an April 9 Newsweek column , Will wrote:
Wind power involves gargantuan "energy sprawl." To produce 20 percent of America's power by wind, which the Obama administration dreamily proposes, would require 186,000 tall turbines -- 40 stories tall, their flashing lights can be seen for 20 miles -- covering an area the size of West Virginia. The amount of electricity that would be produced by wind turbines extending the entire 2,178 miles of the Appalachian Trail can be produced by four reactors occupying four square miles of land. And birds beware: the American Bird Conservancy estimates that the existing 25,000 turbines kill between 75,000 and 275,000 birds a year. Imagine the toll that 186,000 turbines would take.
Number of bird deaths from wind farms relatively small compared to other causes. According to the most recent figures provided to Media Matters from the American Bird Conservancy, whom Will cited in his Newsweek column, the number of birds killed in the United States every year because of striking windmills is relatively small compared to other causes:
CAUSE |
BIRTH DEATHS |
Building strikes |
100 million - 1 billion |
Car strikes |
200 - 300 million |
Communication towers |
4 - 50 million |
Power lines |
~75 million |
Cats |
365 million (1 million per day) |
Wind farms |
100,000 - 300,000 |
(source: http://mediamatters.org/research/201005040009)
Some articles at stats.org about statistics behind stories
Check your sources
To trust or not to trust?
Differences in question wording and/or context
An example taken from late Times Poll Director John Brennan's column of May 20, 1993, illustrates the point: On May 6th a Nightline broadcast noted that a majority of Americans now supported military action in Bosnia-Herzegovina. However, the next day's USA Today headline, "55% Oppose Air Strikes," sent a completely different message.
How is it that two news organizations had such different perspectives on public opinion? Examine the different question wordings below:
Gallup/CNN/USA Today question: "As you may know, the Bosnian Serbs rejected the United Nations Peace plan and Serbian Forces are continuing to attack Muslim towns. Some people are suggesting the United States conduct air strikes against Serbian military forces, while others say we should not get militarily involved. Do you favor or oppose U.S. air strikes?" |
ABC News question: "Specifically, would you support or oppose the United States, along with its allies in Europe, carrying out air strikes against Bosnian Serb artillery positions and supply lines?" |
|||
Favor |
35% |
Favor |
65% |
|
Oppose |
55 |
Oppose |
32 |
|
No Opinion |
6 |
No Opinion |
3 |
|
Depends (volunteered) |
3 |
|||
Poll of 603 adults nationwide, taken 5/6/93. Margin of error +/- 5 percentage points. |
Poll of 516 adults nationwide, taken 5/6/93. Margin of error +/- 5 percentage points. |
|||
The Gallup poll question (cited by USA Today ) did not mention European allies, making it sound like the U.S. would be acting alone in carrying out air strikes. This question wording found only 35% in favor. But when ABC News asked about support for air strikes in conjunction with our allies , 65% were in favor. The differences illustrate the importance of question wording in survey research.
(http://www.latimes.com/news/custom/timespoll/la-timespollfaq,1,2370162.htmlstory)