Desire For Wind Power In Hawaii Faces Challenges

Does wind power development in Hawaii threaten species?

Found this great article in the NY Times today about the challenge of wind power in Hawaii as critics worry about threats to the birds and bats of the islands. It is a controversial subject, the birds that get killed by wind turbines have raised alarm in other areas around the world. The Hawaiian islands have famous trade winds that blow daily and which could provide power in a state that is heavily fossil fuel dependent.

Plans to harness Hawaii’s legendary ocean breezes to generate electricity for local utilities have produced a negative blowback from critics who say Hawaii’s status as a world-class wildlife sanctuary could be undermined by wind turbines that have been linked to bird and bat mortalities in other parts of the United States.

And while so far wind power development blueprints for Hawaii have been modest compared to some of the massive wind farms of California or Texas, there is little doubt that even small wind farms could have outsized impacts on wildlife in Hawaii, whose rarified climate and geography make it home to the world’s most prized bird species.

Yet Hawaii the bird paradise is also the bird extinction capital of the world. Of the 113 unique bird species that once lived only on Hawaii, 73 have gone extinct, and 33 of the islands’ 43 remaining bird species are endangered.

At the same time, Hawaii is the nation’s most fossil fuel-dependent state, a designation state leaders have worked hard to overcome by encouraging renewable energy development. Hawaii’s renewable portfolio standard, for example, requires that utilities produce or purchase 20 percent of their electricity from renewable sources by the end of 2020, and the state has set a non-binding goal of doubling its RPS to 40 percent by 2030.