The Dirty Truth About Wind Turbines
fast Facts
- As of 2021, there are more than 60,000 utilty producing wind turbines in the United States
- A 2015 study by the U.S. Department of Energy found wind could provide only 20% of U.S. electricity by 2030 and 35% by 2050
- Modern wind turbines depend on rare earth minerals mined primarily from China, a country with a dismal record of environmental activism. China controls 95% of the world’s supply of these minerals.
- The process of extracting rare earth minerals has caused environmental and public health impacts on local communities.
- The United States would need an incredible 1.26 million turbines to transition to exclusive wind power
- The general rule-of-thumb for wind farm spacing is that turbines are about 7 rotor diameters away from each other. This means a 262 foot rotor would need to be more than a third of a mile — from adjacent turbines.
- Wind installations injure, maim, and kill hundreds of thousands of birds each year. Any marginal reduction in emissions comes at the expense of protected bird species, including bald and golden eagles.
