Al's Rantings

A view of the world from a hillbilly perspective.

Name:
Location: Virginia

I was born and went to school in the heart of the Appalachian mountains, in southern West Virginia. After graduating from college, I got married, and began working in Bristol, TN. I have have various jobs from Tennessee to up state New York and a few points between. Now I work in West Virginia. Some day, I want to live in Alaska.

Tuesday, April 25, 2006

Wind Farm for Greenbrier county, WV

There is discussion about a $300 million project to put 124 wind turbines in rural Greenbrier county, West Virginia.

The main sticking point is the killing of bats.

“Some people say that you may be risking a big increase in West Nile Virus if you kill off enough bats,” Schoenfeld told The Register-Herald Monday. “Bats live for a long time and it doesn’t take much to wipe out a whole population.”

Compounding this problem is the fact two endangered species of bats protected by federal laws — the Indiana bat and the Virginia big-eared bat — either reside in Greenbrier County during the summer or potentially could pass through during migration.

Two big concerns: West Nile Virus and Endangered Species. This ain't over yet.