tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311929704697522769.post9210869524413762676..comments2024-03-28T00:15:16.769-07:00Comments on Mojave Desert Blog: Sierra Club Senior Staff Dismissive of Industry ImpactsShaun G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/17039896758011526968noreply@blogger.comBlogger4125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311929704697522769.post-85052491824496869102013-02-01T06:15:02.666-08:002013-02-01T06:15:02.666-08:00If you think it is appropriate to link to a page t...If you think it is appropriate to link to a page that belittles one of the Sierra Club's concerns about wind energy and its position on enforcement of guidelines, then I guess it is your prerogative as a senior staff member to keep that on the page. The point you are making on the Sierra Club page is that a kitschy graphic that portrays 440,000 dead birds as a drop in the bucket provides a useful reference to Sierra Club members, even though it glosses over the problems we actually have with a rapidly expanding wind industry and communicates to readers that enforcement is not a priority. <br /><br />Asking Mother Jones--the original publisher--to take down that graphic would be censorship. I'm asking for the Sierra Club to avoid faulty logic and inconsistent messages when communicating with its membership about its core mission of conservation. Our communications should support our goals, not undermine them. <br /><br />I hope your full article on this topic will point out that elements of the wind industry oppose the Sierra Club's position on conservation and wildlife protection, ignore US Fish and Wildlife Service guidelines, and are not cooperative with studies to better address the problem. We owe it to our members to let them know that the industry we hope will trump fossil fuels wants to industrialize treasured wildlands, is more intent on making a profit than saving wildlife, and refuses to be held accountable. If we're going to champion sustainability, we have to be informed of these industry shortcomings.Shaun G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17039896758011526968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311929704697522769.post-77739669295773730412013-01-31T20:00:24.145-08:002013-01-31T20:00:24.145-08:00Removing links and censoring information is a very...Removing links and censoring information is a very poor form of argumentation, IMO. Make your point as you wish; don't try to prevent others from making theirs.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09758668342822447749noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311929704697522769.post-70683317315109818242013-01-31T16:34:01.256-08:002013-01-31T16:34:01.256-08:00Paul, thank you for your response. The graphic you...Paul, thank you for your response. The graphic you reference on your Sierra Club blog post and in your tweet is clearly intended to influence opinions and downplay the scale of the wind industry's impacts. The source of the graphic, which you link to from your blog post, characterizes attempts to regulate the wind industry's impacts as a tool of a misguided opposition; in fact, enforced siting guidelines are supported by the Sierra Club. The creator of the graphic states: "if you want to protect birds, forget about wind." This link should be removed from your Sierra Club blog post.<br /><br />I look forward to reading your article in the next issue of Sierra. I thought your article on distributed generation was great. Hopefully there will also be an article on energy efficiency (assuming I did not already miss one), since this could give folks a way to personally contribute to the fight against fossil fuels, even if they do not qualify for rooftop solar under existing policies and incentives.Shaun G.https://www.blogger.com/profile/17039896758011526968noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5311929704697522769.post-89492119643715981892013-01-31T10:30:40.541-08:002013-01-31T10:30:40.541-08:00Shaun, you sure read a lot into a 140-character tw...Shaun, you sure read a lot into a 140-character tweet. For the record, though, let me say that pointing out that domestic cats cause bird fatalities many orders of magnitude greater than wind turbines does not excuse turbine operators from killing birds. You'll be interested to learn that I have written on this subject at greater length in a story for the March/April 2013 issue of Sierra; I hope you enjoy it. Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09758668342822447749noreply@blogger.com