Animals Injured by Wind Turbines to be Euthanised

Koala sits on a branch at a zoo in Sydney, Australia, April 24, 2013. Greg Wood/AFP/Getty Images

Some wind farm projects planned in Queensland expect to euthanise animals that get in the way of their land clearing and building of giant wind towers, including hitting koalas with a “hard, sharp blow to the base of the back of the skull.”

Politicians including Liberal MP Michelle Landry and Nationals MP Keith Pitt recently raised the alarm about what is happening to koalas and other endangered animals in their native habitats in Queensland.

They noted in the environment statement for the Clarke Creek wind farm project (pdf), that wildlife are expected to be injured and killed to make way for the wind turbines, and that “blunt force trauma” can be used to humanely kill reptiles, amphibians, and mammals.

It is to be carried out with a blunt metal or heavy wooden bar such as a sledgehammer or crowbar.

If there is uncertainty, it will be followed by a secondary method of euthanasia such as “cervical dislocation, and decapitation.”

Mr. Pitt, a former government minister for Resources and Water, told the radio station 2GB, “This is happening right now. When they’re injured, that’s how they deal with it.”

As part of this renewable energy project, 1,513 hectares of koala habitat will also need to be destroyed.

Other expected impacts of the wind farm project include the collision of bird and bat species with turbine blades, injury and mortality to wildlife during vegetation clearing, collision of fauna with construction vehicles, and degradation of habitat through runoff and pollution.

Silence From Advocates

The Epoch Times has contacted the Australian Greens party, which introduced a Save the Koala Bill into the Federal Parliament prohibiting the destruction of koala habitat, but did not get a response by the time of publication.

According to the founder of WindAction Lisa Linowes, conservationists and environment groups such as Greenpeace and Sierra Club often advocate for wildlife. But in the case of renewable energy, they blame other factors such as climate change, ship strikes, or they keep silent.

Shane Knuth from Katter’s Australia Party provided an insightful viewpoint.

“As long as it is a wind farm, foreign-owned companies can clear whatever they like,” he told the House in state parliament.

However, he said that there was always pushback if you wanted to build dams to increase water supply or irrigation to grow food.

“Governments continue to knock back any new water project proposed while at the same time, wind farms are given a free pass to destroy natural habitat,” he said.

He said that the government’s 50 percent renewable target by 2030 is a “fantasy” and will destroy forests and threaten endangered species.

The Australian government is spending up to $1.5 trillion (US$974 billion) to reach net zero by 2030, which is almost 30 times more than what is spent on defence every year.