Donald Trump’s planned disaster

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Donald Trump told Sean Hannity that he doesn’t like windmills. “They’re made in China, they kill the birds, they’re horrible. We don’t want windmills in this country. I’m putting an order out, I’ve already sort of done it. We don’t want windmills. If you have a house and you’re in vision of a windmill [sic], your house is worth half. It’s a disaster.”

This is the president of the United States saying again why he hates renewable energy in general and “windmills” — that is, wind turbines — specifically. It’s astonishing how many things Trump can get wrong in so short a space. But if Donald Trump is anything he’s efficient when it comes to lying.

First of all, wind turbines supply 10% of America’s energy. Losing that energy would significantly drive energy prices up. So much for Trump’s promise to bring energy prices down. I have no idea what Trump means when he says he’s “putting an order out” or that he’s “already sort of done it,” presumably to eliminate “windmills,” but I’m guessing it’s as innocuous as it sounds.

As to the effect of wind turbines on housing prices, a 2018 study of the impact of onshore and offshore wind turbines on the value of nearby residential and vacation properties in Denmark concluded that they had no significant impact on property values. Denmark has had wind farms now for more than 30 years. By 2030 Denmark’s energy should be 100% wind turbine-generated.

While it is true that wind turbines kill approximately half a million birds a year, birds colliding with buildings kills approximately 600 million birds a year. Cats kill 2.4 billion birds per year. While I deplore the death of any animal, especially because of human meddling, wind turbines do not represent an existential threat to birds. There are approximately 400 billion birds on the planet right now and, Donald Trump to the contrary, the overall bird population is not in significant danger from wind turbines.

Excuse me for taking anything Trump says seriously, even hypothetically, but if Trump is really — hypothetically — worried about the fate of birds, he would encourage the use of renewable and non-polluting energy resources, including wind turbines. Global warming is the overriding existential threat to birds right now, as it is for humans.

But the cause of the worldwide climate disaster doesn’t square with the unlimited greed of the fossil fuel industry, and Trump’s problem with wind turbines is, like everything else, all about keeping the Money Boys happy. This convicted criminal, who infests the White House unconstitutionally for the seventh day as I write this, is now officially a significant part of the global warming crisis.

This is the fight of our lives. Donald Trump and his unelected henchmen are actively trying to destroy our government, our democracy, and our way of life. We only have one choice, and that's to fight back as loudly and aggressively as possible.
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