Wind turbines: Kretschmann plain text on the mass extinction of birds - plus an "announcement to your own shop"

Created: 04/28/2022, 21:44

Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister Winfried Kretschmann relies on wind power for the energy transition.

© Hartung/Imago

Wind power is an important recipe in the fight for the energy transition.

Is a mass death of birds to be accepted for this?

BW country manager Winfried Kretschmann comments.

Zurich/Stuttgart - Faithfulness to principles has been a sensitive issue for the Greens since they returned to the federal government.

In the Ukraine conflict, the former eco-party has advanced to become the main driver of Ukraine's armament in the fight against Russia.

And when it comes to wind power, the Greens, who are in power in a coalition in Germany, are now and then caught up in the past.

Baden-Württemberg's Prime Minister provided a new example at a panel discussion in Zurich.

The topic of wind power is considered an important driver of the energy transition in order to obtain alternatives for generating electricity.

Wind Turbines: No Mass Death of Birds?

"Most of them crash into the tower"

However, Winfried Kretschmann, head of the Greens in the southern federal state, makes people sit up and take notice with a statement on the mass death of birds, which causes environmentalists concern in connection with the construction of wind turbines.

For the 73-year-old, bird protection is not an argument against the construction, which is also causing heated debates in Bavaria.

290 million birds are "killed" every year, 100 million by cats alone, said the Baden-Württemberg head of government on Thursday.

According to him, wind turbines would only kill around 100,000 birds.

According to him, most of them do not die by flying against the rotor blades, but rather by crashing into the tower.

Meanwhile, a biologist from Bavaria advocates the thesis: Wind power is not the same as protecting the climate and the environment.

The Green politician has chosen a remedy for this, which in his opinion would help to protect the animals: paint towers.

"The connection between wind power and bird deaths is artificial and quantitatively not significant," explains Kretschmann.

Wind power in Germany: "Then the German forest will no longer exist"

But what do the statistics say?

In fact, evaluations indicate that cats or traffic would pose a much greater risk to birds than collisions with wind turbines.

However, these differ depending on the study, sometimes agriculture in Germany is also blamed for the death of most birds.

And what does Kretschmann say about another problem with wind turbines?

The fact that the natural landscape is being severely damaged is not a major problem for the prime minister: "You can't build them in the basement, so you can see them." The politician makes the following calculation: If you don't build them, there will be climate change destroyed the landscape so badly "that the German forest would no longer exist".

Meanwhile, the issue of nuclear power has long been back on the political agenda - and unlike in the past, it is no longer demonized.

The Greens: BW regional manager Kretschmann with “Announcement to your own shop”

On another issue, Kretschmann goes straight to the confrontation with his own party: the Prime Minister, who has been in power since 2011, spoke out in favor of rapid ratification of the European-Canadian trade agreement CETA because of the Ukraine war, which the Greens wanted to slow down for years.

“This is now an announcement to our own shop.

If we can't even conclude a free trade agreement with Canada, then with whom?" Kretschmann asks.

One should no longer get caught up in the small details.

Some time ago, the Greens clearly distanced themselves from climate activists: ultimatums, road blockades and other threats go too far for the eco-party.