It turns out not all environmentalists are fond of wind power as an alternative energy source. The National Audubon Society initiated a campaign to stop construction of a wind power farm near Los Angeles because of the many birds, including endangered condors, who are decimated by the turbines. "It is hard to imagine a worse idea than putting a condor Cuisinart next door to critical condor habitat," Audubon's Daniel Beard commented. According to the group, "more eagles are killed by wind turbines than were lost in the disastrous Exxon Valdez oil spill." While the bird-mortality problem has long been known, designers have been unable to develop a turbine that is safe. And while production costs have been reduced by about 70 percent over 20 years, inching it towards feasibility, wind power remains more costly than fossil fuels for most uses. Audubon seeks to eliminate a federal tax credit aimed at developing wind power as an alternative energy source.

Other environmental groups such as the Sierra Club, the Union of Concerned Scientists, and the National Environment Trust call for extensive development of wind power as a possible solution to global warming, downplaying potential effects on bird populations. Most electricity-reform proposals before Congress also require utilities to generate a minimum percentage of power from renewable, "green" sources. While many environmental groups still favor wind power, there is currently little support for hydropower, which was a popular alternative until its effects on fish migration and water quality became known. The Sierra Club, for example, opposes China's massive Three Gorges Dam project, even though it promises to decrease the country's reliance on coal, one of the most polluting energy sources available.

It's likely that if solar power were somehow to overcome its inherent efficiency problems, it, too, would quickly become a non-alternative, if only due to the aesthetic drawbacks of large, ubiquitous solar panels. A risk analysis of solar energy rates it as far more dangerous than nuclear energy, because solar panels require extensive cleaning and maintenance, which people can only do by climbing onto their roofs. The current number-two cause of accidental deaths in the United States is falls, which kills about 20,000 people a year. Auto accidents, responsible for 50,000 deaths, are the number one killer.

†