The topic is very interesting and in turn has its controversy, since nothing is perfect. The wind seemed to me a good choice, seeing the photos with so many eagles shattered by the blades, made me doubt. Go to assess whether the benefit is greater than the loss, or if the death of so many eagle entail an ecological disaster, I imagine it will be very complicated. Should be weighed the pros and cons before launching a machine so heavy and so difficult to stop. If you are looking for renewables, and that no harm should not do in any respect, and by what you see, they do a bird in hand that the environmental impact is also important. Let us hope that a solution can be found that would balance and a benefit for everyone. The nature deserves a break and respect.
Sincerely greetings

Marcial

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Save the Eagles! How about save the Otters! Protected under Scottish law, as endangered as Golden Eagles or Sea Eagles, otters are dieing needlessly on the beautiful Isle of Skye. If we don't do something now the otter population of Skye could be wiped out. And the cause of this carnage? Cars. We need to ban cars from the Isle of Skye. Cars kill otters! Cars kill wild cats. Cars kill birds! So please, support us and help us save the otters by banning all cars from the roads of Skye.

 

Really, absurd isn't it. But, cars really do kill otters, wild cat and birds. I have seen dead otters on the roads near Edinbane. I drive along them every day to where I work in Portree. So, you want to halt the wind farm at Edinbane because it might, and I stress might kill eagles. On the other hand its fine for another equally endangered species to be killed because of peoples need to get around.

 

I live on Skye, I work on Skye; Skye is my home all year round. I see eagles every day travelling to work, superb majestic birds soaring in the endless windy skies. I never see otters though, except for dead ones hit by cars. Of course, we don't ban cars because we have to balance the advantages and disadvantages. We need to travel, and unfortunately some protected species die as a result, it’s not nice but it happens. Wind farms are just the same, although I would like to point out that according to the RSPB not a single bird has been killed by a wind farm in the UK to date. The advantages of harnessing the wind are many, its disadvantages are few, and yes, one is that it might kill birds. The advantages of driving our cars are many, but there is a risk we may kill an endangered animal or two in the process.

 

The people campaigning against this wind farm (a local minority who command virtually no local support) have a vested interest in this scheme being halted; it’s on their doorstep. I have a vested interest as well, but it’s different from theirs; I will gain nothing financially; I have no links to any companies or groups involved in this or any other scheme and yes, it’s on my doorstep as well. The vested interest I have is a very simple one. Unless we embrace renewable technology now eagles, otters, wild cat and all the other wildlife I (and you) love so much WILL disappear from Skye. Global warming is a fact and it will change their habitats and ultimately kill them off. RSPB acknowledge this very stark fact. Now, we can all either work together, just as AMEC, RSPB, SNH and all the local communities are already doing to compromise (AMEC, the builders of the Edinbane scheme have just reduced the turbine numbers from 27 to 18 in order to protect bird life near the site) or we can stamp our feet like children in a schoolyard until we get our own way. I prefer the former option.

 

We have to tackle global warming by using all forms of renewable technology and rejecting polluting and unsustainable nuclear and fossil fuels. Nothing is perfect; wind is not perfect; nuclear is a disaster; our lifestyles impact on wildlife. That’s life. The local residents of Skye have democratically demonstrated their overwhelming support for this scheme but compromises are still being made to safeguard wildlife as much as possible. No-one wants to see eagles hurt by wind turbines and I’m sure no-one wants to see otters killed by cars. So, finally I pose a simple question. If this scheme is rejected on grounds of some theoretical risk to protected bird species, will you therefore advocate banning cars due to the proven risk they pose to protected species such as otters, wild cat and birds?