Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke slammed wind power at an oil conference, but his facts were lousy


Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke told the CERAWeek energy conference in Houston on Tuesday that "there's no such thing as free energy," which is undeniably true. But in arguing that the costs were roughly equal for various forms of energy production, he marshaled some alternative facts.
"Certainly oil and gas and coal have a consequence on carbon," Zinke told the oil and gas executives and others at the conference. But solar energy takes land out of use for recreation and hunting, he said, and "we probably chop us as many as 750,000 birds a year with wind, and the carbon footprint on wind is significant."
President Trump has attacked wind farms, claiming in 2016 that "more than 1 million birds a year" die with wind energy. But like Trump, "Zinke is exaggerating the figure beyond virtually all published estimates," says Amy Harder at Axios, and "turbines are a drop in the bucket when it comes to the human-related causes of bird deaths." Also, over their life cycles, wind turbines generate up to 3 percent of the greenhouse gas emissions that coal does and 7 percent of the emissions from gas-fired electricity.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
According to the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, a part of the Interior Department, the "most comprehensive and statistically sound estimates" put the number of birds killed in wind turbines at 134,000 to 437,000 a year. That number will grow as wind generation expands, but for context, a 2012 Bureau of Land Management memo estimates that 500,000 to 1 million birds die each year in oilfields. "Regardless of the estimate, wind turbines rank much lower than many other human-caused threats in terms of total birds killed," says University of Oklahoma professor Scott Loss.
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.
-
July 13 editorial cartoons
Cartoons Sunday's political cartoons include new TSA rules, FEMA cuts, and Volodymyr Zelenskyy complimenting Donald Trump's new wardrobe
-
5 weather-beaten cartoons about the Texas floods
Cartoons Artists take on funding cuts, politicizing tragedy, and more
-
What has the Dalai Lama achieved?
The Explainer Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader has just turned 90, and he has been clarifying his reincarnation plans
-
Trump set to hit Canada with 35% tariffs
Speed Read The president accused Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney of failing to stop the cross-border flow of fentanyl
-
Mahmoud Khalil files $20M claim over ICE detention
Speed Read This is the 'first damages complaint' brought by an individual targeted by the Trump's administration's 'crackdown' on Gaza war protesters
-
Trump threatens Brazil with 50% tariffs
Speed Read He accused Brazil's current president of leading a 'witch hunt' against far-right former leader Jair Bolsonaro
-
AI scammer fakes Rubio messages to top officials
Speed Read The unknown individual mimicked Rubio in voice and text messages sent to multiple government officials
-
SCOTUS greenlights Trump's federal firings
speed read The Trump administration can conduct mass federal firings without Congress' permission, the Supreme Court ruled
-
New tariffs set on 14 trading partners
Speed Read A new slate of tariffs will begin August 1 on imports from Japan, South Korea, Thailand and more
-
Elon Musk launching 'America Party'
Speed Read The tech mogul promised to form a new political party if Trump's megabill passed Congress
-
Judge blocks Trump's asylum ban at US border
Speed Read The president violated federal law by shutting down the US-Mexico border to asylum seekers, said the ruling