I think it's important to consider the costs associated with all energy development and alternative sources, which are often ignored or swept under the carpet in order to vilify and persecute oil sand development and the petroleum industry in general.
The 'green' crowd certainly cheered when oil sands companies were charged for the death of a few thousand ducks, but the apparent lack of concern for birds killed in these cases suggests that they don't really care much about the health of animals but are more focused on attacking oilsands development.
The plain truth is that replacing current energy production on a large scale with this technology would lead to incredible amounts of bird deaths and likely unknown huge scale impacts upon the entire biosphere. We would simply be trading one problem for another... we need better solutions if we are to wean ourselves off of fossil fuel dependence.
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