Windmills and Raptors on Collision Course in West Virginia

Mention windmills, and most people conjure up an image of the picturesque windmills that dot the landscape of Holland. But soon, West Virginia will sprout it's very own brand of windmill; no fewer than 44 of them will be aligned along a six-mile ridge atop Backbone Mountain in Tucker County. Wind turbines are touted as an environmentally friendly energy source. But they also have a nasty habit of chewing up raptors that collide with the blades that rotate at a rate of 17 revolutions per minute. Only time will reveal the cumulative impacts of this massive wind farm on the raptors that migrate along the Allegheny Front of West Virginia.