| dc.description | The counterfactual framework we propose here focuses on species- and system-specific costs and benefits. Such an analysis will be informative even if it does not include the many social, political, and environmental costs and benefits of renewable energy. For example, in the case of the diurnal raptors noted above, the primary laws in the U.S.A. that address fatalities occurring at renewable facilities were written in 1918 (Migratory Bird Treaty Act) and 1940 (Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act), well before renewable energy was widely used and well before the significance of climate change was recognized. This is likely the case for laws protecting wildlife in many countries around the world. In part because of the way these laws were written, managers and stakeholders currently grapple separately with the impacts of climate change and of renewable energy. A counterfactual analysis would provide a context in which managers could explicitly link climate, renewables, and wildlife population dynamics, generating a more nuanced understanding of their interaction and thus a path forward for solving problems in existing legal frameworks. Developing new data and insights covering a wider array of impacts across infrastructure lifecycles is critical to informed decision-making and to serving the objectives of society and decision-makers. Ultimately, a full accounting of the net effects to species and natural systems of renewables will require incorporating analyses of multiple counterfactuals that could guide projected near-term and large-scale build-out. Doing so will require new models, analytical tools, and theories for evaluation of the ecological costs and benefits of both renewable energy and climate change. | |
