This past Thursday on Green Grid Radio, we turned to a subject few consider when thinking about the viability of different types of renewable energy: impacts on birds and other wildlife. Garry George, Renewable Energy Project Director at Audubon California, joined us to discuss how solar and wind energy development projects impact biodiversity, as well as how Audubon works with renewable energy developers to reduce this impact as much as possible. We learned about some exciting partnerships and developments, such as the Working Lands Program, the Department of Energy and Interior’s final plan for solar development in the west, and ways to move forward in the transition to renewable energy without threatening endangered wildlife. We were also joined by panelist Chase Mendenhall, a Ph.D candidate in Stanford’s Center for Conservation Biology. Chase shared his perspective on the efforts to conserve wildlife in human-dominated areas, his environmental philosophy, and some interesting implications of his research in countryside biogeography. If you missed it live, please enjoy this week’s episode below!

Garry George, Audubon. Photo credit: AT&T

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