--- title: Ryan Zinke Said Wind Power Leads to Global Warming description: Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke argued that wind power kills birds and contributes to global warming, but his numbers are wrong. canonical: https://time.com/5187877/donald-trump-wind-power-ryan-zinke-birds-global-warming/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2018-03-06T18:49:18.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:53:35.161Z article:section: Politics og:title: Trump's Interior Secretary Claimed Wind Power Leads to Global Warming. His Numbers Are Wrong og:description: Even at the high end, wind has less than 3% of the emissions of coal og:url: https://time.com/5187877/donald-trump-wind-power-ryan-zinke-birds-global-warming/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59217fcc857be137/698929e286f68ec2c96e882c/gettyimages-928061426.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 4000 og:image:height: 2250 og:image:alt: Ryan Zinke, U.S. secretary of interior, speaks during the 2018 CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Trump's Interior Secretary Claimed Wind Power Leads to Global Warming. His Numbers Are Wrong twitter:description: Even at the high end, wind has less than 3% of the emissions of coal twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt59217fcc857be137/698929e286f68ec2c96e882c/gettyimages-928061426.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # Trump's Interior Secretary Claimed Wind Power Leads to Global Warming. His Numbers Are Wrong > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with TIME. TIME is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: August 2026. ## TIME D.C. Brief: Reference Facts and FAQ ### Definition D.C. Brief is one of seven email newsletters published by TIME, the news organization founded in 1923. Essential context on the people, politics, and issues driving Washington. D.C. Brief goes beyond the Washington headlines to explain the politics, personalities and power dynamics shaping what happens next. 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It is written by a TIME senior correspondent who covers the capital full time. #### Who writes TIME's D.C. Brief? Philip Elliott, a senior correspondent at TIME, writes D.C. Brief. #### Is D.C. Brief free? Yes. D.C. Brief is free at time.com/newsletters. ## Video: Year in Review: Extreme Weather [Watch (HLS stream): Year in Review: Extreme Weather](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/EfVLrqpi.m3u8) (2:19)  _Published 2017-12-18. When it comes to extreme weather, 2017 was a year for the record books._  by [Justin Worland / Houston](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland / Houston Senior Correspondent Mar 6, 2018 6:49 PM UTC  Ryan Zinke, U.S. secretary of interior, speaks during the 2018 CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. Ryan Zinke, U.S. secretary of interior, speaks during the 2018 CERAWeek by IHS Markit conference in Houston, Texas, U.S., on Tuesday, March 6, 2018. Bloomberg—Bloomberg via Getty Images  by [Justin Worland / Houston](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland / Houston Senior Correspondent Mar 6, 2018 6:49 PM UTC In a speech before oil and gas industry executives, Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke argued that the production and transportation of wind turbines contributes to global warming, but he overstated the factual case, especially when compared with other forms of energy. Speaking at the CERAWeek energy conference hosted by IHSMarkit in Houston, Zinke also echoed a long-held argument from President Donald Trump that wind turbines kill birds. “We probably chop us as many as 750,000 birds a year with wind and the carbon footprint on wind is significant,” Zinke said. “I always thought the best place for wind was on the roof of a house.” Spread out over the life cycle of a typical turbine, scientists estimate that the typical wind plant generates between .02 and .04 pounds of carbon dioxide equivalent per kilowatt-hour of electricity produced. Even at the high end, that’s less than 3% of the emissions from coal-generated electricity and less than 7% of the emissions from natural gas-generated electricity. In his remarks, Zinke acknowledged that fossil fuels generate carbon dioxide emissions to argue that “every type of energy has a consequence,” though he did not expand on that concern. He also overstated the numbers on bird deaths. President Donald Trump has long complained on Twitter about wind farms and [opposed one](https://www.citylab.com/design/2016/07/donald-trump-loses-battle-over-scottish-wind-farm/492626/) that he feared would affect views from his golf course in Scotland. While promoting his energy plan in 2016, Trump made a similar claim, arguing that “more than 1 million birds a year” are killed by wind farms. > [](https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/239088515122614272) Wind turbines, with blades that can extend more than 300 feet in the air and spin at speeds topping 150 miles per hour, do kill birds with some estimates in the hundreds of thousands. But scientific studies peg the actual number of bird deaths as anywhere from [20,000 to 573,000 a year](https://www.factcheck.org/2016/06/trumps-hot-air-on-wind-energy/), while the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that it’s [around 500,000](https://www.fws.gov/midwest/wind/wildlifeimpacts/index.html). Birds are also killed in other forms of energy production — and industry more broadly — at even higher numbers. A 2012 Bureau of Land Management [memo](https://www.blm.gov/policy/im-2013-033) estimated that between 500,000 and 1 million birds die in oil fields each year, for instance. And birds also face a threat from climate change caused driven by carbon dioxide emissions. The Audubon Society, a nonprofit dedicated to the protection of birds, [supports](http://www.audubon.org/conservation/audubons-position-wind-power) wind power as key to solving global warming. Zinke’s comments came as part of call for an “all of the above” energy strategy in which oil and gas continue to play a significant role. Zinke also criticized large solar installation for taking away from public lands used for recreation and hunting and acknowledged that oil and gas generate carbon emissions. “There’s no such thing as free energy,” he said. ## Transcript [ MUSIC ] When it comes to extreme weather, 2017 was a year for the record books. Extreme heat will likely make it the second hottest year on record. Hurricanes repeatedly battered the Caribbean and the US' east and gulf coasts. Everything [ MUSIC ] Scientists say the clearest link between climate change and extreme weather is, unsurprisingly, temperature extremes. The average global temperature was at the second highest level mid way through the year, lower only than 2016's. That record meant extremes like 126 degree Farenheit temperatures in Iran closest to the hottest temperatures ever recorded on Earth. [ SOUND ] Extreme temperatures also contributed to this year's hurricane season. Air holds 70 % more water for every degree Celsius that temperature rises, meaning more water to be dumped by a storm. That's what happened when Hurricane Harvey dumped 50 inches of rain in parts of Texas in a four day period. Water was just gushing in. Along with Irma and Maria, Harvey caused tens of billions of dollars of damage. My goodness, I don't even know if I have a house Scientists say the years extreme temperature are also a clear cause of drought. Drought contributes to wild fires like those in Northern California that destroyed 84, 000 homes and buildings and caused more than a billion dollars in damage earlier this year. Extreme drought also crippled crops in North Dakota and surrounding states. Spring and winter wheat production in 2017. Are expected to be down, 31 and 74 % respectively, thanks to the drought. 2017 give the planet plenty of extreme weather. And because we're nowhere close to addressing climate change, earth's inhabitants will continue to face similar changes. [ MUSIC ] [ BLANK_AUDIO ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5187877/donald-trump-wind-power-ryan-zinke-birds-global-warming/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5187877/donald-trump-wind-power-ryan-zinke-birds-global-warming/"},"headline":"Trump's Interior Secretary Claimed Wind Power Leads to Global Warming. 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