When wind or solar energy projects apply for permits at county councils and zoning commissions across the United States, supporters and foes often pack the rooms to testify for or against. 
These meetings can go on for hours, and sometimes days, with dozens and even hundreds of people making impassioned pleas for leaving “rural vistas” as they are or equally impassioned arguments for cheap power that will bring economic salvation.
Some of the common objections are a matter of opinion – are wind turbines ugly or beautiful? Does a field of solar panels ruin a rural setting, or help preserve it?
But other arguments are based on false information. Here’s a breakdown of some of the biggest misconceptions.
The short answer: Yes, wind turbines can kill both bats and birds. But the more important question is ‘How many do they kill compared with other sources?’
A 2023 study found that wind farms had no statistically significant effect on bird counts. But another kind of energy did. Fracking reduced the total number of birds counted in near shale and oil production sites by 15%.
The National Audubon Society has estimated that as many as two-thirds of North American bird species – 398 – are at risk of extinction due to changes in habitat caused by global warming, which clean energy helps limit. 
The answer: A common myth – that birds fly into solar panels by mistake, perhaps believing them to be water – is wrong.
Argonne National Laboratory researchers recorded more than 17,000 hours of videos of birds interacting with solar facilities. Their system did not record a single collision between a bird and a solar panel. 
The birds did perch on the panels, and they used the undersides for foraging, nesting and roosting. 
The answer: Agricultural communities have always exported what they produce, whether it’s crops or livestock.
The answer: Today’s solar panels typically last 30 to 35 years while turbines have a lifespan of about 30 years. At the end of that lifespan, it’s true: They must be decommissioned and disposed of.
Most solar zoning codes require energy companies to post bonds for decommissioning panels at the end of their lifespans so counties don’t have to pay for disposal.
The answer: No. Research published in the Journal of Hazardous Materials in 2017 found that the only way these chemicals could release trace amounts of cadmium into the soil is if the panel were crushed into a powder and then placed in an acidic environment for several weeks.
The answer: Wind and solar projects can lower property values but not by large amounts and they appear to have a long-term beneficial effect on nearby homes.
A study by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory published in 2023 found that, on average, homes located within one mile of a commercial wind turbine experience about an 11% decline in value following the announcement of a new commercial wind energy project. Homes between a mile and two miles were slightly affected, and any house more than two miles away wasn’t affected at all.
However, the effect was short-lived. Prices returned to pre-announcement levels within three to five years after the power project opened.
Research in the journal Energy Policy in 2022 showed that nearby home values increased after wind projects began operating, though that is probably because taxes from the projects provided economic benefits to the area including better schools and infrastructure, making the community more enticing.
The answer: Sound from wind turbines may be annoying, but has no established adverse health effects, according to Peter Thorne, a professor and head of the University of Iowa’s Department of Occupational and Environmental Health.
The answer: No, solar will not use up all the farmland we need.
Farmland is a popular place to build solar because it’s generally relatively flat and exposed to abundant sunshine.
The Department of Agriculture already pays farmers to take about 27 million acres of less productive and environmentally sensitive land out of production. That’s 38,750 square miles – nearly four-times more than the entire amount of land that would be needed for green energy. 
One version of this argument asserts that by placing solar panels on old industrial and commercial properties that have limited uses – such as shopping malls and distribution centers – no undisturbed land will be needed for solar power.
Such projects can and often are placed on old landfill properties, but these still cost more than farmland or scrubland. 
USA TODAY’s Ignacio Calderon contributed data analysis.
Ramon Padilla, Karina Zaiets, Stephen J. Beard, Carlie Procell, Veronica Bravo, Josh Susong, Suhail Bhat, Javier Zarracina and Shawn J. Sullivan contributed graphics and data visualizations.
This story was produced with support from the McGraw Center for Business Journalism at the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at the City University of New York.
Sophie Hartley, an environment reporter with the IndyStar, part of the USA TODAY Network, can be reached at sophie.hartley@indystar.com or on X at@sophienhartley. IndyStar’s environmental reporting is made possible through the support of the nonprofit Nina Mason Pulliam Charitable Trust.

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