Well if you are talking about damage done to forests & noise pollution, then you are trying to capture the externalities of power production into its "true cost

Well if you are talking about damage done to forests & noise pollution, then you are trying to capture the externalities of power production into its "true cost". I'm all for that, but if you decide to do that you also have to use the same methodology for coal, oil, nuclear, etc. Sorry birds, but I feel like the cost of every bird killed by a wind turbine pales in comparison to what a few mountain top removal coal mines do to an area. In terms of economic ROI for the corporations owning wind turbines, I think it works out even w/o tax credits. Obviously the tax credits help, but the credits are not generous enough to justify all of this investing on their own. I believe the companies have done the analysis and believe it is profitable.