Environmentalists have gone to great lengths to have certain eagles, hawks, and owls protected as endangered species, only to have wind turbines act as avian cuisinarts.
Wind power currently enjoys a unique exemption from Endangered Species Act protections and other federal restrictions protecting animals from deliberate or incidental killings. And to add to this, here is an interesting new development: the US Fish & Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering a dramatic expansion in the length of permits allowing wind power operators to kill bald eagles and other protected bird species. (1)
Under current law, developers of renewable energy projects can apply for a five-year permit that allows them to kill bald eagles in the course of conducting normal business operations. However, the FWS, which administers the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, is now proposing introducing 30-year permits 'to better correspond to the time frame of renewable energy projects'. The prospect of a six-fold increase in the length of FSW's 'programmatic incidental permits' has unnerved bird advocates, many of whom are already alarmed by the number of birds and bats killed by wind farms. (1)
In just one location, the Altamont Pass in northern California, turbines yearly kill 75 to 100 golden eagles, 350 burrowing owls, 300 rat-tailed hawks, and 333 American kestrels. (2)
One resident of California protested: “There's a big, big hypocrisy here. If I shoot an eagle it's a $10,000 fine and/or a vacation of one to five years in a federal pen of my choice.” (3)
The hypocrisy was underscored when the US attorney for North Dakota hauled seven oil and natural gas companies into federal court for violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 by (inadvertently) being responsible for the death of 28 migratory birds found near an oil waste lagoon. As The Wall Street Journal noted, “This prosecution is all the more remarkable because the wind industry each year kills not 28 birds...but some 440,000 according to estimates by the American Bird Conservancy based on FSW data. Guess how many legal actions the Obama administration has brought against wind turbine operators under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act? As far as we can tell it's zero..” (4)
As Bonner Cohen reported,”Wind turbines take their toll while providing very little electricity. According to the Energy Information Administration, wind power in 2011 accounted for only 3 percent of the electricity generated in the United States.” Says Dan Simmons, director of regulatory affairs for the Institute for Energy Research, “The Obama administration's position appears to be that it's okay to permit bald eagles to be killed as long as it's wind turbines that are doing the killing.” (1)
References
Bonner R. Cohen, “Fed considering longer permits for wind turbines to kill bald eagles,” Environment & Climate News, 15, 11, October 2012
Andrew Walden, “Wind Energy's Ghosts,” American Thinker, February 15, 2010
Katie Pavlich, “Oops: greenies killing thousands of protected birds daily,” townhall.com/tipsheet, August 16, 2011
“A bird-brained prosecution,” online.wsj.com,.. September 29, 2011
Jack Dini is author of Challenging Environmental Mythology. He has also written for American Council on Science and Health, Environment & Climate News, and Hawaii Reporter.
