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US Issues 30-Year Eagle-Killing Permits To Wind Industry
Hugh Pickens DOT Com writes "Lindsay Abrams reports at Salon that the Obama administration is offering wind farms 30 years of leeway to kill and harm bald and golden eagles. The new regulations, which were requested by the wind industry, will provide companies that seek a permit with legal protection, preventing them from having to pay penalties for eagle deaths (PDF). An investigation by the Associated Press earlier this year documented the illegal killing of eagles around wind farms, the Obama administration's reluctance to prosecute such cases and its willingness to help keep the scope of the eagle deaths secret. President Obama has championed the pollution-free energy, nearly doubling America's wind power in his first term as a way to tackle global warming. Scientists say wind farms in 10 states have killed at least 85 eagles since 1997, with most deaths occurring between 2008 and 2012, as the industry was greatly expanding. Most deaths — 79 — were golden eagles that struck wind turbines. However the scientists said their figure is likely to be 'substantially' underestimated, since companies report eagle deaths voluntarily and only a fraction of those included in their total were discovered during searches for dead birds by wind-energy companies. The National Audubon Society said it would challenge the decision."
Can I at least ask for some other numbers, such as the number of bird kills resulting from pollutants dumped out by the big coal fired plants in Ohio?
Are you trying to argue that it's better to kill some birds using windmills than killing some birds via the smokestacks ?
When we burn fossil fuel, we increase the amount of C02 level in the atmosphere, triggering what is called by many "Global Warming".
When we don't want to burn fossil fuel, and turn to Nuke, we end up having radioactive waste that can last very very long time.
And when we turn to the wind, the birds (including the eagles) ending up having to pay.
A much more simple way is to cut down on our wasteful lifestyle.
Do we need to turn our home into a greenhouse every winter ?
Do we need to turn the same house into an igloo every summer ?
We don't, do we ? But I have been to people's office / home in winter / summertime and boy, they sure feel like greenhouse / igloo.
And to those "electric car" fanbois, listen up.
Do we really need electric "CAR" ?
I mean, do we need a VERY HEAVY VEHICLE, even if they are electrically driven, to get us from point A to point B ?
Look at the weight of the electric cars. They are NOT THAT MUCH DIFFERENT from the fossil-fuel cars, weighting more than 1 ton.
What is the average weight of a human being ? 50/60 kilo?
Why do we need something that weight A FUCKING TON to deliver something that weight 50/60 ton ?
If you ever talk to people in the packaging industry they would tell you that the concept of having the packaging material weighting MUCH HEAVIER than the goods in it is ridiculous.
But that is what we had been doing, ever since cars (the fossil type) started rolling out of the factories.
Isn't it time for us to demand the electric car vehicle manufacturer to TOTALLY RE-DESIGN the electric cars, so that it won't weight so much ?
Less weight means less need for energy to get it going, which translates to, longer lasting battery per charge.
If we are to change towards a new thing, why do we need to stick to the old concept of clumsy cars ??
Muchas Gracias, Señor Edward Snowden !
How many eagle deaths power America? C'mon, you gotta phrase it like that, really put the boot to the feels. It's like you're not even trying.
accused of, but never proven.
This is on the level of tobacco causes cancer denial, and global warming denial.
There are massive numbers of cases of fracking causing environmental damage. Willful denial by the fracking industry and it's supporters is not the same thing as "never proven".