WhoDat!656

CONVERSE COUNTY, Wyo. (AP) — It happens about once a month here, on the barren foothills of one of America's green-energy boomtowns: A soaring golden eagle slams into a wind farm's spinning turbine and falls, mangled and lifeless, to the ground.

Killing these iconic birds is not just an irreplaceable loss for a vulnerable species. It's also a federal crime, a charge that the Obama administration has used to prosecute oil companies when birds drown in their waste pits, and power companies when birds are electrocuted by their power lines.

But the administration has never fined or prosecuted a wind-energy company, even those that flout the law repeatedly. Instead, the government is shielding the industry from liability and helping keep the scope of the deaths secret.

Wind power, a pollution-free energy intended to ease global warming, is a cornerstone of President Barack Obama's energy plan. His administration has championed a $1 billion-a-year tax break to the industry that has nearly doubled the amount of wind power in his first term.

But like the oil industry under President George W. Bush, lobbyists and executives have used their favored status to help steer U.S. energy policy.

The result is a green industry that's allowed to do not-so-green things. It kills protected species with impunity and conceals the environmental consequences of sprawling wind farms.

Wind farms get pass on eagle deaths - Weather, forecasts, news, blogs and maps - MSN Weather

"A Veteran is someone who, at one point in his life, wrote a blank check made payable to "The United States of America" for an amount of "up to and including my life."

TheOak

I saw that... I remember military maneuvers being cancelled because the wrong color woodpecker was spotted with in 400 yards of the woods they were to be held in.

dam1953

Windmills do a number on bats as well. Since bats are very effective insect control devices I expect that areas with installed wind farms will see the repercussions.

The other matter that is only now being reported is heath issues related to ultra-low frequency sound generated by the windmill blades.

Isn't it strange that the Keystone pipeline has been studied to death and still the adminstration needs more time and more envirionmental impact statements. Yet, here we have documented evidence of damage to the environment and sound scienctific principals of likely health issues and nothing is done.

I guess there all facts are not equal.

”It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent, but the one most responsive to change.” Charles Darwin

WhoDat!656

[QUOTE=dam1953;502727]Windmills do a number on bats as well. Since bats are very effective insect control devices I expect that areas with installed wind farms will see the repercussions.QUOTE]

A few years ago I was working in the PA area and there were about 6 windmills on a hill a few miles away.

A guy from the area said that there are some people that are hired to count everyday how many dead bats there are around the windmills in the morning.

Choupique

The oil industry has killed far more organisms than windmills.

Oil and gas powers our vehicles, remember? The oil industry used to dump radioactive materials in the marsh, for decades. Yea, they never killed any critters. Remember the Valdez spill? The New Orleans spill? The dozens of others you've likely forgotten about?

Windmills would have to take out an entire species to catch up to the bullshat oil companies have gotten away with since 1913...

WhoDat!656

So the windmill industry gets a pass and the oil industry gets fines for the same thing?

Your logic is horribly flawed!

halloween 65

All I know is 2 things I hate the most is my utility bill and pulling up to the gas pump it's a no win situation for me!! Go figure!!!

Choupique

i'm not saying anyone should get a pass.

i'm saying industry gets a pass for decades, professor.

try to keep up. i'll type slower. maybe that'll help you. :^/

mapcow

please explain your alternative to bio fuel. wind, solar, some futuristic method from star trek? you are an unmitigated fool; practice what you preach and cease to use all aspects of oil.....dumbass

WhoDat!656

I have trouble keeping track of your non-sensical ramblings!