Mmmmm...roast eagle with all the fixins!
Posted on 05/07/2016 11:22:23 AM PDT by Lorianne
U.S. wildlife managers on Wednesday again proposed granting 30-year permits to wind farms that would forgive them for thousands of eagle deaths expected during that time frame from collisions of the birds with turbines, towers and electrical wires.
The proposed rule, like one struck down by a federal judge last year, would greatly extend the current five-year time frame in the permits required under U.S. law for the "incidental take" of eagles, including those killed by obstacles erected in their habitat.
Wind energy companies have pressed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to lengthen the terms of the eagle permits, saying a five-year duration left too much uncertainty and hampered investment in the burgeoning renewable power industry.
The agency in 2013 approved a similar plan extending eagle-take permits to 30 years. But a U.S. judge overturned it last year, agreeing with conservation groups that the Fish and Wildlife Service had failed to properly assess impacts of the rule change on federally protected eagle populations.
The revised proposal cites significant expansion within many sectors of the U.S. energy industry, particularly wind energy operations in the Western states, at a time when bald eagle numbers are growing while golden eagles appear to be in decline.
Nevertheless, the Fish and Wildlife Service concluded that the U.S. population of roughly 40,000 golden eagles could endure the loss of about 2,000 birds a year without being pushed toward extinction. And the agency suggested that bald eagles, estimated to number about 143,000 nationwide, could sustain as many as 4,200 fatalities annually without endangering the species.
The new proposal, which is open for public comment through July 5, would make wind farms and other energy developers responsible for monitoring eagle deaths from collisions with facility structures.
That arrangement was decried by the American Bird Conservancy, which led the successful legal challenge against the previous eagle permit plan.
The conservancy's Michael Hutchins said a system that relies on industry rather than government regulators to monitor and report problems fails to protect a beloved bird of prey stamped on the great seal of the United States.
The American Wind Energy Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The number of eagles killed each year at wind facilities is not precisely known, according to the Fish and Wildlife Service. An estimated 545 golden eagles are thought to perish annually from collisions with obstacles ranging from turbines to vehicles, the agency said.
Other birds killed number in the millions - same for bats.
The obama rule is written in stone: Law for thee, but not for me.
Dams killing fish? Bad. Bad. Very Bad. Tear them down!
Windmills killing birds? Good. Good. Very good. Must have more!
Never mind that dams produce clean, steady, economical energy and as a side benefit produce abundant recreational opportunities.
Windmills, on the other hand, produce insanely expensive, unreliable energy that must be backed up by gas-turbine generation capacity. And as a side benefit are a blight on the landscape and turns once pristine regions into wastelands of infrasonic poison.
That would be nuclear power generation.
Mmmmm...roast eagle with all the fixins!
Meanwhile, if your bar has a 50-year old stuffed wolverine on the wall, or you keep an eagle feather handed down more than 100 years ago, you will feel the infinite wrath of the government.
Jefferson was right: Government is not about reason; it is about force.
Is this from the same government that will prosecute you if you happen to pick up an eagle feather on a walk?
How long can a nation exist once its laws become overbearing and capricious at the same time.
Either Eagles need protection or they don’t. Take them off the endanger species list and repeal the law against killing them. But don’t selectively prosecute some while allowing others to kill them.
Was there an environmental impact statement for this request? Wind farms are not economically viable without heavy government subsidies. They are ugly (aesthetic pollution), inefficient, and killers of eagles, bats, and other birds. They do NOT provide energy 24/7; they do NOT provide a steady stream of power, but varies according to how much wind is blowing. Sometimes the expensive and ugly behemoth is upturned by a hurricane or tornado.
The government should, instead, spend their money making coal environmentally friendly. Success in this area would preserve our coal reserves, provide for energy 24/7 regardless of weather conditions.
What happened that we are doing wind farms? How much money have we wasted?
Yet if a citizen did this they would be in jail.
This is a CIMINAL GOVERNMENT, and that is no exaggeration.
Save the Eagle, our national bird!
That’s pretty horrible to watch.
“Can I keep the feather if I have the paperwork to prove it was killed by a federally approved eagle-wacking windmill?”
Actually, no, unless, again, you are an American Indian and you possess it for tribal/religious purposes.
Horrible to watch. Was the eagle killed? Or taken to a vet?
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.