FPL sued over bird kills by windmills in California

Herald ^ | 1/13/04 | Terence Chea

[Tumbleweed_Connection]

An environmental group on Monday sued two wind energy companies, claiming that wind farms they operate east of San Francisco are killing tens of thousands of protected birds, including eagles, hawks and owls.

The Center for Biological Diversity filed the lawsuit against two companies_ Florida Power & Light Group Inc. (FPL) and NEG Micon A/S of Denmark - that operate about half of the 5,400 wind turbines in the Altamont Pass, one of California's main centers for wind power production.

Environmentalists often promote wind power as an alternative form of energy, but some environmental groups here have started complaining that the wind industry hasn't done enough to reduce bird deaths.

The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, alleges that the companies have known about the problem of bird kills for years but failed to take steps to protect birds, such as retiring older, lethal turbines and making turbine blades more visible to birds.

"To date, the wind industry has not taken a single, meaningful step to reduce bird kills," said Jeff Miller, a spokesman for the Oakland, Calif.-based center. "We absolutely support wind energy ... but we also think the industry should be held accountable."

Steven Stengel, spokesman of Juno Beach-based FPL, declined to comment on the lawsuit because the company hasn't seen it yet, but he said FPL has been talking to federal regulators over the past 18 months about ways to reduce bird deaths.

NEG Micon could not be reached for comment Monday.

The Altamont Pass Wind Resource Area, established in 1982 on 160-square kilometers in Alameda and Contra Costa counties, is one of the deadliest regions in North America for birds of prey, the groups say. Every year, turbines there kill about 60 golden eagles, 300 red-tailed hawks, 270 burrowing owls and hundreds of other protected raptors, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

"The lawsuit was filed out of frustration over the complete failure of regulatory agencies to enforce wildlife protection laws," Miller said.

Because the Altamont Pass is a major migration corridor for raptors, wind turbines there are reducing populations of protected birds of prey throughout the Western United States, Miller said.

In recent months, the center and other environmental groups have complained that Alameda County approved permits to upgrade turbines in the Altamont Pass without requiring measures to reduce bird deaths.

[John Beresford Tipton]

"FPL sued over bird kills by windmills in California"

Those damn windmills!
First they fight with that noble Knight Don Quixote,and now,
They're hiring lawyers???

[AAABEST]

This is exactly why these sicko enviros need to stomped into the ground.

They're a bunch of insane whacked liars whose sole purpose in life is to cause trouble and sow discord.

[Grut]

...and sow discord.

But not Genetically Modified discord, of course.

[Mark]

If you use windmill generators, you support terrorism!

[cavtrooper21]

Some enviro-nazis will never be happy until we're living in caves.. no, caves have micro-enviroments (can't mess with those, Eh)... out in the open, nekkid and living on dead grass.. no, dead grass feeds microbes(can't go depriving microbes of food, now can we??)

ToFu is our friend, not food....

[spokeshave]

Yummy...just set up a BBQ under those aerial cusinarts to be ready for plucked and tenderized bird of prey.

[spokeshave]

When windmills are banned only outlaws will have them

[You Dirty Rats]

Nimby has been replaced by BANANAS:

Build Absolutely Nothing Anywhere Near Anybody

Apparantly, "Anybody" now includes birds.

Is it really surprising that birds follow the same strong wind currents that power windmills? I mean, birds are pretty stupid, but they are not as stupid as, say Woody Harrelson.

[Eala]

From a much earlier thread:

Since the phalanx of giant windmills began churning in the air [...] an estimated 22,000 birds have died, including hundreds of golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, kestrels and other raptors,

Let's see, that's 22000 birds total, and since they only say "hundreds" I'll be generous and say 1000 raptors, killed by 7000 windmills over two decades. Let's run the numbers:

22000 / 20 = 1100 birds per year. 1000 / 20 = 50 raptors per year.

1100 / 365.25 = 3.01 birds per day. 50 / 365.25 = 0.136 raptors per day (1/0.136 = 7.3 days / raptor, or one raptor per week)

3.01 / 7000 = 0.0043 birds per day per windmill (1/0.043 = it takes 2326 windmills to kill one bird per day) 0.136 / 7000 = 1.94e-5 raptors per day per windmill (1/1.94e-5 = it takes 51471 windmills to kill one raptor a day)

From this article: Every year, turbines there kill about 60 golden eagles, 300 red-tailed hawks, 270 burrowing owls and hundreds of other protected raptors, according to the Center for Biological Diversity.

Something odd here: these numbers list 630 + "hundreds" of raptors per year, roughly 20 times the number given in the study referenced by the original article. Could somebody, like a ("truth is what we say it is") leftist plaintiff with a political agenda, be playing fast and loose with the numbers?

[JRandomFreeper]

During my lifetime, I have seen the coyote, or coy-dog, suffer terribly because of the Interstate Highway System. They were run down left and right..... up until natural selection took over.. then, less than 40 years later.... I watched a coyote look both ways before crossing I-20. The birds will eventually get smarter too.

/john

[Viking2002]

EnviroNazis are a general public nuisance! First they bleat and moan about fossil fuel plants, then they kvetch about nuke power, now they sue over a clean power source because birds fly into them! Hey, tens of thousands of birds are killed each year because the little dumb@sses fly smack-full-bore into closed windows of businesses and private homes - should we ban windows for our little feathered friends, too? (I won't bring up the ones I shoot with a pellet gun for crapping on my new car.)

What a bunch of hairy-legged genetic defectives. Maybe we can drive them into the wilderness of Washington state, and they'll all live in the treetops.

[roadcat]

It's not the windmills fault that birds aren't careful when flying. But to be fair to the birds, we'll need to supply helmets for their safety. Of course, we'll need a new federally funded program to capture them, install the helmets, and release them. And that'll require a federal study. And some people wonder why taxes go up.

[Political Junkie Too]

Something odd here...Could somebody, like a ("truth is what we say it is") leftist plaintiff with a political agenda, be playing fast and loose with the numbers?

Do you mean this might be another one of those "lynx hair" studies?

-PJ

[JPJones]

An environmental group on Monday sued two wind energy companies

That proves it...the enviromentalists are funded by big oil...I knew it!

[Eala]

Maybe we can drive them into the wilderness of Washington state, and they'll all live in the treetops.

Great. And set back our plans to re-take The Peoples' Soviet of Washington (aka The EvergreeD State) another hundred years...

[chiller]

Center for Biological Diversity

I stopped right there. Oh, ARNOLD !!!

[Guillermo]

You can't win for losing with these nuts.

They won't be happy till everyone is living in a mud hut (except for them of course).

[SpaceBar]

I for one am tired of getting angry about the eco-terrorists using the courts to push their agenda. I think it's time for the public at large to get even. I submit that there be a grass roots movement to ammend federal law so that such groups have the burden of proof to show actual damages instead of vague "harm to the environment" claims or risk opening themselves up to a countersuit that could result in punative damages for false litigation and court costs. This onslaught on civilation by these facists has gone on long enough.

[sharkhawk]

They won't be happy till everyone is living in a mud hut (except for them of course).
LOL. Remember when Babs came out with a list of power saving tips during the Cal power crisis. Like hanging your laundry on a line, and turning down the air? Some reporter asked her publicist if Babs was following her advice, and the answer was of course not, this is what the little people should do or something to that effect.