Posted on 10/02/2011 9:33:07 AM PDT by volunbeer
You may have gotten wind of the seven North Dakota oil companies recently charged in federal court with the deaths of 28 migratory birds.
The birds allegedly landed in oil waste pits in western North Dakota last spring; the maximum penalty for each charge under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act is six months in prison and a $15,000 fine, the AP said.
But did you know that wind-power companies are responsible for more than 400,000 bird deaths annually, and not one has faced a single charge?
The Wall Street Journal knows it, opining yesterday that the prosecutions are “bird-brained,” especially when wind-power outfits routinely beat the rap:
Wall Street Journal original article - http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424053111903791504576588642920063046.html
(Excerpt) Read more at theblaze.com ...
I have followed this controversy with wind farms and agree that it is hard to come up with an exact figure of birds that have been killed. Interestingly, the California Condor is an endangered species and we have spent huge sums of money to try and increase the population. I recently heard an interview on talk radio of an “activists” from California who alleged far more than 28 dead condors and golden eagles have been found underneath the turbines. I am in no position to verify the claims but there is obviously something to it.
Stossel covered this on his program a few years ago and I looked for a transcript but could not find it. In addition to the loss of large birds there is plenty of evidence that bats are being slaughtered by these things.
The rule of unintended consequences is always present in the environmental movement.
These are all supportable statements -
The ban of DDT led to many thousands of malaria deaths in Africa.
The ban of regular lightbulbs will lead to mercury filled landfills as the new bulbs are discarded. How long before a child is diagnosed with mercury poisoning after breaking a bulb?
The push towards electrical cars does not reflect the increased costs (economic activity creates greenhouse gases) required to offset the higher costs. It also does not account for the disposal problems created by such large batteries using current technology.
The introduction (some say reintroduction) of wolves in the west is leading to the decimation of large grazing animals.
I don’t support the oil company creating an oil filled pond and it is reasonable that they should make an effort to clean it and prevent it. However, like others have pointed out, the hypocrisy of this action if it’s really about “the birds” illustrates a major cancer affecting our nation.
http://www.foxbusiness.com/on-air/stossel/blog/2009/09/09/green-double-standards
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203706604574376543308399048.html
This is not a new problem. Both of these articles addressing the same thing are from 2009.
How about all the birds killed when they fly into jet engines? Are the airline CEOs arrested and fined? What about the birds that fly into glass windows? Used to happen where I lived. Please don’t report me to #AttackWatch!
I’ll bet the number killed by turbines pales against the number killed by transmission lines. Flocks that migrate at night plow into them. I’ve found Great Horned Owls, Virginia Rails, Canada Geese and lots of sundry songbirds under a single two hundred yard stretch of lines.
I do my best to kill more than 28 migratory waterfowl every year.
I agree that the activity of man will impact nature. Power lines, automobiles (I ran over a porcupine and hit a woodpecker in the last few months), and large windows (we have one we need to hang a piece of stained glass on) all kill animals.
It is inevitable and I have no problem with an oil company needing to take measures to prevent an oil filled pond.
However, it disturbs me that they are “prosecuted” when “green energy” gets a pass.
P.S. - I reported myself numerous times to attackwatch and had plenty of laughs reading the stuff we put on there.
Tell me! I worked in the Texas oil field, I was there when we had to start “netting” open holding tanks to keep waterfowl from diving in. Really, I liked that rule. I remember one company in opposition put out a photo of a dead gull with talons caught in a net! Politics and the actuarial risk math do not mix well.
We have in Texas more windmills than anywhere. I can drive from here to Oklahoma and never be out of sight of one. As soon as the industry can live without the two cent/KWH subsidy, I’m all for it.
“bird-brained” is applicable. The modern three blade turbine fan (150’ radius) turns slowly, about 3 RPM, the blades “feather” to adjust to windspeed. Little birds, not so much. The dead birds we see are “gliders”; the larger species: Buzzards, hawks, gulls, and migratory birds.
I will say this: No one knows “exactly” how many birds turbins kill. California pays people nearly 50K a year to tour towers and count dead birds, and that gives them a good guess. For sure, the fans kill birds; more fans, more dead birds. Classic risk/return decision.
I do my best to kill more than 28 migratory waterfowl every year.
They are tasty!
You can be charged for “taking” an animal, and the definition of “taking” includes “disturbing” the animal. Now days to build a project you have to have a permit from the wildlife people licensing you to “take” so many animals each year, and you have to investigate and document each case.
We’re bankrupt. If we can’t de-fund these agencies, split them up and return them to the states, we’re not trying.
Any candidate for office who doesn’t yet understand the need to eliminate entire agencies isn’t fit for office. These agencies see themselves as kings. We overthrew kings two centuries ago and now we are reinstating them.
The activities of man are a part of nature. But nature takes out plenty of birds all by herself. Lovely little critters like fox and skunk are hell on nesting waterfowl, and viral infections can spread through nesting habitat in the Canadian pothole country, killing millions of birds a year. 400K is not a lot of waterfowl, in the grand scheme of things. 28 is a joke. But keep buying that DAWN dishsoap folks.
I agree. Furthermore, in most instances this should be a function of state government.
However, how much that will change without addressing the use of the courts by environmentalists is not clear. Under this administration, we are experiencing the government (instead of the Sierra Club) bringing the lawsuits and court actions. If the EPA or Fish and Wildlife had not brought the action it would have been an environmental group.
This further illustrates that the “radicals” are now in charge of our government. Nowhere is this more obvious than the EPA and Interior Department. The same folks bringing lawsuits in the past now have the keys to the car and they are, not surprisingly, using it!
Too often we overlook the power of the courts in setting the tone for our nation. This was why I held my nose and voted for McCain. The damage of Obama will not cease when he leaves the White House. It will extend past my lifetime through the courts.
Based on my own observations living on acreage in the country it would be impossible to get an accurate count of the birds that are killed by turbines. It is probably that many animals who feast on carrion are probably learning that the turbines are a good source of food.
Interesting about the turbines and speed. The ones I see in the Columbia River basin here in Washington don’t appear to spin very fast but I am sure it’s fast enough.
Based on my own observations living on acreage in the country it would be impossible to get an accurate count of the birds that are killed by turbines. It is probably that many animals who feast on carrion are probably learning that the turbines are a good source of food.
Interesting about the turbines and speed. The ones I see in the Columbia River basin here in Washington don’t appear to spin very fast but I am sure it’s fast enough.
Sounds a bit slow. What is their max?
Tip speed ratios are supposed to be around 7, which means at 15 mi/h wind speed, the tips should be going over 100 mi/h (150 feet/s).
A 150' radius blade covers just under 500 feet per rev. This comes out to 500 feet/20s, which is only 25 ft/s.
Another way of looking at it would be that a tip speed of 25 ft/s would be caused by a 3.5 mi/h wind.
Am I missing something here?
Just to clarify, in case there was a misunderstanding, my intention was to source your statement, out of curiosity, not to dispute it. In those efforts, I came across the article I cited.
I can't agree with your posts more, except to say you give EPA a greater benefit of the doubt than I do as to their falling prey to the law of unintended consequences.
The EPA is an agency out of control and drunk with power. Their use of science is dubious at best, and most often deliberately negligent. In fact I would go so far as to say often criminal.
Case in point is an example you cite:
"The ban of regular lightbulbs will lead to mercury filled landfills as the new bulbs are discarded. How long before a child is diagnosed with mercury poisoning after breaking a bulb?"
This infuriates me far more than the subject under discussion. How could the EPA NOT be aware of the consequences of filling out landfills with mercury and proliferating a known toxin into the environment where our children, the most vulnerable to mercury's toxic effects, spend the greatest amount of their time---their homes?
While compact fluorescent lamps used in homes are not legally classified as hazardous waste....
WHY NOT? We all know why, and we all know that that will SURELY be the next step when this regulation goes into full implementation.
If a compact fluorescent lamp breaks in your home, open nearby windows immediately to disperse any mercury vapor that may escape, carefully sweep up the glass fragments, and wipe the area with a disposable paper towel to remove any remaining fragments. Do not try to pick up glass fragments with your hands, and do not use a vacuum. Place all glass fragments in a sealed plastic bag and dispose of them with your other household trash.
I agree with you about the CFL controversy.
My point when I wrote above about the courts no longer being the first choice of environmentalists to force their views illustrates this.
Fact, environmental radicals now hold key positions of power in this administration. The EPA is now staffed with the same Sierra Club types who used to hijack the courts to impose their views. Sadly, the courts, EPA, congress, and this administration are all staffed with persons whose ideas are best described as radically anti-capitalist. They are using the agencies of government to impose their will because they have spent years taking over those agencies (see the State Department - a mini-UN within our own government).
Obama can’t sell his agenda to congress so the radicals he brought with him to D.C. are using the agencies he put them in charge of to implement “change”. Congress (including Boehner and the 2010 crowd) have allowed them to get away with it.
“I don’t know exactly how many birds wind turbines kill...”
I keep hearing that but no one has EVER posted a picture. We keep seeing pix of oil-covered birds; I wanna *see* some of that Colorado golden eagle shredded tweet!
Surely something must be done about this.. can you see Windmill Farms Nuggets in the freezer section of your local grocery store some time soon?
The US FWS spent 45 days flying around in helicopters looking for violations, and the 28 birds’ prosecutions involve seven oil companies. It isn’t certain how the birds died or ended up in the pits, there was record snowfall last winter in the region and record snowmelt as well. With over 1000 wells being drilled a year here, and over 5000 producing wells in the State, the record is actually pretty good. But most wells here are on privately held mineral acres, and not Federal Land, and the Obamites have been doing all they can to shut down the one shining economic beacon in the US, creating jobs, no housing collapse, it is here as if there was no recession. And all the FedGov can do is try to stop it.
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