Everyone knows you need a safety cage around a fan.
Posted on 04/07/2022 3:00:02 PM PDT by Impala64ssa
Some turbines killed multiple eagles and because the carcasses are not always found, officials said the number killed was likely higher than the 150 birds cited in court documents.
Wind energy company pleads guilty after at least 150 eagles killed in U.S. Some turbines killed multiple eagles and because the carcasses are not always found, officials said the number killed was likely higher than the 150 birds cited in court documents. NextEra Energy was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay more than $8 million in fines and restitution after at least 150 eagles were killed over the past decade. NextEra Energy was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay more than $8 million in fines and restitution after at least 150 eagles were killed over the past decade.Chris Szagola / AP file
SAVE April 7, 2022, 6:52 AM EDT / Source: Associated Press By The Associated Press BILLINGS, Mont. — A subsidiary of one of the largest U.S. providers of renewable energy pleaded guilty to criminal charges and was ordered to pay over $8 million in fines and restitution after at least 150 eagles were killed at its wind farms in eight states, federal prosecutors said.
NextEra Energy subsidiary ESI Energy was also sentenced to five years probation after being charged with three counts of violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act during a court appearance in Cheyenne, Wyoming. The charges arose from the deaths of nine eagles at three wind farms in Wyoming and New Mexico.
In addition to those deaths, the company acknowledged the deaths of golden and bald eagles at 50 wind farms affiliated with ESI and NextEra since 2012, prosecutors said. Birds were killed in eight states: Wyoming, California, New Mexico, North Dakota, Colorado, Michigan, Arizona and Illinois.
NextEra, based in Juno Beach, Florida, bills itself as the world’s largest utility company by market value. It has more than 100 wind farms in the U.S. and Canada and also generates natural gas, nuclear and solar power.
Almost all of the eagles killed at the NextEra subsidiary’s facilities were struck by the blades of wind turbines, prosecutors said. Some turbines killed multiple eagles and because the carcasses are not always found, officials said the number killed was likely higher than the 150 birds cited in court documents.
Prosecutors said the company’s failure to take steps to protect eagles or to obtain permits to kill the birds gave it an advantage over competitors that did take such steps — even as ESI and other NextEra affiliates received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal tax credits from the wind power they produced.
NextEra spokesperson Steven Stengel said the company didn’t seek permits because it believes the law didn’t require them for unintentional bird deaths. The company said its guilty plea will resolve all allegations over past fatalities and allow it to move forward without a continued threat of prosecution.
The criminal case comes amid a push by President Joe Biden for more renewable energy from wind, solar and other sources to help reduce climate changing emissions. It also follows a renewed commitment by federal wildlife officials under Biden to enforce protections for eagles and other birds under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act. Criminal prosecutions had been halted under former President Donald Trump for birds killed inadvertently by industry.
It’s illegal to kill or harm eagles under the migratory bird act. However, a wide range of industries — from energy firms to manufacturing companies — have lobbied for years against enforcing the law for accidental bird deaths.
The bald eagle — the U.S. national symbol since the 1700s — saw its populations widely decimated last century due to harmful pesticides such as DDT and other problems. Following a dramatic recovery, it was removed from protection under the Endangered Species Act in 2007. Biologists say more than 300,000 bald eagles now occupy the U.S., not including Alaska.
Golden eagles have not fared as well, with populations considered stable but under pressure from wind farms, collisions with vehicles, illegal shootings and poisoning from lead ammunition
Everyone knows you need a safety cage around a fan.
And the Harry Reid solar farms south of Vegas have evaporated unknown tons of birds and insects.
There was never any legitimate reason to ban it. But like today, the environmentalist organizations hold the playing cards with their unlimited finances allowing them to file law suits against every pro capitalistic endeavor trying to take place.
hese turbins are all over the mountain in my hometown - and the first thing people living up there said is they had to go out daily and pick up all the dead birds, bats and whatever else flies off the grounds. If they didn’t there’s a stench that the turbin winds spread across the mountain area.
Suicide by windmill.
How many dead eagles does it take to drive your Tesla 100 miles?
Wow! That is a very good MPDE. But not as good as my F350 with dual axles.
There goes the windmill racket. That leaves only solar.
They should immediately turn the bill over to the idiot bureaucrats who demand wind mills.
I hear this brought up every now and again I and I have to wonder just how much spent ammo has to be laying around to poison birds. Seems pretty nutty to me.
T Boone Pickens smart and pleasant man.
I would not recommend going to Bartlesville, OK and singing his praises.
He nearly destroyed that town with his green mail scam on Phillips Petroleum.
NextEra Energy was sentenced to probation and ordered to pay more than $8 million in fines and restitution
= = =
I will end up paying the 8 Mill in increased power charges.
A controlled study indicated having one blade painted black decreases bird deaths. Under lighting conditions which make white blades difficult to see in motion blur, a moving black blade is more likely to be seen and avoided.
This change in paint scheme would be low-cost if done in the plant where the blades are manufactured, but if operators started putting up turbines with black blades, and especially if it became apparent the black blades were saving birds, the operators would face pressure to repaint all their existing turbines in situ, which would be quite expensive.
I like Eagles. I do not like windmills that kill them.
Circa 1976 in Wyoming: I saw golden eagles hunting. It was incredible. They flew a few hundred feet in the air and when they spotted their prey the eagle would fold their wings and dive at great speed. They would level flight at the height of their prey and extend their talons and legs forward. The impact killed the prey. It broke their back.
Had to look it up. Gotcha.
When I met him, we had an instant attraction, so much so that his wife came racing across the room. If he hadn’t been married, who knows? I might be able to fully fund FreeRepublic by myself. Just damn!
Culling the flock. The eagles with poor eyesight and those too slow to avoid the blades will perish and not pass along their defective genes.
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