Posted on 11/22/2013 2:03:14 PM PST by Zeneta
CHARLOTTE, N.C. -
Duke Energy Renewables, a commercial business unit of Duke Energy, today announced it has reached a settlement agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) regarding the deaths of golden eagles and other migratory birds at two of Duke Energy’s wind generation sites in Wyoming.
The DOJ brought misdemeanor charges under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) for 14 golden eagle mortalities within the past three years at Duke Energy’s Top of the World Windpower Project and Campbell Hill Windpower Project near Casper, Wyo.
Golden eagles are not listed as threatened or endangered under U.S. law. However, they are protected under the MBTA.
Federal fines and restitution of $1 million will be levied against Duke Energy Renewables. These funds will be dispersed to the North American Wetlands Conservation Fund, the Wyoming Game & Fish Department, the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation and The Conservation Fund.
(Excerpt) Read more at duke-energy.com ...
Maybe I have not been paying attention but since when have government levied fines been designated to go to specific private groups?
What would stop "election fraud" fines from being designated to go to "get out the vote" drives (ACORN)?
All these windmills cause untold thousands of bird deaths.
But of course the libtards generally ignore them, unlike the general outcry if a couple birds die in an oil spill.
The press release continues to outline the steps they are taking to “correct” the problem:
From the press release:
These steps, among the first in the wind industry, have included:
Installing and testing new radar technology to assist in the detection of airborne eagles on or near the site, which was developed from the same technology used in Afghanistan to monitor incoming missiles
Instituting a curtailment program using field biologists, who radio for turbines to be temporarily shut down upon sighting an eagle in the vicinity
Further curtailing turbines during periods of high eagle flight activity
Instituting migratory bird training programs for wind technicians and developing a reporting system to track any findings related to avian populations on the sites
Removing rock and debris piles that attract eagle prey
Continuing to voluntarily report to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) all eagle and migratory bird mortalities and meeting with the agency regularly to discuss adaptive management measures to reduce avian mortality.
snip
This could get expensive.
ridiculous
It’s just government job creation.
It looks like most of the money will go to Non-Profits, so they may get a tax deduction.
They are however, setting a precedent for settling and taking steps to curtail future bird strikes.
It may make the cost of developing these sites prohibitive.
The birds were trespassing
They are retrieving the subsidies paid to Duke Power
That’s good
LOL
I can’t wait until they try to:
“Removing rock and debris piles that attract eagle prey”
I’m sure some other environmental group will have a problem with this.
Stupid feel good generators get a pass for killing birds.
Let a little known made up fish hold up a hydro generator and it is headlines.
It is not about electricity, it is about who pays the most.
I forgot the “pays off the most”
i love raptors fascinated by them and as collectible roadkill i am a multiple felon i dint kill em just got a feather or two off a corpse but hey since i am a native american i hide behind the eagle feather law
No doubt.
This is mobster stuff.
The government “allows” and even pays “subsidies” for Wind Farms, and then turns around and extorts money from them.
The Feds have learned this extortion game from the California Air Resources Board play book.
Government kooks versus loopy corporate welfare greens. May they both lose.
Government kooks versus loopy corporate welfare greens. May they both lose.
I hope so.
It’s a game they PLAY and we PAY.
Of course the birds that die are those who ignored the hazard while huntingfor food. For each one that dies, another bird which would have starved gets enough food to live.
The birth rate in nature outstrips the food supply.
The windmill farms merely shift which characteristics are the most critical for survival.
For a constituency which babbles endlessly about evolution, liberals lack even the most rudimentary comprehension of “Survival of the Fittest. “
"Production Tax Credit" pays them $.25 for every KW they generate.
That’s interesting.
I never thought of roadkill as a “collectible”.
You should start a trading website for roadkill collectibles.
You can hide behind your native American status.
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