Free Republic

Last week the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced that they had sentenced ESI Energy for a “blatant disregard” of federal wildlife laws of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA). In their guilty plea to multiple violations, ESI admitted to the killing of at least 150 bald and golden eagles across 50 of its wind-energy facilities since 2012. Nearly all died of blunt force trauma attributable to being struck by a wind-turbine blade. The so-called “clean” energy company — a subsidiary of NextEra Energy — was fined $8 million, or about $53,300 per carcass. It turns out that the fine...

During Thursday's presidential debate, Donald Trump claimed that wind turbines kill "all the birds." Wind turbines kill about 234,000 birds a year, whereas cats kill 2.4 billion. North America may have lost nearly 3 billion birds, a quarter of its total bird population, since 1970. During Thursday's final 2020 presidential debate, President Donald Trump repeated a claim he's made throughout his presidency: that wind turbines are extremely deadly to birds. "I know more about wind than you do," Trump told former Vice President Joe Biden. "It's extremely expensive, kills all the birds, it's very intermittent, it's got a lot of...

Any time there's an oil spill on the water, the media are filled with photos and videos of crude-soaked birds. The coverage is the cue for the self-appointed environmentalist defenders of wildlife to wring their hands and furrow their brows.

<p>Whenever there is a discussion of energy policy, many environmentalists and their political allies tout wind power as an alternative to burning fossil fuels. Even if electricity from wind power is more expensive than conventional fuel sources, and it is, wind advocates argue its environmental benefits are worth it. In particular, proponents claim increased reliance on wind power would reduce air pollution and greenhouse gas emissions.</p>