Some might say it’s a lot of hot air. First “green” energy endeavors threatened the North Maine Woods and a pre-Columbian forest in Germany. Now comes news that wind-power turbines have been killing scores of bald eagles along with the more threatened golden eagle.
The federal government has fined a company implicated in this, too. Yet critics may wonder: Shouldn’t the feds expect an avian body count when encouraging wind power, as it’s well known that those unsightly windmill blades kill birds?
The kicker: One of the government’s gripes is that the company, ESI Energy, is “taking eagles without obtaining or even seeking the necessary permit,” as if this makes a bird less dead or a species less endangered and should apply to unintentional killings.
As Business Insider reports:
A renewable energy company was given five-year probation and ordered to pay more than $8 million in fines after the deaths of 150 bald and golden eagles on their wind turbines.
NextEra Energy subsidiary ESI Energy pleaded guilty to violating the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, per a press release from the Department of Justice.
The Act prevents anyone from killing or taking parts from protected birds without permission from the federal government. Golden and bald eagles are further protected by federal law.
The company pleaded guilty to three specific deaths, which prompted the fines, per the DOJ.
As part of the case it also acknowledged the deaths of a more than 150 eagles at the company’s wind farms in Wyoming, New Mexico, Arizona, California, Colorado, Illinois, North Dakota and Michigan, and other states.
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