I don’t know everything but I do have you, my dear readers, to fill in the gaps in my knowledge. Please explain this to me.
What I Understand...
In 2011 the Fish & Wildlife Service convinced the Justice Department to file criminal indictments against 3 Oil Companies working in North Dakota’s Bakken Oil Fields for inadvertently killing 6 Ducks & 1 Phoebe.
What I Don’t Understand...
Two weeks ago the Fish & Wildlife Service opened public comment on “proposed improvements” to its eagle conservation program. It wants to extend the length of permits for accidental eagle kills from the current five years to 30 years.
The changes would allow wind-energy producers to kill or injure as many as 4,200 bald eagles every year. That’s a lot. The agency estimates there are now about 72,434 bald eagles in the continental U.S.
A 2013 study in the Wildlife Society Bulletin estimated that wind turbines killed about 888,000 bats and 573,000 birds (including 83,000 raptors) in 2012 alone.
That’s a lot of Bats & Birds but it’s worse now (& getting worse each year) because Wind Capacity has since increased by about 24%, and it could triple by 2030.
“We don’t really know how many birds are being killed now by wind turbines because the wind industry doesn’t have to report the data,” says Michael Hutchins of the American Bird Conservancy. “It’s considered a trade secret.”
America’s top wildlife protector is still bending over backward to accommodate an industry that is killing iconic wildlife while at the same time that industry is collecting huge subsidies from taxpayers.
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There you have it. I know you can explain this to me. I’m so glad I have you out there to help me understand what I don’t understand.
Source: An Ill Wind: Open Season on Bald Eagles by Robert Bryce at the Wall Street Journal May 16, 2016.
Would I kid u?
Smartfella
