By CFACT
CFACT just released a troubling report by senior advisor David Wojick about the dramatic threat wind turbines pose to bald and golden eagles.
Federal regulators concluded that the golden eagle population cannot survive increased kills from human activity and also determined that wind turbines substantially increase eagle deaths.
The feds then offered a solution only a bureaucrat could love, don’t protect the eagles from turbine strikes, but “offset” their deaths by reducing electrocutions from power poles.
Government being as efficient as it is, they then underestimated the number of power poles that would need to be made “safe” by a factor of as much as 241 and failed to save any meaningful number of eagles.
Executive Summary
Nearly 15 years ago, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) determined that the golden eagle population could not withstand an increase in human-caused mortality. However, a large queue of proposed wind projects sought FWS permits exempting them from harm they may cause eagles under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act—permits that would inevitably increase the kill rate.
In response, the FWS created an offset program in which eagle deaths caused by wind turbines would purportedly be compensated for by reducing electrocution deaths from power poles. We now know this offset program has completely failed, as there has been no measurable reduction in electrocution deaths.
The likely cause of this failure is FWS’s use of a wildly inaccurate electrocution death rate. As a result, the number of power poles made “safe” is just a tiny fraction of what would be required to create a legitimate offset. While FWS currently requires about 278 poles to be “made safe” per wind-killed eagle, the correct number, according to the results presented in this report, may be closer to 67,000. It is no wonder the program has failed.
At a minimum, FWS should issue no new wind power eagle-kill permits until the glaring issues uncovered in this study are resolved. Accurate electrocution death rates must be determined. Given there are well over 100 million power poles in America, the offset numbers may prove so high that the program becomes unfeasible. In that case, wind power development must stop. Existing facilities may need to be retired as well.
As I recall, possession of an eagle feather by anyone but a native American is a felony.
We (The “we” is mighty fine, Watson, is it not?) should mount a civil protest by distributing all those dead eagle feathers, on the basis that because they are being killed as a public good (the saving of the climate) they belong to the public.
Hmm ….. .
What if the feather comes from normal moulting?
Better still, what if it is on the cap of a Scottish Clan Chief attending an event in the USA?
Progressive thought process:
“It became necessary to destroy the town in order to save it.”
Eagles become the necessary sacrifice by the climate cult for the “greater good”.
It reminds me of Janet Reno’s defense of the Waco massacre — we had to kill the children to prevent them from being abused.
And the response of “environmentalists”? Crickets.
By any metric anyone wishes to use, be it environmental impact, cost of electricity, reliable power supply, positive economic impact, off-grid electrification, whatever, all of the justifications for wind power are demonstratbly false. Every single attempt for widespread adoption of wind turbines as the major source of electricity has been an abject failure everywhere in the world it’s been attempted.
I wonder how many crickets are killed by wind turbines.
Perhaps the infrasound and shadow flicker are enough to drive them to killing themselves.
There is research on flying insects being killed, for example this:
“Insect fatalities at wind turbines as biodiversity sinks”https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/csp2.366
FWS claims (falsely) that every eagle death is offset by saving an eagle from electrocution so on paper there is nothing to respond to. The falsehood is the problem that needs fixed.
My question is, if they really cared about eagles, why didn’t they make the poles safe before windmills became a thing?
Not one eagle should be killed by wind and or solar. Remove all wind and solar from the grid.
I became alerted to the dire situation of eagles through the Environmental Assessment for the proposed Two Rivers Wind project near the town of Medicine Bow, Wyoming. I would assume that the mortality figures came from FWS, but I do not know that. However, an estimate was made that Two Rivers and other proposed and operating projects in the same region would burden the Bald Eagle population with a 28% annual mortality within the Local Area Population. The local area is not small, encompassing a land area nearly equalling one-third of Wyoming and includes a portion of northern Colorado.
I used this EA estimate to argue against other wind plants proposed for the area as they all practically adjoin Two Rivers. I pointed out that 28% mortality is unsustainable and would turn a region probably an ecological source of Bald and Golden Eagles into a sink into which eagles from neighboring areas would be drawn, because of the favorable but empty environment, and meet their demise. No one seemed alarmed at all, and, in fact, the EA downplayed the topic with such sophistry as “the national population of Bald eagles is growing”.
I also learned through my research that while the Federal government sees fit to gloss over this issue, I was told that State agencies like Wyoming Game and Fish were being pressed not to push back on wind development. I wish it were possible to prove this, as it would completely undercut the belief that State agencies provide independent analyses.
Finally, a point related to David Wojick’s essays here, is that a very knowledgeable Eagle researcher provided a statistic that from his work Golden eagle deaths from wind turbine strikes exceeds the combined deaths from firearms, vehicles, and electrocution. Thus, it is apparent that reducing deaths from electrocutions cannot possibly offset wind turbine strikes. To believe so is just more sophistry.
Maybe Trump can wake FWS up. But his nominee to head FWS still awaits confirmation after four months. Maybe Burgum can do it since FWS is part of DOI.
All existing permits are invalid because the offsets have failed. The permitting regulations are clear on this.
You should protest these local permits on the grounds that their offsets do not work.
That’s a good idea, David. At least it’s one more arrow in the quiver.
I hope the arrow flights aren’t made from eagle feathers …… .
Wind and oil have been treated differently for decades as to the deaths of migratory birds and eagles. The Achilles-heel of wind is the forgiven deaths of eagles. They would forced to shut down if held responsible. I. E. Fined or jailed.
To date, there have been no confirmed Eagle kills related to nuclear power plants. One more reason to replace all wind farms with safe, clean and reliable nuclear power plants starting today.
A wind turbine blade fell off a truck in western Maryland earlier today. Shut down a major highway.
The good news is, no raptors were injured although there are hundreds of irate commuters.
Eagle offsets. Get your eagle offsets here. For every eagle you kill we won’t kill 2 somewhere else.