http://www.windaction.org/ facts, analysis, exposure of wind energy's real impacts en-us Windaction hourly 1 http://backend.userland.com/rss http://www.windaction.org/articles/3502 Sun, 18 Jun 2006 13:00:11 GMT http://www.windaction.org/articles/3502 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38346 Tue, 14 May 2013 19:07:52 GMT "What it boils down to is this: If you electrocute an eagle, that is bad, but if you chop it to pieces, that is OK," said Tim Eicher, a former U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service enforcement agent based in Cody, who helped prosecute the PacifiCorp power line case. By not enforcing the law, the administration provides little incentive for companies to build wind farms where there are fewer birds. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38346 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38137 Fri, 19 Apr 2013 21:02:07 GMT "The lack of data is particularly troubling because it is just this sort of data from permit holders that permits the U.S. Fish and WIldlife Service to monitor the health of the eagle populations within the United States, the release notes. Despite lacking a permit, Bittner continued to capture and band 144 migratory birds in the region, including at least one female Golden Eagle. http://www.windaction.org/articles/38137 http://www.windaction.org/articles/38123 Thu, 18 Apr 2013 01:41:54 GMT Dave Bittner, Golden Eagle expert with Wildlife Research Institute, pled guilty to federal charges of unlawful taking of Golden Eagles --working without valid permit and failure to file reports. Bittner conducted studies for Iberdrola's Tule Wind project approved by BLM and San Diego County for public and private land in the McCain Valley National Cooperative Land & Wildlife Management & Recreation Area. Tule Wind decisions by the Bureau of Indian Affairs for turbines on Ewiiaapaayp tribal lands, with a reported 6-8 Golden Eagle nests, and on State Lands Commission lands in Golden Eagle habitat are still pending. Can those agencies rely on Bitner's Golden Eagle work for Tule Wind that was apparently unpermitted and unlawful? What other breaches of law or professional ethics might be involved? http://www.windaction.org/articles/38123 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37851 Tue, 26 Mar 2013 15:47:50 GMT "What people need to understand is that it's not just prairie chickens. It's really the inter-connectedness of these biotic communities," Boal said. "When we have indicators like a prairie chicken, and there's something going wrong, that's an indication of that biotic community as a whole. We need to think about, ‘what is the world we want to live in?' http://www.windaction.org/articles/37851 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37764 Mon, 18 Mar 2013 02:30:40 GMT The US Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the death of a golden eagle at a wind farm in Kern County, California, and is asking for local resident's help. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37764 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37747 Wed, 13 Mar 2013 15:04:19 GMT "Un-permitted take of eagles is the illegal take of eagles," Birchell said in the release. "We want power companies or any company involved in planning to build wind generation facilities in the Tehachapi range, where a significant golden eagle population exists, to contact the Service well in advance of construction and work with our biologists to develop conservation plans that will avoid take of eagles." http://www.windaction.org/articles/37747 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37682 Mon, 11 Mar 2013 16:26:14 GMT "Many major renewable energy projects raise very difficult questions of balancing, and each [environmental] group has to make its own call as to how that balance should be struck. It seems clear that if the wildlife risks and impacts associated with Cape Wind were instead associated with a massive oil and gas drilling operation (e.g., if such a project risked a major oil spill that might kill thousands of migratory birds), there would be strong, uniform opposition from the environmental community." http://www.windaction.org/articles/37682 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37474 Fri, 22 Feb 2013 11:10:34 GMT The whales have also caught the attention of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, which is overseeing wind farm lease areas off the Vineyard and Rhode Island, and has commissioned the New England Aquarium to do an aerial survey, according to Tim Cole, a research fisheries biologist with the National Marine Fisheries Service. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37474 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37454 Tue, 19 Feb 2013 03:37:34 GMT In a letter to the U.S. Department of Interior, American Bird Conservancy (ABC) called on the agency to suspend further consideration of a revised rule that would weaken protections provided to eagles pursuant to the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, by allowing private companies to apply for an unprecedented 30-year permit to kill these iconic species. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37454 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37359 Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:27:38 GMT Oil, gas and wind energy producers are working to persuade federal wildlife officials not to enact protections for the lesser prairie chicken, a move that could force them to halt or significantly alter their operations to protect the species' dwindling grassland habitat. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37359 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37324 Fri, 08 Feb 2013 04:39:25 GMT Seventy-six groups led by American Bird Conservancy (ABC), one of the nation's leading bird conservation organizations, have called on the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) to fully analyze the environmental consequences of a proposed North Dakota wind farm to the endangered Whooping Crane. FWS is considering issuing the first-ever Incidental Take Permit (ITP) to a wind farm for the killing of endangered Whooping Cranes and threatened Piping Plovers. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37324 http://www.windaction.org/articles/37013 Sun, 13 Jan 2013 15:36:36 GMT A major problem, biologists say, is that prairie chickens fear tall structures, where predators like hawks can perch and spot them. Wind turbines, transmission towers and drilling rigs are generally the tallest objects on the plains. The Fish and Wildlife Service will hold a hearing next month in Lubbock on the chicken's future, and the public can comment on the issue until March 11. http://www.windaction.org/articles/37013 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36786 Mon, 17 Dec 2012 02:18:11 GMT The wind sector has had an exemption from prosecution under two of America's oldest wildlife-protection laws: the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and the Eagle Protection Act. A violation of either law could result in a fine up to $250,000 or two years imprisonment. To date, the Obama administration has not prosecuted a single case against the wind industry. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36786 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36793 Sat, 15 Dec 2012 03:43:10 GMT In a letter to the Army Corps of Engineers in May, a top Texas Parks and Wildlife official said his agency had serious concerns about the project. "Numerous federal and state-listed threatened and endangered species and species of concern have been documented within or near the proposed corridors within which transmission lines would be constructed." http://www.windaction.org/articles/36793 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36732 Tue, 11 Dec 2012 15:41:03 GMT As wind developments have moved closer to more populated areas, several projects have run into resistance from local activists. Companies don't want to publicly share data that's going to be misinterpreted and spun against them by opponents. They also don't want to be in the position of building a criminal case against themselves. Most birds are protected by federal law, and wind developers don't have any guarantee they won't be prosecuted for unintentional kills. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36732 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36272 Thu, 11 Oct 2012 12:21:59 GMT Thousands of birds and bats are killed every year by collisions with the the wind towers and their giant blades. Environmental activists are taking the wind energy industry to court to find a solution. ...Despite efforts to reduce wildlife collisions, no permanent solution has been found. The wind industry opposes shutting down or limiting turbine operations. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36272 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36191 Fri, 28 Sep 2012 14:22:30 GMT "Indiana bats are beginning to slip away from us," said Mollie Matteson, a bat specialist with the Center for Biological Diversity, which this spring petitioned the White House for national action on the disease outbreak. "At this point, every remaining Indiana bat is a precious survivor. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36191 http://www.windaction.org/articles/36039 Thu, 13 Sep 2012 12:07:13 GMT Two new lawsuits were filed September 11, 2012 against federal officials and the U.S. government seeking an injunction to halt construction at Pattern Energy's Ocotillo Express industrial wind project. http://www.windaction.org/articles/36039 http://www.windaction.org/articles/35786 Wed, 15 Aug 2012 14:51:26 GMT The Bicknell's thrush - a medium-sized migrating songbird - has cleared the first stage of a long route that could lead to it being declared a threatened or endangered species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced Tuesday. http://www.windaction.org/articles/35786