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Impact on Wildlife or Maine
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The Press Herald's report about our recent economic study of Maine's renewable energy mandate requires many corrections that could have been resolved had reporter Steve Mistler contacted the organizations he writes about. I will address a few.
Also filed under [
Impact on Economy|
Maine]
"This makes no sense," said Kim Kaufman, executive director at Black Swamp, whose "Biggest Week in American Birding" last spring attracted about 75,000 birders and gave the whole region an economic booster shot.
"Putting a wind turbine here flies in the face of everything we have worked for to protect birds and to promote this area and birding."
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Ohio]
The province's efforts to increase the use of wind power must be balanced against the equally valid goals of protecting Ontario's wildlife and natural environment. ...rigorous guidelines are needed to protect bats and birds.
Also filed under [
Impact on Wildlife|
Canada]
The vote to allow King's wind business was a very close one, with people most affected having no vote. There were no local jobs created with the exception of a single management position, and some electricity will be free as long as the project makes money.
The Maine Energy Office announced Friday that electricity rates in Maine as compared to the national average are much higher than other states. The data, provided by the U.S. Energy Information Administration, indicates that Maine rates are improving. However, Maine is still 24 percent above the US average.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Maine]
Wind power takes precedence over protecting endangered cranes
September 5, 2012 in The Houston Chronicle
September 5, 2012 in The Houston Chronicle
Wind farm owners worry about prosecution under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) if a whooping crane is killed by one of their turbines. So the industry is seeking an exemption under the ESA, known as a Habitat Conservation Plan (HCP), if a crane is accidentally killed.
How can you look the people of Maine straight in the eye and tell them that they are living in the Saudi Arabia of Wind, when you know that this same line is being told to residents of at least 14 other states?
A pair of stories in the last week detailed conflicts between San Diego Gas and Electric (SDG&E) and national environmental groups over two separate wind projects. One of the conflicts appears to have been resolved amicably, while the other is headed to the courtroom. And each story involves the power of flight.
King profited from a law he passed as governor, took taxpayer money he did not need from President Obama's discredited "Green Energy" loan program and personally benefited from Obama's failed stimulus spending bill. That's a political trifecta. In addition to being the "King of Spending," look for Republicans to crown the former governor as the "King of Wind" and the "King of Cronyism."
It is time that our regulators in Augusta wake up to the permanent damage being done for the benefit of a short-sighted economic injection. The people of Lexington and Concord townships are just the latest victims.
Bat-Taking Permits, An open letter to Vermont's Agency of Natural Resources
August 8, 2012 in Caledonian Record
August 8, 2012 in Caledonian Record
These bat species are far more important than First Wind's profits. There's presently a glut of generation in New England and First Wind's intermittent power does nothing more than add to the surplus on the grid. ...First Wind agreed to curtailment during low wind speeds at certain temperatures and now seems to be complaining that such curtailment won't be profitable. Too bad for them.
We've spoken clearly. Our state government must defend the will of the people. A foreign corporation must not have greater rights than American citizens. Iberdrola should respect the resolve of the people and abandon its wind development plans for Lexington and Concord townships.
They may be called "smart meters," but the multiple controversies that accompanied their implementation in Maine and other places have not left the impression that all their implications were fully thought out.
Also filed under [
Energy Policy|
Maine]
Nowhere is this more true than off the coast of Norfolk, where Ed Davey has just made one of those life and death decisions that come with the high office of Energy Secretary. Shockingly, he has decreed that guillotining 94 shaggy-crested terns a year is acceptable, even if you have no plans to put them in a sandwich.
Several of America's finest national wildlife refuges - Pocosin Lakes, Alligator River and Lake Mattamuskeet - in concert with local landowners, provide the winter base from which these incredible animals can fly ...Remarkably, if the project moves ahead, the migratory swans, geese, ducks, and raptors may return to their winter Carolina home in a year or two to find 49 spinning turbines, each the height of the Washington Monument.
Local organization supports Golden Eagle research amid questions about effective regulation of the wind industry
June 23, 2012 in The Recorder
June 23, 2012 in The Recorder
Highlanders For Responsible Development (HRD) has donated $1,000 to support a West Virginia University research effort to better determine the status and behaviour of golden eagles in the central Appalachians, including Highland County and the surrounding area. A major concern for HRD and the WVU research group is the potential for golden eagle mortality and population impacts associated with construction of utility-scale wind turbines on mountain ridges in the region.
Although it has the potential to be a green source of energy, wind power as it currently is being developed kills hundreds of thousands birds each year, including bald and golden eagles. ...The birds that are publicly acknowledged as being killed therefore represent just a fraction of the true toll.
The wildlife service says that monitoring and reporting by the wind energy operators "will be critically important for assessing impacts to eagles" under the proposed rules, and that the agency will conduct "periodic evaluations" of permitted sites. But the acreage devoted to wind turbines has exploded in the past decade; wildlife service staff has not. Effectively enforcement of these permits is a dubious prospect.
When bald eagles confront danger, most normal Americans would leap to protect America's national symbol. But Team Obama wants to give wind-power companies long-term permits to butcher bald eagles on the altar of green energy.
When bald eagles confront danger, most normal Americans would leap to preserve, protect and defend America's national symbol. But Team Obama's response is completely different: It wants to give wind-power companies long-term permits to butcher bald eagles on the altar of green energy.