Eagle Deaths: Unprecedented $1 Million Fine for Wyoming Wind Farms
Wind Power-Caught in the hard place between endangered bird safety and global warming. It seems there is no energy source big enough and green enough to make a dent in reducing fossil fueled electricity.
We live in a time where the perfect is the sworn enemy of the good.
Until the settlement announced Friday with Duke Energy Corp. and its renewable energy arm, not a single wind energy company had been prosecuted for a death of an eagle or other protected bird — even though each death is a violation of federal law, unless a company has a federal permit. Not a single wind energy facility has obtained a permit.
The Charlotte, N.C.-based company pleaded guilty to killing 14 eagles and 149 other birds at its Top of the World and Campbell Hill wind farms outside Casper, Wyo. All the deaths, which included golden eagles, hawks, blackbirds, wrens and sparrows, occurred from 2009 to 2013.
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