Guilty plea in bird deaths at wind farms a first - New York News

Guilty plea in bird deaths at wind farms a first - New York News

Here's Your government at work, and I'm not making any of this up...

Between 2009 and 2013 165 birds were killed by wind turbines belonging to Duke Energy Corp.  Wind turbines... You know, those "environmentally friendly" 300 feet tall towers with giant, rotating blades, that are so wonderful to the feds that Your tax dollars are being used to subsidize their construction?

Well, federal law holds that when birds are killed by wind turbines this really is a BIG deal, and so the Fish and Wildlife Service and the Justice Department are cranking up some righteous indignation to prosecute the perpetrators of this carnage.  In a nutshell, if a bird snuffs it by colliding with one of Your federally subsidized rotating blades, and You don't have a federal permit to kill birds with rotating blades, Your kiester's in the chopper.  If You have the permit, it's still bad, but sort of permitted.  But it's a serious enough offense that if a bird approaches one of Your wind turbines, You need to SHUT DOWN the turbine in time to prevent harming the bird. If this means installing bird-detecting radar, and hiring field biologists to watch for birds, so be it.

Duke has had to "plead guilty" and pay $1 million in fines.  They also need to "draft a plan to reduce eagle and bird deaths" at its wind farms.  Oh, and every bird killed must be reported to the feds.

Apparently wind turbines are very good for the environment, unless You actually operate them.

Question: Do wind turbines kill as many birds as buildings, planes, trains, and motor vehicles?