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Windmills Are Killing Our Birds (Oil Co's pay fines, Wind Co's do not)
Wall Street Journal ^ | Sept 7, 2009 | Robert Bryce

Posted on 09/08/2009 7:16:51 AM PDT by Titus-Maximus

On Aug. 13, ExxonMobil pleaded guilty in federal court to killing 85 birds that had come into contact with crude oil or other pollutants in uncovered tanks or waste-water facilities on its properties. The birds were protected by the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, which dates back to 1918. The company agreed to pay $600,000 in fines and fees.

ExxonMobil is hardly alone in running afoul of this law. Over the past two decades, federal officials have brought hundreds of similar cases against energy companies. In July, for example, the Oregon-based electric utility PacifiCorp paid $1.4 million in fines and restitution for killing 232 eagles in Wyoming over the past two years. The birds were electrocuted by poorly-designed power lines.

Yet there is one group of energy producers that are not being prosecuted for killing birds: wind-power companies. And wind-powered turbines are killing a vast number of birds every year.

A July 2008 study of the wind farm at Altamont Pass, Calif., estimated that its turbines kill an average of 80 golden eagles per year. The study, funded by the Alameda County Community Development Agency, also estimated that about 10,000 birds—nearly all protected by the migratory bird act—are being whacked every year at Altamont.

(Excerpt) Read more at online.wsj.com ...


TOPICS: Business/Economy; Government
KEYWORDS: renewableenergy
Selective prosecution is unconstitutional - why is this happening?
1 posted on 09/08/2009 7:16:51 AM PDT by Titus-Maximus
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To: Titus-Maximus

Because the Constitution is dead.


2 posted on 09/08/2009 7:20:15 AM PDT by ClearCase_guy (Play the Race Card -- lose the game.)
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To: Titus-Maximus; OKSooner; honolulugal; Killing Time; Beowulf; Mr. Peabody; RW_Whacko; SideoutFred; ..
Image and video hosting by TinyPic

FReepmail me to get on or off

Ping me if you find one I've missed.


follow up to last ping.
3 posted on 09/08/2009 7:23:21 AM PDT by xcamel (The urge to save humanity is always a false front for the urge to rule it. - H. L. Mencken)
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To: ClearCase_guy

Sounds like shredded poultry to help feed folks in Obamavilles.


4 posted on 09/08/2009 7:27:43 AM PDT by nascarnation
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To: Titus-Maximus

I suspect you will soon see Chinese restaurants opening under all the windmills.


5 posted on 09/08/2009 7:30:51 AM PDT by almcbean
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To: Titus-Maximus

Maybe they ought to be using Vertical wind mills!


6 posted on 09/08/2009 7:33:37 AM PDT by jrd
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To: xcamel
What's good for the goose is good for the gander.

Fine these evil wind companies.

Trash their reputations. Treat them with the contempt oil companies get - then SUE THEM...

Enviro-wind companies are EXXON!!!!

7 posted on 09/08/2009 7:38:24 AM PDT by GOPJ (Who received the Van Jones FBI reports and who over-ruled the findings? fr:thouworm)
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To: Titus-Maximus

8 posted on 09/08/2009 7:48:09 AM PDT by frithguild (Can I drill your head now?)
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To: GOPJ
Wind power is BEAUTIFUL! We need to convert as much of the landscape to wind power as humanly possible instead of doing CRAZY stuff like expanding nuclear power plants that have a relatively small footprint.

I can't believe those enviro-whackjobs think it's a wonderful idea to pepper the landscape with these, but they don't want to drill for oil here...


9 posted on 09/08/2009 7:56:49 AM PDT by bolobaby
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To: Titus-Maximus

It’s not just birds they kill. Bats are killed too, in large numbers.

The vacuum from the wake vortex from the blades kills them. They don’t even have to touch the blades, which explains why their echolocation skills are not enough to keep them from being killed.

There was an article about it in (I think) Popular Science. A recent article.


10 posted on 09/08/2009 7:58:41 AM PDT by zipper
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To: Titus-Maximus

This is BS on so many levels,In the End we the Consumer Pay the fines!


11 posted on 09/08/2009 8:06:16 AM PDT by Cheetahcat (Zero the Wright kind of Racist! We are in a state of War with Democrats)
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To: bolobaby
Not only are they ugly - but for all the cost and maintenance, they don't produce squat energy. It's more “feel good” liberal bull...
12 posted on 09/08/2009 8:14:32 AM PDT by GOPJ (Who received the Van Jones FBI reports and who over-ruled the findings? fr:thouworm)
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To: GOPJ

At least they keep you cool


13 posted on 09/08/2009 8:16:23 AM PDT by John Will
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To: Titus-Maximus

I refer to them as “migratory bird blenders.”


14 posted on 09/08/2009 8:17:45 AM PDT by IamConservative (I'll keep my money. You keep the change.)
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To: ClearCase_guy

You are correct. Is it not ironic:

When the courts try to make the Constitution a “living and breathing document”, the opposite happens - it dies.


15 posted on 09/08/2009 8:19:09 AM PDT by RatRipper (I'll ride a turtle to work every day before I buy anything from Government Motors.)
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To: John Will

They don’t even do that - it’s just one more big liberal drama queen event that does NOTHING. Well, nothing, except make liberals “feel” good about themselves...


16 posted on 09/08/2009 8:22:20 AM PDT by GOPJ (Who received the Van Jones FBI reports and who over-ruled the findings? fr:thouworm)
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To: Titus-Maximus

Don Quixote: Protector of Migratory Fowl

17 posted on 09/08/2009 8:26:34 AM PDT by Joe 6-pack (Que me amat, amet et canem meum)
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To: almcbean
I suspect you will soon see Chinese restaurants opening under all the windmills.

When did cats start flying into windmills?

18 posted on 09/08/2009 8:29:03 AM PDT by verga (I am not an apologist, I just play one on Television)
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To: verga

“I suspect you will soon see Chinese restaurants opening under all the windmills.”
When did cats start flying into windmills?

They’re chasing the birds.


19 posted on 09/08/2009 8:31:26 AM PDT by almcbean
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To: Titus-Maximus

“This is a double standard that more people—and not just bird lovers—should be paying attention to. In protecting America’s wildlife, federal law-enforcement officials are turning a blind eye to the harm done by “green” energy.”

Typical. Reminds me of the campaign against GM foods which help reduce pesticides and increase yield.

Reminds me of Ted Kennedy’s opposition to windmills - in HIS backyard that is.


20 posted on 09/08/2009 8:33:12 AM PDT by dervish (I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself)
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To: Joe 6-pack

LOL! I was just thinking of Don Quixote when I read this article!


21 posted on 09/08/2009 8:34:37 AM PDT by Ruy Dias de Bivar (Tar and feather the sons of b!#ches! Ride them out of town on a rail!)
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To: nascarnation

‘Sounds like shredded poultry to help feed folks in Obamavilles.’

It’s called ‘Shredded Tweet’


22 posted on 09/08/2009 8:38:52 AM PDT by rigor mortis
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To: jrd
Maybe they ought to be using Vertical wind mills!

While they can look better, vertical wind mills are less efficient because half the time a wing is being pushed into the wind, using rather than collecting energy. Extremely large/slower moving two blade designs may be the best way to go, but their foundations require enough concrete to build a small nuclear plant. The manufacture of concrete emits huge amounts of CO2. I'm still scratching my head why we should address climate change by removing large amounts of energy from the wind which causes more man-made climate change than a coal plant.

23 posted on 09/08/2009 8:41:26 AM PDT by Reeses
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To: Titus-Maximus

Federal court takes highest bidder only.


24 posted on 09/08/2009 8:42:57 AM PDT by Vaduz
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To: Titus-Maximus
Why don't they complain about the 1 Billion birds killed annually in the US striking glass? Don't get me started on the "cat" problem, sheesh.
25 posted on 09/08/2009 9:01:10 AM PDT by Slicksadick (Go out on a limb........Its where the fruit is.)
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To: Titus-Maximus; Normandy; According2RecentPollsAirIsGood; TenthAmendmentChampion; Horusra; ...
 


Beam me to Planet Gore !

26 posted on 09/08/2009 10:35:52 AM PDT by steelyourfaith ("Power is not alluring to pure minds." - Thomas Jefferson)
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To: Titus-Maximus

“IN” liberal dems hate Exxon - so they do the double standard thing - people they hate are held to a different standard than the ones they favor. Wind farms could kill every bird on the planet and we wouldn’t hear a peep out of the MSM...


27 posted on 09/08/2009 4:09:52 PM PDT by GOPJ (Who received the Van Jones FBI reports and who over-ruled the findings? fr:thouworm)
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To: Titus-Maximus

ask Owl Gore


28 posted on 10/09/2009 7:16:04 PM PDT by WOBBLY BOB (ACORN:American Corruption for Obama Right Now)
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To: bolobaby

I spent the other day driving the Great River Road along the Mississippi. There are several coal-fired power plants near the dams. Apart from the immediate vicinity of the plant, there is little visual evidence of any environmental impact.

Wind farms, on the other hand, destroy the landscape for miles.


29 posted on 10/09/2009 7:19:08 PM PDT by MediaMole
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