Posted on 08/27/2013 7:01:22 PM PDT by Mean Daddy
CONVERSE COUNTY, Wyo. – The Obama administration has never fined or prosecuted a wind farm for killing eagles and other protected bird species, shielding the industry from liability and helping keep the scope of the deaths secret, an Associated Press investigation has found. More than 573,000 birds are killed by the country's wind farms each year, including 83,000 hunting birds such as hawks, falcons and eagles, according to an estimate published in March in the peer-reviewed Wildlife Society Bulletin.
Each death is federal crime, a charge that the Obama administration has used to prosecute oil companies when birds drown in their waste pits, and power companies when birds are electrocuted by their power lines. No wind energy company has been prosecuted, even those that repeatedly flout the law.
(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...
Furthermore, wind farms seem to be fast-tracked around environmental review processes. If they were held to the same standards as other large projects; it’s likely that many of them would not be approved, in the first instance.
Again Obastard enforces laws selectively. That is tyranny.
We see that true concern for wildlife and the environment rate well below corporate cronyism on the Left’s Death Cult totem pole... But what should we expect from those who have no respect for human life? Evil is as evil does, I guess.
Thanks for the post.
As a bird rescuer myself (I live with 15 rescued/handicapped parrots), I’ve been screaming about this for years. “Wind power” is a useless, expensive, unreliable power source that creates giant eyesore wind farms that are nothing but Cuisinarts for passing birds. It’s like erecting thousands of fans with spinning blades right in their flight path. And who supports this idiocy? “Environmentalists.”
“Environmentalists” != “Conservationists.”
Bump
They reward their friends and punish their enemies.
Bird lovers in Inwood Hill Park were horrified Wednesday morning to learn that about a dozen Canada geese and goslings were rounded up and killed in the name of aviation safety.
The massacre was first reported by GooseWatch NYC, a watchbird group that was created after a much larger slaughter in Prospect Park in 2010.
“I’m in tears,” said Inwood resident Suzanne Soehner, a GooseWatch volunteer.
Soehner also complained that no advance notification was provided for the cover-of-darkness killing.
“This morning marks another dark day for wildlife in city parks,” said David Karopkin, founder and director of GooseWatch NYC. “New York City has contracted with USDA Wildlife Services, an agency known for its cruelty to animals and secrecy.”
City officials have defended the periodic killing of geese — called “culling” — as necessary to protect air traffic at LaGuardia and Kennedy airports. The city contracts out the actual killing to USDA wildlife officials.
he new plan to control bird strikes near Kennedy Airport flies in the face of a multimillion dollar federal effort to restore nearby wetland habitats for migratory birds, critics say.
Under the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s proposal, Wildlife Services staffers at the Queens airport would be authorized to kill a half-dozen birds within a five-mile radius of JFK.
The program, proposed to combat the growing number of potentially deadly bird strikes, has drawn the ire of conservationists and animal rights groups, who say it’s uncertain how culling the population will effect other species in the sensitive area.
“Would someone say we were going to kill every bear in Yellowstone?” asked Ida Sanoff, chair of the conservation group consortium Natural Resources Protective Association.
The plan would enable Wildlife Services at JFK to enter the Gateway National Recreation Area and kill all Canada geese, mute swans, double-crested cormorants, blackbirds, crows, rock pigeons and European starlings.
Proponents of the culling point to Federal Aviation Administration statistics that show 257 bird strikes at JFK last year compared with only 127 in 2005.
Environmentalists say while there’s a need for safety at the massive airport, they think the measures outlined need to be examined more carefully.
“I understand the need to manage some of these species, but I would like to see an equal amount of effort put into preservation,” said Don Riepe, director of the local chapter of American Littoral Society and a member of the airport’s bird taskforce.
U.S. Sen. Kirsten Gillibrand has proposed legislation that would bypass the environmental impact review process for the plan and allow the USDA to kill all Canada geese within a 5-mile radius of the airport during their molting season this summer.
Gillibrand, the USDA and Gateway, which helped craft the plan, have all said such measures are needed to ensure safe airways.
“We can take steps necessary to protect millions of air passengers every day while preserving the natural beauty of this national park for future generations,” the senator said in a statement.
The plan is available at www.aphis.usda.gov/regulations/ws/ws_new_york_jfk_2.shtml. Public comments will be accepted until June 13.
CANADA GEESE: The largest of the native waterfowl in Jamaica Bay, Canada geese are considered one of the biggest threats to planes landing and embarking from nearby Kennedy Airport. They feed mostly on grass and can be seen grazing on lawns and golf courses. They are both large — male geese can weigh up to 10 pounds — and abundant.
MUTE SWANS: A nonnative species, mute swans were first introduced to the Northeast coast from Europe in the 1800s. They are beautiful but aggressive birds that can cause damage to local ecosystems. A male swan can weigh up to 25 pounds.
DOUBLE-CRESTED CORMORANTS: This black fish-eating bird nests on islands in the New York harbor. The population of the native species has remained relatively small and stable in New York. They can grow to almost three feet tall.
BLACKBIRDS: The red-winged blackbird is one of the most common small birds that nest in marshes. A single blackbird would likely not do much damage to an airplane, though they tend to congregate in flocks during the winter. The tiny bird can weigh just a few ounces.
EUROPEAN STARLING: This bird was first introduced to America in Central Park in the 1800s. They are urban birds that are found in just about every city habitat and are most abundant in city parks. Most grow to between 7.5 and 9 inches tall and weigh between 2 and 3.5 ounces.
CROWS: These native New York birds can flock in large numbers. Their numbers are recovering after the population declined due to West Nile virus in the 1990s.
ROCK PIGEONS: The familiar pigeon, rock pigeons pose a risk to planes because they can form large flocks. They tend to congregate in places where they are fed by people.
Since 2009, thousands of Canada geese have been rounded up from New York City Parks and Jamaica Bay Wildlife Refuge and taken to slaughter. The USDA picks June and July to kill Canada Geese because they are at their most vulnerable and cannot fly, and they have babies (goslings) who are completely defenseless. It is cruel, inhumane and unwarranted.
The Facts About NYC’s Annual Canada Goose Slaughter
Various justifications have been used to justify killing geese for lethal removal from public and private locations throughout NYC and the surrounding region. Our tax dollars finance the killing of our community’s geese, and the killing program is executed by city, state and federal agencies - we have the right to trasparancy, but very little is revealed about the operations. Our coalition includes animal advocates, pilots, biologists, veterinarians, policy makers, community leaders, and members of the general public.
If it weren’t for double standards liberals would have no standards whatsoever.
We should bomb Canada for allowing these Canadian geese into Amerika
One of the chief reasons I absolutely loathe Gillibrand. This is one the most blatant examples of her demagoguery. When you go birding at one of the places that used to have a sizable population of Canada geese and experience the eerie silence caused by their absence, it is really depressing. Especially when you know that their murder by cruel means (they never made it to the table of the “homeless”, full of pesticide and jet fuel residues as they are, that’s just CYA nonsense to justify their murder) was based totally on JUNK SCIENCE.
They’re going to put up some sea gull shredders in Lake Erie.
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