Bald Eagles Under Threat From Wind Turbines As New Wind Energy Proposal Allows For A Higher Kill Limit Of The Birds


Bald eagles could soon be under even more threat from wind turbines. The Obama administration is mulling to revise a federal rule that allows wind energy companies to get away with a higher mortality rate of the birds, one that’s nearly four times the current limit.

To promote investment in the rapidly rising renewable energy industry and mitigate the uncertainty due to earlier laws, the U.S. government is attempting to revise the laws to be in favor of the wind energy companies. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed a new plan that would grant an operational permit of 30 years to the wind energy companies, as explained by Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe.

“The proposal will provide a path forward for maintaining eagle populations while also spurring development of a pollution-free energy source that’s intended to ease global warming, a cornerstone of President Barack Obama’s energy plan. There’s a lot of good news in here. The plan is a great tool to work with to further conservation of two iconic species.”

Dan added that the 162-page proposal would protect the eagles and at the same time “help the country reduce its reliance on fossil fuels” such as coal and oil that contribute to global warming, reported News Max.

However, what’s concerning is that the wind energy companies will now be allowed to injure or kill a large number of bald eagles per year, without inviting penalties. Essentially, the companies could soon be allowed to kill thousands of bald eagles and get away with it. Under the new plan announced Wednesday, wind energy companies and other power providers could kill or injure up to 4,200 bald eagles a year without penalty, reported the Associated Press. This figure is nearly four times the current limit.

Hundreds of eagles, including bald eagles and golden eagles, die each due to the equipment erected or deployed by energy providers. Turbines, towers, electrical wires, and even trucks have long been the cause for the death of these birds. If the proposal is approved, thousands of bird deaths are expected to occur in the time-frame allotted to the companies.

However, the wind energy companies insist that current time-frame of just five years is grossly inadequate and infuses a lot of uncertainty in an industry that is rapidly growing around the world. Incidentally, the agency had approved a very similar plan last year, but it was struck down by a judge who had agreed with the conservation groups, reported the Huffington Post. The judge noted that the agency had, “failed to properly assess impacts of the rule change on federally protected eagle populations.”

Is the bald eagle threatened with extinction? The Fish and Wildlife Service noted that the United States currently has a bald eagle population exceeding 143,000. The golden eagle on the other hand, has a population of about 40,000. The agency has calculated that the golden eagle population wouldn’t be drastically impacted even if the species lost about 2,000 birds annually. Meanwhile, the bald eagles could easily accommodate 4,200 fatalities per year.

Besides the generous estimates, the proposal, which is open for public comment until July 5, would transfer the responsibility of monitoring eagle deaths from collisions with facility structures onto the wind farm companies and energy developers.

Incidentally, there are no concrete statistics available to indicate the exact number of eagles killed each year at wind facilities, claims the agency. But Ashe did add that about 545 golden eagles are believed to die each year from collisions with various obstacles. Thousands more die annually from gunshots and poisoning, reported Business Insider.

Wind farms house wind turbines that are about 30 meters tall and have huge spinning rotors. These blades can reach a speed of 170 mph at the tips, creating tornado-like vortexes, causing severe problems to eagles.

[Photo by Sam Greenwood/Getty Images]

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