Windmills and Eagles

[Irrelevant]

Wind energy company kills 150 eagles in US, pleads guilty

A subsidiary of one of the largest U.S. wind energy companies has been sentenced to probation and ordered to pay over $8 million in fines and restitution after at least 150 eagles were killed at its wind farms in eight states

abcnews.go.com

 

[Huntkook]

I'm not sure what can be done with these windmills, but they are responsible for a lot of bird deaths across the country. I look at these wind farms as being equivalent to the electric cars, they solve one problem and create another.

 

[EYJONAS!]

Maybe they need a bridge or some bio-dome built for the small fee of 1 billion dollars to save the Eagles......

 

[WildWill]

"the company's failure to take steps to protect eagles or to obtain permits to kill the birds gave it an advantage over competitors"

Didn't know you could get a permit to kill eagles. Sounds like the government is mad they didn't get their fee. I bet now that they've paid there 8 million they'll be able to kill all the eagles they want without interference.

 

[Fj605]

I passed this article on to a buddy of mine that works for a company that tracks eagles, hawks, etc around wind farms on behalf of the energy companies. Said they had been working on a work contract with NextEra but it stalled due to "legal issues".

 

[EYJONAS!]

National Save The Eagles Day 2023 - Why This Day!

National Save The Eagles Day : Celebrated annually on every 10th Of January. checkout some interesting facts about Save The Eagles Day!

www.nationaldaystoday.com

Sign up and raise awareness!

 

[Gellar]

I have a friend who does bird counts around windmills and it’s not good.

 

[LuketheDog]

I have a friend who does bird counts around windmills and it’s not good.

The windmills have been killing eagles and other birds for decades, but 'clean' energy is more fashionable than saving birds of prey...

 

[kwyeewyk]

Didn't know you could get a permit to kill eagles.

Eagles and ESA species, you have to get a "take permit" through consultation, there's no fee if you do it proper to start with, just when you get busted for cheating.

 

[Stocker]

This Solar Plant Accidentally Incinerates Up to 6,000 Birds a Year

A rare and unusual type of solar power plant that concentrates sunlight in California is accidentally killing up to 6,000 birds every year, with staff reporting that the birds keep flying into its concentrated beams of sunlight, and spontaneously bursting...

www.sciencealert.com

 

[noharleyyet]

This Solar Plant Accidentally Incinerates Up to 6,000 Birds a Year

A rare and unusual type of solar power plant that concentrates sunlight in California is accidentally killing up to 6,000 birds every year, with staff reporting that the birds keep flying into its concentrated beams of sunlight, and spontaneously bursting...

www.sciencealert.com

What's the limit in CA on streamers? ; )

#inconvenient

 

[WildWill]

Eagles and ESA species, you have to get a "take permit" through consultation, there's no fee if you do it proper to start with, just when you get busted for cheating.

Sounds like a scam to get that "slow" cousin we all have a cushy job counting dead birds. Do you know if sights get a maximum amount of take permits? Would a sight be shutdown if it exceeded that? I understand getting a consultation before installing a sight to insure it's not in a bad spot like nesting areas, migration paths, etc. But after it's built what good would a consultant be other then counting dead birds?

 

[Deleted member 28227]

What's the limit in CA on streamers? ; )

#inconvenient

The windmills have been killing eagles and other birds for decades, but 'clean' energy is more fashionable than saving birds of prey...

Remember that time Land Tawney said BHA should support public land industrial development...

Meanwhile guys on my team are checking a red tail hawk nest every couple of weeks before we start drilling. (Which I think is the right move, and I support)

 

[mtmiller]

Meanwhile guys on my team are checking a red tail hawk nest every couple of weeks before we start drilling. (Which I think is the right move, and I support)

Wasn’t a raptor timing/buffer stip known when parcel was leased?

 

[Deleted member 18333]

Take permits for eagles or eagle nests are not a simple matter to get. Also not a guarantee you will be granted that permit. Red tails are a different matter all together. I deal this an unbelievable amount of raptor issues at work. It is not a small matter and shouldn't be.

 

[Deleted member 28227]

Wasn’t a raptor timing/buffer stip known when parcel was leased?

Absolutely. I also mentioned this on the gas thread (Biden threatening to penalize companies who aren't drilling permits).

(Over simplification)

When you take a fed lease there are Wildlife stipulations in the lease itself. We get data about where past netting sites/leks/migration corridors are so you can try to plan around them in a broad sense. Then in the case of nests, you go out with the BLM to the site and actually see if the nest is occupied and if occupied have to wait until the birds leave.

Given the number of stipulations, virtually every well drilled on fed lands is going to be dealing with some sort of stip.

Here are all the stips turned on together for an area (red) lol

But yeah fines for everyone if we don't slam in a shit load of new wells

 

[mtmiller]

What are the species buffers? Winter range polys? WEM opps?

 

[LuketheDog]

Remember that time Land Tawney said BHA should support public land industrial development...

Meanwhile guys on my team are checking a red tail hawk nest every couple of weeks before we start drilling. (Which I think is the right move, and I support)

Honestly, I don't care much for Land's positions on things like that. He might be a nice guy, but activism in lieu of real world experience on a resume does not impress me. I trust the field biologists much more. Being a wind energy supporter looks nice on paper, but in reality it's no more 'green' than anything else, it has a very ugly side.

This is what the CA wind farms have looked like for 30+ years, if you were a bird would you want to fly through there?


...and when they break, since they aren't recycleable, just bury them in Wyoming!

 

[tillicant]

We have wind farms north of where I live, large site but scattered compared to Luke's pics.
Site is overlooking the Horicon Marsh. Brother in law lives close, never really mentioned dead birds, but seems like after they're up for a year, they're down for repairs.

 

[Deleted member 18333]

We have wind farms north of where I live, large site but scattered compared to Luke's pics.
Site is overlooking the Horicon Marsh. Brother in law lives close, never really mentioned dead birds, but seems like after they're up for a year, they're down for repairs.

Coal fired power plants don't run at 100% utilization either. Everything breaks.