Bald eagles, bats thwarting plans for Minnesota wind farm
Credit: E&E • Posted: Monday, February 27, 2012 via: governorswindenergycoalition.org ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
A Minnesota commission yesterday held up a plan to build a rural wind farm because of concerns for bald eagles and insect-eating bats.
AWA Goodhue Wind Project will need an Avian and Bat Protection Plan approved by the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission before the developers can begin work on a 50-turbine wind farm in southeast Minnesota.
Construction on the 32,700-acre site is scheduled to start this summer. But the site includes part of the Mississippi Flyway, a corridor used by migrating birds.
AWA Goodhue has applied for a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service permit that would allow the wind farm to kill no more than about one eagle every three years, attorney Christy Brusven said. The permit would be the first of its kind.
“It is not our intent to have a negative impact on birds and bats in the area, and it certainly is not our intent to kill bald eagles,” Brusven told the utilities commission.
The project’s opponents said the commission’s decision was a victory of a national symbol over a project backed by Texas oil and gas billionaire T. Boone Pickens. Pickens founded the Mesa Power Group, which formed AWA Goodhue.
“In this political climate, I don’t think the American public is ready to watch Minnesota’s nesting bald eagles pay for a Texas billionaire,” said Mary Hartman, a spokeswoman for the Coalition for Sensible Siting (Leslie Suzukamo, St. Paul Pioneer Press, Feb. 23). – JE
This article is the work of the source indicated. Any opinions expressed in it are not necessarily those of National Wind Watch.
The copyright of this article resides with the author or publisher indicated. As part of its noncommercial educational effort to present the environmental, social, scientific, and economic issues of large-scale wind power development to a global audience seeking such information, National Wind Watch endeavors to observe “fair use” as provided for in section 107 of U.S. Copyright Law and similar “fair dealing” provisions of the copyright laws of other nations. Send requests to excerpt, general inquiries, and comments via e-mail.
| Wind Watch relies entirely on User Funding |
 (via Stripe) |
 (via Paypal) |
Share:
[ Short URL: https://wind-watch.org/news/?p=20680 ]
