May 13, 2012
Letters, Wisconsin

Wind turbines kill plenty of eagles

www.fdlreporter.com 12 May 2012

Recently, someone wrote a letter to the editor complaining about wolf hunting and potentially sandhill crane hunting in this state. That writer’s final question was, “When would the bald eagles be next to be hunted?”

Recently an article appeared in the Wisconsin State Farmer that answers this question.

In 2009, the federal government developed a permit process that created a compromise between the demand for wind power and concerns over the hundreds of thousands of birds and bats the wind turbines kill each year.

There are negotiations underway in Goodhue County, Minn., that would allow a wind turbine developer to get a permit to build a wind turbine subdivision in an area where there are known bald eagle nests. As long as the “overall eagle population in Minnesota is not affected,” this permit would allow the wind turbines to kill or injure a specified number of eagles in the area. In other words, the U.S. government, headed by President Obama, has decided that it is all right to have a year-round open hunting season on our national symbol so long as their deaths contribute to the green energy craze that is in style in this country.

Remember, though, that to create this clean energy, the country must waste thousands of tons of natural resources like iron ore, limestone, gravel and fossil fuel to create hideous and inefficient monsters and then take up thousands of acres of prime farmland to build them on.

Remember all that the next time your grocery bill goes up because there are fewer acres to produce agricultural products on. It will be the old law of supply and demand kicking in.

Richard Vollmer

Mount Calvary


URL to article:  https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2012/05/13/wind-turbines-kill-plenty-of-eagles/