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License to kill
Credit: By: Herald Staff | Boston Herald | December 11, 2013 | bostonherald.com ~~
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Translate: FROM English | TO English
Wind farms can now apply to be bird-killing zones. Turbine owners can seek permits to accidentally kill birds – including eagles – without penalties.
Here’s how unfriendly the skies have become for birds:
Turbine toll:
- Wind farms killed about 573,000 birds of all species in the United States last year.
- More than 67 bald and golden eagles have been killed by wind turbines in the United States since 2008.
- The new rule allows wind farms to bypass the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 and extends bird-killing permits from five to 30 years.
Eagle facts:
- There are about 10,000 eagles in the lower 48 states.
- There were 108 bald eagles in Massachusetts in 2012.
- Bald and golden eagles are federally protected, but no longer on the endangered species list.
- Eagles in flight don’t look up as they scan for food below, missing turbine blades until it’s too late.
Wind turbine facts:
- Turbines can be 30 stories high.
- The blades are as long as the wingspan on a passenger jet.
- The blades can reach speeds of up to 170 mph, creating a tornado-like vortex.
SOURCES: U.S. Fish and Wildlife; National Audubon Society; Wildlife Society; Associated Press
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.
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