The extinction of a national symbol
Colorado Springs Gazette | May 8, 2016 | gazette.com
Thursday’s Gazette had many significant articles, but the most shocking was The Associated Press piece at the bottom of Page A10, “New rule would permit thousands of eagle deaths.” Just a little research shows just how outlandish this decision is. As recently as 2013, federal regulations required that wind farm owners/operators were limited to 125 bald or golden eagle deaths before facing severe fines. While the article is imprecise, that number of eagle deaths has been increased by the new regulation to 4,200. According to the American Wind Energy Association, there are at least 35 “major wind farms” in the United States, not to mention the thousands of small wind farms and individual towers that are scattered throughout the country.
It takes little imagination to visualize the catastrophic results of such a decision, particularly after spending decades of time and treasure trying to prevent the extinction of our national symbol. Fortunately, the Endangered Species Act and millions of caring Americans saved the bald eagle. In its zeal to force renewable energy as a replacement for fossil fuels – an idea whose time is a considerable distance in the future – the current administration is epitomizing the disastrous results of unintended consequences.
Richard Toner
Colorado Springs
URL to article: https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2016/05/09/the-extinction-of-a-national-symbol/