In Wyoming, there is a group of people who are keeping a dirty little secret. In the Cowboy State, a number of "green energy" interests have been putting up wind turbines, and admittedly, there are parts of Wyoming where the wind never stops; if there is a viable place for wind power, much of Wyoming would be it. But the windmills still are a bad investment, even there; they still cost more to put up than they produce, in electricity and revenue alike. They are expensive, inefficient, wasteful, and ugly.
They also kill eagles and other raptors. They kill them in the thousands, and other birds as well. The "green energy" interests don't seem to care, which seems a bit odd, as these are people one would think would be concerned about the environment. I mean, eagles are part of the environment, right?
Now it has come to light that there is a not-so-inconspicuous working group that sure seems to be trying to downplay those raptor kills. Author David Wojick has more.
The organization is no secret. It is the Wyoming Golden Eagle Working Group or WY-GOEA-WG, which has a nice little website here.
They even list their 98 present members on their about page, including a lot of federal officials. What is secret is what these folks do. They have a group listserv and recently held their annual meeting, but both are for members only. They appear to have never issued a report on their activities, a study, or even a press release. No hint as to what all these people talk about. My requests for communication were all refused.
As near as I can tell, this group is focused on the business and policy side of wind turbines killing golden eagles, especially in Wyoming. Eagle killing is a big wind business activity in several important ways, and this group looks like a lot of the people involved in those activities.
The website for the WY-GOEA-VG seems a tad generic and non-threatening; there's really very little information there at all, and what there is seems awfully vague. But Mr. Wojick has looked into the organization's members. Here's the onion:
The non-federal members appear to mostly represent consultants who do work in these three areas. There are also several major wind farm developers. That these two groups, which have clear pro-wind financial interests, are secretly engaged with federal officials is very disturbing.
There are also members from scientific organizations that may or may not have direct financial ties to federal eagle-kill activities. There are also a few members with no stated affiliation.
That the central focus is eagle-kill permitting is strongly suggested by FWS having 23 members, or just under half the Feds. The Bureau of Land Management is also up there with seven members, which brings in the EA function. So does the Wyoming Fish and Game Department with six members, as the state also looks at impact.
On the wind farm side, PacifiCorp has four members, Powder River Energy has two, and several other developers have one each.
The top consultant is West, Inc with 6 members. FWS permits sometimes require two-year operational impact studies, which West often does. Most of the consultants just have one or two members, but there are a lot of them, likely looking for new work.
Why are we permitting any eagle kills at all, much less setting up government and industry working groups that sure look a lot like a way to fast-track the eagle-kill permitting process? When the oil companies work with elected officials and government agencies to try to streamline the permitting process for new wells, mines, pipelines, and refineries, the environmental left and the climate scolds protest so loudly that they are audible on Proxima Centauri. But killing eagles? Crickets.
Read More: Wind Power's Hidden Cost: Illegal Balsa Logging Ravages the Rainforest
Green Energy Systems Are Wreaking Havoc on Wildlife, and Climate Scolds Are Lying About It
A 2013 study found that, at that time, there were well over half a million birds, including many eagles and other raptors, killed by wind turbines every year. Half a million. All to deliver electricity that is more expensive than traditional sources, as well as being less reliable and intermittent to boot; even in Wyoming, there are times when the wind doesn't blow.
Not long after we moved to Alaska, I was called on to help rescue a Bald Eagle, our nation's symbol, that had apparently clipped a power line and broken a wing. With the help of a couple of passersby, we got the eagle contained, calmed down, and loaded into a dog crate for the trip to a rehab center. Before the driver took the bird away, I was able to stroke it on the head. I felt as though I had personally helped America.
Now, that bird will likely never fly again. Bird bones are hollow and very fragile, and it's rare that a big bird like an eagle recovers enough to fly. But bird kills by power lines are rare; for one thing, power lines don't move, they don't slice giant, wing-breaking blades through the air.
These are magnificent birds. We should value them more than any goofy "green energy" boondoggles. If you ask me, the number of acceptable, permitted eagle deaths by wind turbines should be zero.
