Feds Give Wind Farms License to Kill

Besides receiving federal subsidies and other financial incentives, the wind industry is getting special treatment from the Obama Administration: wind farms are allowed to kill protected bird species. The Associated Press has found that the Obama Administration has never fined or prosecuted a wind farm for killing eagles and other protected birds, thus shielding the wind industry from liability. Further, the Obama Administration has kept the scope of the deaths secret. According to an estimate from the Wildlife Society Bulletin, U.S. wind farms kill more than 573,000 birds each year.[ i ] The Federal Fish and Wildlife Service officials have even told a private company that it will not be prosecuted for inadvertently harassing or even killing endangered California condors during the expected 30-year life of its wind farm.