Killing fowl with a wind turbine is okay, in fact righteous, kill one in a tailing pond, heavy fine.

I don't get it.

Wonder how many Globe & Mail staff will now have to go to jail to pay for the thousands of birds that have died over the years flying into the windows of their high rise HQ in Torrana ?

I'm hoping for all of them. For the crime of climate hypocrisy.

As we whirlpool into the vortex of environMENTAL palsyism the morons of the east clap their trained seal flippers in unison. Take away 500 duck permits this fall if this is so devastating. These idiots that live in The Giant Blight OF Canada "Toronto", that should be dozed since it has ruined the lake shores, have no idea what we in the country put up with with Ducks and Geese eating our swaths of grain, grizzly bears eating our greenfeed bales and on and on. You poor uninformed "cityots" that write this stuff, I hope you use no oil fools.

Fred, though I agree with you that the Globe & Mail is a thoroughly hypocritical outfit, I believe that its building is not a high rise. (As far as I know, the Star building is, though.)

Quasi-quote: "based on rough calculations, $800,000 is approximately 1 hour of revenue for the oil producer"

Why is that relevant? If a millionaire and I both a get a parking ticket for a similar infraction, should he/she pay more? And just how 'rough' were the calculations?

Thanks for reminding me why I don't read the G&M.

Phil
Charter Member
National Post

What I find profoundly disturbing about the propaganda in all of this is how our provincial and federal governments are twisting themselves into knots by trying to look "oh-so green". It is absolutely nauseating. My guess is that given the support by Syncrude and others for organizations such as Ducks Unlimited and others, these companies are a net benefit to the bird population....unlike the City of Toronto among others.

The CEO of Syncrude could probably personally incubate a million ducks in his basement but yet the government Pontius Pilates would still point to the "500" as proof that Syncrude is evil.

Speaking of the "500", has anyone heard yet when their state funeral is to be held (non-denominational service, of course)? I presume a large bronze memorial plaque will be commissioned as well?

there should be a large "green" funeral staged in Edmonton replete with hairy legged gurls, old hippie activists with squirrels in their beards and lizzy may doing her impersonation of the back of a nickle.

they wont have duck costumes so their orlon and velcro moose , squirrels and orcas will have to stand in.

If wiping out ducks is the goal killing 500 or so just isn't going to get the job done. I suggest hunting and maybe wiping a few out with your windshield as you drive by sloughs...that solid eh? Did Sully count the strikes on the plane to pay reparations?

When this flock of ducks landed in the tailings pond, Stelmach stated that aprox 30,000 birds are killed yearly by wind turbines. Since then a story of bat killings by wind turbines(air pressure change). Hope that at least the bureaurocrats have some proof to offer about the number of ducks killed. As this story is remembered; enviro-hooligans went out day after calamity but could find no bodies. Story is that these ducks sank to bottom, although ducks float(waterproof feathers) and oil also floats on water but apparently when combined everything sinks. Could this be the answer to all oil spills on rivers, lakes and oceans: throw ducks on oil-slick to sink it or just throw duck feathers on it. Perhaps more research is needed.

Do you know the argument used to dismiss the thousands upon thousands of bird kills by wind turbines?

"Cats kill more".

What else can we expect from birdbrains?

It's time for oil companies to stop supporting Ducks Unlimited. They've been the darling of non-profit organizations for way too long. They're responsible for a drastic overpopulation of ducks and geese.

This pilot receives the key to the City of New York.
Where is the Audubon Society?
...-

"Pilot describes birds hitting plane over Hudson - 9 Feb 2009
NEW YORK (AP) — The pilot who ditched his jetliner in the Hudson River and saved the lives ... It felt like the airplane being pelted by heavy rain or hail. ...
The Associated Press"

This comes to $1600 per duck. When did they become so precious? I recall a time when we would shoot them for food. Oh, wait...

maz2- The pilot and airline would probably face charges in Canada for killing Canadian Geese. Just ask a golf course owner who tries to remove them from the land (relocate, or scare away), they'll tell you it is nearly impossible to do it legally.

Bruce:

Those aren't "wind turbines", those are "bird blenders".

This number 500 is rather suspicious. Where did the media get it? From Greenpeace? Did they have someone out there counting? Any data provided by Greenpeace is suspicious, They tend to lie. I've heard the claim that the birds sank to the bottom of the pond. Did someone send down a diver to make a count? I've never seen ducks flying in groups of 500. Usually there are 50 to 100 at most. The whole thing sounds made up.

Chopped, diced and well oiled? Yummy!

Maybe the solution is to erect several windmill generators around each pond. Then, when the ducks come in to land, they will be killed before hitting the pond, and problem solved!

All this nonsense shouldn't be a surprise to anyone really. This insanity began to manifest itself quite spectacularly in my opinion with Dave Winfield's arrest in '83 for gull homicide at the Ex.

related:

http://www.ctv.ca/servlet/ArticleNews/story/CTVNews/20090210/greenhouse_gas_AM_090210/20090210?hub=Canada

OTTAWA -- The NDP has reintroduced a climate-change bill that passed the Commons last June but died in the Senate because of October's federal election.

The Climate Change Accountability Act sets strict targets for greenhouse-gas emissions and calls for an 80 per cent reduction from 1990 levels by 2050.

Ducks are worth more than hawks.

Ever taste hawk?

==RANT==
I always take the time to read some of the comments in response to the G&M article there... and I should really stop as it only serves to make me angry/nauseous. Like listening to the schizo homeless people talking to themselves as they walk by... totally insane in other words. One leftard actually called it criminal -- whoa now, I don't think this falls under the Criminal Code, technically illegal yes... Criminal? As in lock them up? Okaaayyy... go hug a tree you socialist reject. These anti-capitalists are oil-covered-duck-shit crazy.

I always think of this in the sense of darwinism... the ducks were dumb enough to fly into what turned out to be their death, while many other ducks didn't... c'est la vie; and besides, it's not like this is a duck holocaust, this isn't millions of ducks, and Syncrude's likely excuse (spring snow-storm or some such preventing them from erecting noisemakers) is good enough for me, mainly because who really f**kin cares, they're ducks! Last I checked (and I haven't, this would fall under common sense) ducks are not an endangered species, and are nowhere near to becoming one.

And good point above about the fines needing to be applied the same way for the rich company as it would be for any private citizen, that's the law's stated maximum penalty... also we're assuming the litigation is successful for the feds and they can actually get a conviction with fines equal to the maximum penalty, which I would bet probably won't happen. I cannot understand why the Alberta gov't supports this useless posturing to placate this fringe element.

That being said, of course Syncrude should abide by the laws and attempt to limit environment impacts as any decent corporate citizen would. Of course no real mention of the other tailing ponds that don't have ducks dying in them and are then arguably a success story, but the MSM and the left in general have no problem villifying these "evil" corporations that provide jobs and economic growth to Alberta so we can (transfer payments) support the rest of you ungrateful douchebags.

==END RANT==

Seriously, I gotta stop reading the comments.

"Maybe the solution is to erect several windmill generators around each pond. Then, when the ducks come in to land, they will be killed before hitting the pond, and problem solved!"

An excellent solution to a perplexing problem Kevin...thanks for the morning chuckle!

An interesting thought would be to look over the passenger manifest on Capt Sully's 'United Ducklines' flight into the Hudson to see if any Greenpeace/Sierra folks were on board.
Just thinkin'

From wikipedia...

On August 4, 1983, Winfield accidentally killed a seagull by throwing a ball at it while warming up before the fifth inning of a game at Toronto's Exhibition Stadium. He doffed his cap in mock sorrow, and fans responded by hurling obscenities and improvised missiles. After the game, he was brought to the Ontario Provincial Police station and arrested for cruelty to animals. He was released after posting a $500 bond. Yankee manager Billy Martin quipped, "It's the first time he's hit the cutoff man all season."

And one is left to wonder if the ducks weren't baited into landing at the tailing ponds. Enviro-fascists are not beyond that sort of thing.

I have to disagree that ducks are worth more than hawks.

When I first moved to Alberta in the mid 70's, the hawk population was at an all-time low. We had a blast hunting gophers. I remember shooting over 100 a day on several occasions. We'd buy 22 shells by the case. Farmers used to invite us onto their land.

Since the hawk population made its big comeback, the gopher hunting has gone into the toilet. You have trouble finding a decent colony anywhere. I wanted to teach my kids about varmint shooting, but can't find any varmints. Bad for me, good for the environment.

I had the rare experience of seeing a Peregrine Falcon hit a Mallard Duck at about 100 miles an hour once. It reminded me of those military videos you see on TV. It was like an air to air missile hitting a Mig.

It isn't like those bloody birds call ahead and reserve the pond for a night's stay or whatever. It is unfortunate Syncrude was unable prevent the ducks from landing, but it isn't like they do not try to prevent them from landing - it was just an unfortunate event. I wonder how many people are fined for birds being killed in plane engines, wind turbines, etc. .....zippo. Bad oil company, bad, bad, bad.......now fill 'er up for cheap, or I will rage against the oil companies.

Ein pairaducks, experts say.
But, you better keepen der mouf shutten; vee getten der Greens on da case.
...-

"CLIMATE CHANGE PARADOX
Wind Turbines in Europe Do Nothing for Emissions-Reduction Goals

By Anselm Waldermann

Despite Europe's boom in solar and wind energy, CO2 emissions haven't been reduced by even a single gram. Now, even the Green Party is taking a new look at the issue -- as shown in e-mails obtained by SPIEGEL ONLINE.

Germany's renewable energy companies are a tremendous success story. Roughly 15 percent of the country's electricity comes from solar, wind or biomass facilities, almost 250,000 jobs have been created and the net worth of the business is €35 billion per year.

But there's a catch: The climate hasn't in fact profited from these developments. As astonishing as it may sound, the new wind turbines and solar cells haven't prohibited the emission of even a single gram of CO2.

Even more surprising, the European Union's own climate change policies, touted as the most progressive in the world, are to blame. The EU-wide emissions trading system determines the total amount of CO2 that can be emitted by power companies and industries. And this amount doesn't change -- no matter how many wind turbines are erected.

Experts have known about this situation for some time, but it still isn't widely known to the public. Even Germany's government officials mention it only under their breath. No one wants to discuss the political ramifications."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/business/0,1518,606763,00.html#ref=nlint

While they are at it how about charging Quebec Hydro for the elimination of tens if not hundreds of thousands of caribou,black bear, fox, hare and yes even migratory waterfowl when they created the James Bay reservoir and the Smallwood reservoir?

These areas equivalent to twice that of PEI and are not just visible from space, but visible from the moon.

Pay no attention to QH's claim that hydro power is clean and impact free - GREEN through and through - unless they gave all of those Caribou water wings there are fewer of them than there used to be.

The point is that all human endeavour has an environmental impact. We are 'guilty' of causing change to it. But those changes also cause immense benefit for humankind and as long as we do what we can - within reason - to mitigate, eliminate or compensate for those impacts we should proceed with a clear guilt-free conscience.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090210.wlfood10/BNStory/lifeMain/home

This ties in nicely. Want to raise food prices? One of the easiest ways is to go organic.

you can go from the top to the bottom in this country and you would be hard pressed to find very many functioning brain cells.

It's illegal to kill a duck, but you can abort an innocent child!! Wow!!

Fred:

Wonder how many Globe & Mail staff will now have to go to jail to pay for the thousands of birds that have died over the years flying into the windows of their high rise HQ in Torrana ?

Fred, my wife's auto dealership is right next door to the Globe's offices on Front Street. It's no more than 3 or 4 stories high (I've never really bothered to count, but the dealership is two stories, and the Globe's building is only slightly higher.)

God knows I've slagged the Globe here often enough, but they don't own a high rise. The Red Star, at 1 Yonge Street, does.

Hey Kate. This looks like the bat killing wind farm down southern Alberta near Coaldale.

Quite frankly, these different versions of energy sources are caveman like in nature. Surely energy companies would be better served working on zero based gravity or some new form of mass energy than these death traps for animals.

I can hardly wait for the victim impact statement given by DOnald and Daffy.

"Environmental lawyer" - I used to work with one of those. Cha-CHING, instant wealth, like coming out with a "green" line of products in these FABulously concerned times. Cha-CHING!

I love that wind farms are called "bird guillotines" by those in the know. My brother recently clued me in about the mass bat deaths they cause as well, so I guess we have to call them "flying animal guillotines" now.

Sigh...Kate why did you have to trot this tired old argument out? Wind power does not kill birds period. The "thousands of birds a year" is a complete myth. Stick to the facts and the legitimate criticisms of wind power, namely the subsidies that they require, and the lack of consistent power generation (due to expensive or not-yet-invented power storage systems).

Note: I do see the connection between the stories that you posted :) I just see some comments here suggesting that wind towers actually do kill vast numbers of birds, and its simply not true.

Bat Blenders are more efficient at killing bats, they dont actually have to hit them. the pressure drop near the blades as they whip by makes the bats lungs explode. there aint much to a bat .

Sorry dp, "ducks worth more than hawks" was sarcasm...
http://www.windaction.org/news/139

There is no green energy. Your air conditioner either runs on dead ducks or dead eagles.

I really do like hawks better. They tasted like chicken.

someone want to do the calculation of birds killed per
gigawatt of energy produced. the numerator for the tarsands is about 500, the numerator for the turbines is say 20000,

now we need the number of windturbines in the US

http://science.howstuffworks.com/wind-turbine-kill-birds.htm

Hey, if this is true, maybe those big fans will be able to mutilate some new species:

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090210/ap_on_sc/birds_global_warming_3

bar_jebus...actually wind turbines do kill birds notwithstanding your nonsensical blatherings otherwise. And, of course, they kill bats as well.

Bar_Jebus: Here's a 2005 USA Today article on dead birds...

http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2005-01-04-windmills-usat_x.htm

To quote...

"massive fiberglass blades on the more than 4,000 windmills have been chopping up tens of thousands of birds that fly into them, including golden eagles, red-tailed hawks, burrowing owls and other raptors."

The one thing that th epicture above proves without doubt is that the farmer needs to fix his baler.

The faster Alberta separates from these loons the better off we will be to survive the Trudopian chaos of this generation of vipers with dollar signs for eye's & with madness in their hearts. Its apparent nobody out East has a lick of brains when it comes to the West. The posts did more for seeing the lack of Central Canadian intelligence , conscience or even the ability to think in a rational way. Some folks out there are just too scary to be alive. Yet are looked on with admiration. Notice Kate's PIC. Say's it all. THINK. Than do it some more till you get it.
Lets just get it over with .A referendum should decide the issue. I’ve had it with the Eastern socialist mentality importing there insanities out West. There a doomed people anyway. Once this death cult meets up with the fellas with the swords , there time is gone. They will have killed us all off, in their pursuit of hallucinations of Utopia. The world is not kind to the mad. As the Bible would say. God has given up Eastern Canadian leaders to a degenerate mind. With no a few out West as well.
JMO

The Law Of Unintended Consequences - the Latte Left and the Media-Dumbed Down are best at it.

Dead birds, dead bats, food in SUV's tanks, a generation of dead-ended "green" careers, no drilling at home ship $$s to Dictators, Domestic Auto industry shambles, $147 oil shocks world into recession, Popular Science "renewable" energy scams, windmills ruining tranquility.

And Starbucks thought there was a market for $8 dollar coffee to the unemployed basket weaving hypies of old crowd ? Fitting !!

The comment on hydro-electric being anything but green is very true. The US went on a dam building frenzy some decades back, and there was an incredible cost to local environments. Everything fro mercury leeching out of soils, to changing weather patterns. Wildlife certainly suffers as well.

Scadsobees- Don't worry, I recognized the sarcasm. My grandmother used to use a comparison to a boiled owl if she got a bad chicken. I never tasted one, but can't imagine it would be that tasty.

actually dp, it's called methane that hydro electric releases, ya kno the stuff that dead plants put in the water, and the generator impellers smack outta da water

and it's about 21 time more of a green house gas than CO2, now could you please have a couple built next door to me, I hate this Gorebullwarming sh!t we are having:-)))))

In the photo, I count 15 windmills. Assuming they each generate 1MW each (which I doubt) and they work obnly 20% of the time at rated output, and they are being paid $0.42 per kilowatthour, which is ten (10) times the cost of electricity, then these beasts are nothing more than subsidy farms. They are not economical, even, I suspect, in energy terms.

Fraud!

I suggest, for the most efficient energy source, we use Plasco technology to generate energy from enviromentalists.

We know they agree that their very existance is inimical to planet Earth. They will gladly volunteer for the gas ovens.

Since Steady Eddie took over from Ralph, the Pembina and Parkland institutes have been running the province. Other than the Institute for Policy Alternatives, you won't find a more far left group of moonbats on the planet.

So it was no surprise that the provincial government put the far-left screws to Syncrude.

I'm a scuba diver who dives the St. Lawrence river. Effing duck shit every where. It's a biological hazard. People in Cornwall and Montreal drink this water.

It wouldn't exist if the ducks weren't effing protected. Duck would be a gastronomic normality in Eastern Ontario and the waters would be clean.

Mike, The Pembina Institute is a Liberal shill. The members should be fed to the ducks and then we eat the ducks. At least, then, the members of the Pembina Institute will serve some purpose.

Now, Mike, you may think this is long-winded. Why not just directly eat the members of the Pembina Institute, rather than feed them to ducks?

My reply to such a suggestion would be along the lines of: "I applaud you zeal but not your methods" :-)

we canna eat the members of the pembina institute directly for they are a greasy lot. not taken to bathing and very 'airy in their birkenstock shod legs and nether parts.

meshuggah : RANT @ 12:48: "I always think of this in the sense of darwinism....the ducks were dumb enough to fly into what turned out to be their death, while many other ducks didn't....c'est la vie....".

Yeah, a very good point, but in the immutable words of Cliffy Claven to his sidekick Norm, consider this:

"Well, you see Norm, its like this...a herd of buffalo can only move as fast as the slowest buffalo. And when the herd is hunted, it is the slowest and weakest ones at the back of the herd that are killed first. This natural selection is good for the herd as a whole, because the general speed and health of the whole group keeps improving by the killing of its weakest members. In much the same way, the human brain can only operate as fast as the slowest brain cells. Now, as we know, excessive intake of alcohol kills brain cells. But naturally, it attacks the slowest and weakest brain cells first. In this way, regular consumption of beer eliminates the weaker brain cells, making the brain a faster and more efficient machine. And that, Norm, is why you always feel smarter after a few beer".

Don't newspapers destroy bird habitat (i.e. trees)? If so, the G&M is guilty of mass murdering birds on an epic scale.

I agree that bird deaths can be caused by many agents. Some we pursue some we do not based on optics and politics.

I personally do not blame Syncrude. However, it is tough to feel sympathetic for a group of oil companies that jack up the price at the pumps 15 cents and have that occur simutaneously at nearly a hundred gas stations in the region in the context of a dropping world oil price. Sorry if I do not shed too many tears.

I believe Exxon , the worlds largest private oil company , makes 3% of the world production.

monopolies are presently only a government commodity.

I believe Exxon , the worlds largest private oil company , makes 3% of the world production.

monopolies are presently only a government commodity.

NIMBY's beware, McGuinty's edict coming soon:

http://www.thestar.com/News/Ontario/article/585591

John Luft,

Is it accurate to say that it is a fact that batteries explode and kill people? Because they do, but at such a terribly low ratio that it really isn't necessary to even note that it does. Batteries _used_ to be more volatile, but they've improved. This is the case with wind power. Old models kill birds, new ones don't, or kill such a small number of birds to be ridiculous to even bother mentioning it.

Gee Bar,

I hope you didn't hurt yourself with all that hand waving.....wow...

It now appears evident that Superstore, Safeway, and IGA stores are being charged with murder for selling cow butts, legs, and breast milk to people.

Could not the birds be used as meat, for those morons who eat it?

"When I first moved to Alberta in the mid 70's, the hawk population was at an all-time low. We had a blast hunting gophers. I remember shooting over 100 a day on several occasions. We'd buy 22 shells by the case. Farmers used to invite us onto their land." --dp

Try that with annoying humans some time. There are equal number of them. Personally, I enjoy hunting human hunters, the ultimate challenge - since humans are harder to hunt than gophers, but humans are twice as annoying and deserve it.