The new regulatory revenue stream is now up and running:
PacifiCorp Energy, a subsidiary of PacifiCorp, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Wyoming to violating the federal Migratory Bird Treaty Act in connection with the deaths of protected birds, including golden eagles, at two of the company’s wind projects in Wyoming.
As a result, PacifiCorp will pay $2.5 million in fines and will take measures at the company’s Wyoming wind farms to increase eagle populations.
Under a plea agreement with the government, the company was sentenced to pay fines, restitution and community service, and was placed on probation for five years, during which it must implement an environmental compliance plan aimed at preventing bird deaths at the company’s four commercial wind projects in the state.
[…]
According to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ), the charges stem from the discovery of the carcasses of 38 golden eagles and 336 other protected birds, including hawks, blackbirds, larks, wrens and sparrows, by the company at its Seven Mile Hill and Glenrock/Rolling Hills wind projects, located in Wyoming’s Carbon and Converse counties between 2009 and the present.
h/t Mike
We won’t have any such admissions in Ontario, the province of no hope. As the useless turbines whump and thump,not a word on how many bats and migratory birds are killed or how many properties have been devalued, how they affect farm animals and people living near them.
As of Dec. 31/13 Ontario’s Liberal Government has approved 6,736 wind turbines. Google ‘windpower grab wordpress’ for the complete chart by county in Ontario.
The percentages may not round off to 100.
Conservative Ridings – 4597
NDP Ridings – 1365
Liberal Ridings – 574 (Of the 574 in Liberal Ridings 537 were in the Thunder Bay Area. Out of sight out of mind?)
To recap: In Ontario’s actual population areas (Thunder Bay is NOT a population area.)
Conservative Ridings get to look at 68.3% of these beautiful bird blenders.
NDP Ridings get to look at 20% of these monuments to Gaia.
Liberal Ridings (Other than the woods of Thunder Bay) .6%
That’s right .6%
Strange that the Liberal electorate that loves wind turbines never build them in their own ridings.
I would think the only way to avoid future bird deaths and resulting fines would be to take those monstrosities down.
Another greener “solution” to a non-existent problem.
But hey, “windmills only kill as many birds as cars, so what’s the big deal” they say.
Oil companies are charged over the deaths of small numbers of birds (remember the ducks on an oil sands tailing pond in the Fort?) while wind farms kill hundreds of thousands per year plus other flying animals like bats. The charges against oil companies are highly publicized while at the same time we hear crickets about wind farms and the damage to bird and bat populations they cause every day 24/7/365.
Tear them all down now. The irony about wind farms is that for every KW of power they are designed for there has to be the equivalent of conventional. No wonder power rates go up where there is a heavy investment in wind. It’s a crime. This is totally lost on clueless greeners, the “carbon footprint” for wind is huge. Corporations are raking in billions in subsidies from taxpayers while politicians claim this is what the public wants and is good for the “environment”.
What a scam.
https://www.wind-watch.org/news/2013/07/21/wind-farm-bird-deaths-more-than-thought/
Watch out Ontario, carbon tax coming at the gas pumps, the Green Monsters are getting hungrier for cash as companies large and small shut their doors. The Wynne Wind Kingdom is not sustainable as we pay the highest energy rates in North America and beyond.
I doubt that any of the birds listed in that report would ever be found dead around a nuclear, hydro electric, gas or coal power generating plant.
All those stupid enviromentalists groups who support these windturbines wont even mention the numbers of birds and bats killed by windfarms their too busy stuck on selling their rediculous idology to the public and the Dept of Engery and Dept of the Interior also support these bird maming windturbines
“…not a word on how many bats and migratory birds are killed …”
Aye, indeed.
If you take a glance at Ontario’s Green Energy Act – http://www.e-laws.gov.on.ca/html/source/statutes/english/2009/elaws_src_s09012_e.htm – you will see that the latter three-quarters of the document consists of revisions that have been made to 12 different pieces of provincial legislation. The majority of these change the pre-existing laws so that their offence and penalty sections cannot apply to the Green Energy Act.
However, Queen’s Park cannot pass legislation that would make it immune from violations of federal laws. So I’m wondering why prosecutions haven’t been commenced in Ontario for violations of statutes such as the Migratory Birds Convention Act or the federal version of the Endangered Species Act?
I’ve seen pictures of anti-wind farm protetsers opposed to these bird chopper windfarms and they are right about these things their noisey and their a danger to birds espeiacly the larger ones like Eagles,Cranes and such but their also hazerdous to smaller birds as well
Possibly around the Nuclear Plants Ken. The ant-nukers are still around, although they are presently busier with the “sustainable energy” crowds and the foreign funding only goes so far for anti-canada best interests. Cheers;
One clue as to why federal laws are not enforced with Ont wind plants, may be seen by the actions of Transport Canada and the 6 towers constructed on flyways at the Chatham-Kent airport. The towers were erected contrary to federal flight safety rules, and were ordered removed by Transport Canada. The foreign wind company threatened legal action and the federal government quietly backed down just before Christmas. What was unsafe 2 years ago is now deemed to be OK. Wind outfits operating in Ont are immune from provincial and federal regulations and safety rules which might inconvenience them.
“…Wind outfits operating in Ont are immune from provincial and federal regulations and safety rules which might inconvenience them….”
Well, a de facto immunity is as good (or as bad) as the real thing I guess. However, if that is the case, and various regulatory agencies are in fact practicing selective enforcement, prosecutions in this country can be commenced by way of laying private Informations before the courts.
“What was unsafe 2 years ago is now deemed to be OK.”
Just curious. Was that by changes to regulations, or was it just an inside policy change?
“The towers were erected contrary to federal flight safety rules, and were ordered removed by Transport Canada. The foreign wind company threatened legal action and the federal government quietly backed down just before Christmas.”
Well then, we know who is actually running the country and it is not our elected officials and through them Transport Canada.
So PacifiCorp Energy is now buying windulgences?
Let’s see… a little less than $7k per bird (I wonder what that fine works out to per MWH of power production?), and no realistic path to stopping the carnage other than shutting down the giant fans. If a fossil-fuel facility had a record this bad, the government would not hesitate to shut them down and escalate the infractions to personal criminal penalties for corporate officers.
Gee.. I wonder when these regulatory agencies, the WWF, Sierra Club and other saviours of the winged wildlife, will “Discover” all the other wind kill and fried on the wing victims of their shared delusion.
The crime of Pacificorp Energy is obvious , they failed to shoot, shovel and shut up.
Honesty will be punished, whenever a Kleptocracy rules.
Wait for it, I am quite sure one of the solutions about to be brought forward to reduce these massacres of migratory birds and top raptors, will be killing them to save them from wind farms.
Never under estimate the madness of progressives.
Their derangement is progressive and usually incurable.
The anti-nucular pukes from the varipius maggot infested bunch of liberal wanks I heard and even saw pictures of these jerks climbing security fences and trying to close down nucular power plants their usial such stupid groups with dumb names like THE CLAMSHELL ALLIANCE or ABALONI ALLIANCE and Hanoi Janes crappy movie THE CHINA SYNDROME
More birds have died by running into the windows of the Toronto Star building than into the Syncrude tailings ponds.
And don’t even mention Margaret Atwood’s cat!
Meanwhile in Ontario (last year) – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EtF6TUYfj8c .
There are enough turbines in Northern Lambton County and surrounding municipalities that there has to be a significant increase in bird and bat deaths, and they are still building more with no end in site…. Words can’t express how crazy the whole Green Energy scheme is, yet there is no one in our provincial legal system or government to bring it to a halt or the very least make it lawfully fair for those affected.
It’s a disgrace.
How many birds die from hitting the windows of the HQ of many of these eco-freako groups many eco-wackos have big fancy buildings with lots and lots of windows
Of course, since Warren Buffett owns PacifiCorp, I just can’t get very sad about the penalties. If I didn’t have to depend on them for my electricity, I’d be rooting for even higher fines (though, if it would force Warren to give up on the fans, I’d push to add a decimal point to those fines).
Just remember, its not the wind power company that’s paying the $2.5 million dollar fine. Its the rate payers who buy the amazingly expensive power, and the tax payers who pay the taxes that provide the subsidies that keep the wind power company in business.
And they all knew this was going to happen going in. No accident, its BY DESIGN.
Its just a part of the big tax washing machine where they take YOUR money and give it to their friends. In Ontario it has been raised to such a high art that even the other levels of government don’t get to stick their fingers in. All Queens Park pork, all the time.
Well then Davek then heres hoping some birds decide to make a bomb run on Buffets next be get together
LOOK MY FELLOW BIRDS ITS THE PLANE OF A WEALTHY LIBERAL DEMACRATIC SUPPORTER AND OWNER AOF A 2000 ACRE WINDFARM ATTACK MY FELLOW BIRDS KILL,KILL,KILL, TAKE REVENGE FOR ALL THOSE BIRDS KILLED BY WINDFARMS