Trump Administration moves to ease rules against killing birds.

[depotoo]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

Did you bitch this loudly when Obama gave the wind turbines permission to kill the bald eagles for a period of ten years? Or, are you bitching because it’s Trump?

Please cite to which your refer.

Obama admin regulation allows wind turbines to kill up to 4,200 bald eagles per company

The link is partially true and partially false.
What's True
Proposed revisions to wind power guidelines could allow wind power companies to injure or kill more bald and golden eagles per year without penalty.

What's False
The revised guidelines are unlikely to lead to thousands of additional eagle deaths because they impose more stringent requirements on wind power companies to minimize such accidents, and there's little evidence that wind turbines currently kill anywhere close to 4,200 eagles per year.

FALSE: Obama Issues 'Kill Order' for Bald Eagles

White House gives wind farms 30-year pass on eagle deaths

 

[justoffal]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

Try feeding the birds. They will be there.
Now tell me, have you made threads having fits over all the birds killed from wind turbines or fried by solar panels, too?

I am not going to deny that some birds die because of wind turbines and solar panels. The question is why give corporations and developers free reign to kill as many birds as they wish?

Ask obummer!

That is deflection.

No....this is deflection:

 

[JLW]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

Did you bitch this loudly when Obama gave the wind turbines permission to kill the bald eagles for a period of ten years? Or, are you bitching because it’s Trump?

Please cite to which your refer.

Obama admin regulation allows wind turbines to kill up to 4,200 bald eagles per company

The link is partially true and partially false.
What's True
Proposed revisions to wind power guidelines could allow wind power companies to injure or kill more bald and golden eagles per year without penalty.

What's False
The revised guidelines are unlikely to lead to thousands of additional eagle deaths because they impose more stringent requirements on wind power companies to minimize such accidents, and there's little evidence that wind turbines currently kill anywhere close to 4,200 eagles per year.

FALSE: Obama Issues 'Kill Order' for Bald Eagles

White House gives wind farms 30-year pass on eagle deaths

I have already addressed that issue and it is not completely true.

 

[martybegan]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

They will still take precautionary measures, they will just not be held liable when those measures invariably fail from time to time.

This wouldn't cover something like the BP horizon spill, because a spill isn't "normal operations"

This also aids wind power companies from being held liable from the normal operation of their turbines.

Once again you need to exaggerate to make a point.

 

[JLW]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

They will still take precautionary measures, they will just not be held liable when those measures invariably fail from time to time.

This wouldn't cover something like the BP horizon spill, because a spill isn't "normal operations"

This also aids wind power companies from being held liable from the normal operation of their turbines.

Once again you need to exaggerate to make a point.

You missed this most salient part of the OP: "..the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths."

 

[depotoo]

Did you bitch this loudly when Obama gave the wind turbines permission to kill the bald eagles for a period of ten years? Or, are you bitching because it’s Trump?

Please cite to which your refer.

Obama admin regulation allows wind turbines to kill up to 4,200 bald eagles per company

The link is partially true and partially false.
What's True
Proposed revisions to wind power guidelines could allow wind power companies to injure or kill more bald and golden eagles per year without penalty.

What's False
The revised guidelines are unlikely to lead to thousands of additional eagle deaths because they impose more stringent requirements on wind power companies to minimize such accidents, and there's little evidence that wind turbines currently kill anywhere close to 4,200 eagles per year.

FALSE: Obama Issues 'Kill Order' for Bald Eagles

White House gives wind farms 30-year pass on eagle deaths

I have already addressed that issue and it is not completely true.

What is true-
Protect Eagles from Wind Turbine Fatalities
An even more alarming fact is that the data on the number of deaths is gathered by paid consultants to the wind industry. That’s the fox guarding the chicken house. At the infamous Altamont Wind Resource Area alone, more than 2,000 Golden Eagles have been killed by the wind turbines there.
Fish & Wildlife Service’s Eagle Management Plan Presents Grave Risk
In December, 2016, a new eagle-management plan announced a final rule by the federal government that would give wind energy developers 30-year permits to “take” or incidentally kill protected Bald and Golden Eagles, without requiring the industry to share mortality data with the public or take into consideration such critical factors as proper siting. The so-called Eagle Take Rule, finalized by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, puts many thousands of the nation’s protected Bald and Golden Eagles at unacceptable risk.


You are so blind to your own hypocrisy/ bias, it’s stunning.

 

[theHawk]

Yet you moonbats give not one single fuck about all the raptors killed by your asinine windmills.

For just once...stop with your typical knee jerk reaction and read the article and links.

Did you care about Migratory birds before this law change or did you have a typical knee jerk reaction when President Trump was implicated by this article?

Yup, according to Johnlaw , President Trump spends his day in the Oval Office trying to devise ways to kill animals or ruin the environment.

 

[JLW]

Please cite to which your refer.

Obama admin regulation allows wind turbines to kill up to 4,200 bald eagles per company

The link is partially true and partially false.
What's True
Proposed revisions to wind power guidelines could allow wind power companies to injure or kill more bald and golden eagles per year without penalty.

What's False
The revised guidelines are unlikely to lead to thousands of additional eagle deaths because they impose more stringent requirements on wind power companies to minimize such accidents, and there's little evidence that wind turbines currently kill anywhere close to 4,200 eagles per year.

FALSE: Obama Issues 'Kill Order' for Bald Eagles

White House gives wind farms 30-year pass on eagle deaths

I have already addressed that issue and it is not completely true.

What is true-
Protect Eagles from Wind Turbine Fatalities
An even more alarming fact is that the data on the number of deaths is gathered by paid consultants to the wind industry. That’s the fox guarding the chicken house. At the infamous Altamont Wind Resource Area alone, more than 2,000 Golden Eagles have been killed by the wind turbines there.
Fish & Wildlife Service’s Eagle Management Plan Presents Grave Risk
In December, 2016, a new eagle-management plan announced a final rule by the federal government that would give wind energy developers 30-year permits to “take” or incidentally kill protected Bald and Golden Eagles, without requiring the industry to share mortality data with the public or take into consideration such critical factors as proper siting. The so-called Eagle Take Rule, finalized by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, puts many thousands of the nation’s protected Bald and Golden Eagles at unacceptable risk.


You are so blind to your own bias, it’s stunning.

The number of birds killed by wind turbines pales to the number of birds killed by fossil fuel companies and nuclear power plants. See my post #38.

 

[JLW]

Yet you moonbats give not one single fuck about all the raptors killed by your asinine windmills.

For just once...stop with your typical knee jerk reaction and read the article and links.

Did you care about Migratory birds before this law change or did you have a typical knee jerk reaction when President Trump was implicated by this article?

Yup, according to Johnlaw , President Trump spends his day in the Oval Office trying to devise ways to kill animals or ruin the environment.

His record speaks for itself.

 

[theHawk]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

They will still take precautionary measures, they will just not be held liable when those measures invariably fail from time to time.

This wouldn't cover something like the BP horizon spill, because a spill isn't "normal operations"

This also aids wind power companies from being held liable from the normal operation of their turbines.

Once again you need to exaggerate to make a point.

You missed this most salient part of the OP: "..the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths."

How exactly is President Trump “discouraging” local governments from taking measures to protect birds? Even if he was “discouraging” them, what is stopping them from taking such actions?

 

[martybegan]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

They will still take precautionary measures, they will just not be held liable when those measures invariably fail from time to time.

This wouldn't cover something like the BP horizon spill, because a spill isn't "normal operations"

This also aids wind power companies from being held liable from the normal operation of their turbines.

Once again you need to exaggerate to make a point.

You missed this most salient part of the OP: "..the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths."

Why would local officials need encouragement? It's the feds job at most to set minimum guidelines that localities can improve on.

And where does the OP get said information? Seems more like opinion that actual quantitative reporting.

 

[JLW]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

They will still take precautionary measures, they will just not be held liable when those measures invariably fail from time to time.

This wouldn't cover something like the BP horizon spill, because a spill isn't "normal operations"

This also aids wind power companies from being held liable from the normal operation of their turbines.

Once again you need to exaggerate to make a point.

You missed this most salient part of the OP: "..the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths."

How exactly is President Trump “discouraging” local governments from taking measures to protect birds? Even if he was “discouraging” them, what is stopping them from taking such actions?

The answer to you question is how many companies have been fined or cited for violating the act in the past three years. The answer is very low, if not zero.

Under the new rules illegal acts are also protected under the plan. For example, a farmer who sprayed a banned pesticide that killed birds would not be held liable as long as the birds were not the “intended target.” See link

 

[JLW]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

They will still take precautionary measures, they will just not be held liable when those measures invariably fail from time to time.

This wouldn't cover something like the BP horizon spill, because a spill isn't "normal operations"

This also aids wind power companies from being held liable from the normal operation of their turbines.

Once again you need to exaggerate to make a point.

You missed this most salient part of the OP: "..the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths."

Why would local officials need encouragement? It's the feds job at most to set minimum guidelines that localities can improve on.

And where does the OP get said information? Seems more like opinion that actual quantitative reporting.

I think it fairly easy to determine how many bird deaths were investigated, don't you? As to where I get my info it is rather self- evident from the link and other links I cite to.

 

[martybegan]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

Windmills kill more birds every year than all the bird hunters on earth put together moron.
Oh...do you eat chicken btw?

JO

You may find the following article elucidating:

Wind farms are hardly the bird slayers they're made out to be. Here's why

"....for every one bird killed by a wind turbine, nuclear and fossil fuel powered plants killed 2,118 birds."

First, Nuclear and wind according to this guy have about the same rate.

2nd, are they counting deaths from power line impacts? because if that's the case then it doesn't matter WHAT generated the power.

I find the articles analytical rigor to be wanting.

 

[martybegan]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

They will still take precautionary measures, they will just not be held liable when those measures invariably fail from time to time.

This wouldn't cover something like the BP horizon spill, because a spill isn't "normal operations"

This also aids wind power companies from being held liable from the normal operation of their turbines.

Once again you need to exaggerate to make a point.

You missed this most salient part of the OP: "..the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths."

Why would local officials need encouragement? It's the feds job at most to set minimum guidelines that localities can improve on.

And where does the OP get said information? Seems more like opinion that actual quantitative reporting.

I think it fairly easy to determine how many bird deaths were investigated, don't you? As to where I get my info it is rather self- evident from the link and other links I cite to.

The link you gave that I just commented on lacks verifiable references to their source materials.

 

[depotoo]

Obama admin regulation allows wind turbines to kill up to 4,200 bald eagles per company

The link is partially true and partially false.
What's True
Proposed revisions to wind power guidelines could allow wind power companies to injure or kill more bald and golden eagles per year without penalty.

What's False
The revised guidelines are unlikely to lead to thousands of additional eagle deaths because they impose more stringent requirements on wind power companies to minimize such accidents, and there's little evidence that wind turbines currently kill anywhere close to 4,200 eagles per year.

FALSE: Obama Issues 'Kill Order' for Bald Eagles

White House gives wind farms 30-year pass on eagle deaths

I have already addressed that issue and it is not completely true.

What is true-
Protect Eagles from Wind Turbine Fatalities
An even more alarming fact is that the data on the number of deaths is gathered by paid consultants to the wind industry. That’s the fox guarding the chicken house. At the infamous Altamont Wind Resource Area alone, more than 2,000 Golden Eagles have been killed by the wind turbines there.
Fish & Wildlife Service’s Eagle Management Plan Presents Grave Risk
In December, 2016, a new eagle-management plan announced a final rule by the federal government that would give wind energy developers 30-year permits to “take” or incidentally kill protected Bald and Golden Eagles, without requiring the industry to share mortality data with the public or take into consideration such critical factors as proper siting. The so-called Eagle Take Rule, finalized by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, puts many thousands of the nation’s protected Bald and Golden Eagles at unacceptable risk.


You are so blind to your own bias, it’s stunning.

The number of birds killed buy wind turbines pales to the number of birds killed by fossil fuel companies and nuclear power plants.

Really? So you are fine with getting rid of the fuel industry, which is necessary for those wind turbines that can’t exist without fossil fuels. Got it. By the way, the analysis regarding how many are killed from fossil fuel, etc. was paid for by green new deal advocates.

 

[JLW]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

They will still take precautionary measures, they will just not be held liable when those measures invariably fail from time to time.

This wouldn't cover something like the BP horizon spill, because a spill isn't "normal operations"

This also aids wind power companies from being held liable from the normal operation of their turbines.

Once again you need to exaggerate to make a point.

You missed this most salient part of the OP: "..the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths."

Why would local officials need encouragement? It's the feds job at most to set minimum guidelines that localities can improve on.

And where does the OP get said information? Seems more like opinion that actual quantitative reporting.

I think it fairly easy to determine how many bird deaths were investigated, don't you? As to where I get my info it is rather self- evident from the link and other links I cite to.

The link you gave that I just commented on lacks verifiable references to their source materials.

I can agree with you in part. I wish the NYTs more clearly cited to "the internal agency document" that they reviewed.

 

[martybegan]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

They will still take precautionary measures, they will just not be held liable when those measures invariably fail from time to time.

This wouldn't cover something like the BP horizon spill, because a spill isn't "normal operations"

This also aids wind power companies from being held liable from the normal operation of their turbines.

Once again you need to exaggerate to make a point.

You missed this most salient part of the OP: "..the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths."

How exactly is President Trump “discouraging” local governments from taking measures to protect birds? Even if he was “discouraging” them, what is stopping them from taking such actions?

The answer to you question is how many companies have been fined or cited for violating the act in the past three years. The answer is very low, if not zero.

Under the new rules illegal acts are also protected under the plan. For example, a farmer who sprayed a banned pesticide that killed birds would not be held liable as long as the birds were not the “intended target.” See link

He still would be prosecuted for using the banned pesticide. I fail to see the need for the additional charge.

Going by fined/cited numbers assumes that people are constantly breaking the law if they are used as evidence of "non-enforcement"

It's the same flawed logic that PD"s use when issuing quotas. "Well people HAVE to be breaking the law at Rate "X", so you must write tickets at "rate x""

 

[JLW]

The link is partially true and partially false.
What's True
Proposed revisions to wind power guidelines could allow wind power companies to injure or kill more bald and golden eagles per year without penalty.

What's False
The revised guidelines are unlikely to lead to thousands of additional eagle deaths because they impose more stringent requirements on wind power companies to minimize such accidents, and there's little evidence that wind turbines currently kill anywhere close to 4,200 eagles per year.

FALSE: Obama Issues 'Kill Order' for Bald Eagles

White House gives wind farms 30-year pass on eagle deaths

I have already addressed that issue and it is not completely true.

What is true-
Protect Eagles from Wind Turbine Fatalities
An even more alarming fact is that the data on the number of deaths is gathered by paid consultants to the wind industry. That’s the fox guarding the chicken house. At the infamous Altamont Wind Resource Area alone, more than 2,000 Golden Eagles have been killed by the wind turbines there.
Fish & Wildlife Service’s Eagle Management Plan Presents Grave Risk
In December, 2016, a new eagle-management plan announced a final rule by the federal government that would give wind energy developers 30-year permits to “take” or incidentally kill protected Bald and Golden Eagles, without requiring the industry to share mortality data with the public or take into consideration such critical factors as proper siting. The so-called Eagle Take Rule, finalized by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service, puts many thousands of the nation’s protected Bald and Golden Eagles at unacceptable risk.


You are so blind to your own bias, it’s stunning.

The number of birds killed buy wind turbines pales to the number of birds killed by fossil fuel companies and nuclear power plants.

Really? So you are fine with getting rid of the fuel industry, which is necessary for those wind turbines that can’t exist without fossil fuels. Got it. By the way, the analysis regarding how many are killed from fossil fuel, etc. was paid for by green new deal advocates.

Honestly I don't know how you made that leap in logic.

 

[DOTR]

The Trump administration will move as early as Thursday to weaken a century-old law protecting migratory birds by dropping the threat of punishment to oil and gas companies, construction crews and other organizations that kill birds “incidentally” in the course of their operations.

The proposed regulation, if finalized, would cement a legal opinion that the Department of Interior issued in 2017. The agency’s top lawyer argued that previous administrations had interpreted the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 too broadly, and that only actions explicitly intended to kill birds should be forbidden under the federal law. The death of a bird from an oil slick, the blade of a wind turbine or the spraying of illegal pesticides would no longer trigger penalties.

That interpretation has already had significant consequences for thousands of migratory birds. According to internal agency documents recently obtained by The New York Times, the Trump administration has discouraged local governments and businesses from taking simple precautionary measures to protect birds, and federal wildlife officials have all but stopped investigating most bird deaths.

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds


The bird population has decreased by 3,000,000,000 over the past fifty years.


Birds Are Vanishing From North America
***************************************************************************

Birds are disappearing. When I was a kid they seemed to be everywhere. Even in the past twenty years at my home, the hummingbirds and cardinals that flew around the house are all gone.

The Migratory Bird Treaty Act is over a hundred years old. This latest plan is just more on Trump's war on the environment.

"In recent weeks, the administration has scrapped a clean water regulation aimed at protecting streams and wetlands, and blocked an effort to require Americans to use energy-efficient light bulbs. Within the next month the administration plans to weaken vehicle emissions standards and a rule restricting mercury, a toxic chemical emitted from coal-burning power plants. Completing the rule curtailing the Migratory Bird Treaty Act before the November presidential election will be difficult, but the agency has indicated it will push aggressively to do so."

.....

"The Migratory Bird Treaty Act makes it illegal “by any means or in any manner” to hunt, take, capture or kill birds, nests or eggs from listed species without a permit. Beginning in the 1970s, federal officials used the act to prosecute and fine companies up to $15,000 per bird for accidental deaths on power lines, in oil pits, in wind turbines and by other industrial hazards.

In 2010, the Deepwater Horizon disaster killed 11 people and spewed more than 210 million gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico. Hundreds of thousands of birds were killed, and BP agreed to pay $100 million for criminal violations under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act."

Trump Administration Moves to Ease Rules Against Killing Birds

Now as I wrote the bird population has been in decline for the past 50 years. You obviously can't blame the Trump administration for that. However, protection of wildlife should not always be secondary to industry and development. It is a shame that so many think that oil companies and other companies that are responsible for despoiling our environment should now get a free pass.


The world is a far different place than the one I grew up in and not for the better.

About time. Winning every day and there isn’t a thing you can do to stop it.