Wind Energy Companies Face Scrutiny Over Eagle Deaths

Strategic Insights -

Renewable energy development has become increasingly important to address the growing demand for clean power and combat climate change. However, the proliferation of wind turbines has raised concerns over the impact on golden eagle populations, which are already declining in some areas. Despite the Biden administration's efforts to advance renewable energy, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has seen a sharp decline in enforcement of eagle protection laws, with significant numbers of eagles still dying due to collisions with wind turbines. This comes amid growing concerns that the eagles are being "rolled over backwards" for wind companies, with some permits allowing for the killing of thousands of eagles without penalty.

Key Takeaways:

  • The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has seen a sharp decline in enforcement of eagle protection laws, with significant numbers of eagles still dying due to collisions with wind turbines.
  • Since the Trump administration, the number of criminal cases brought against wind companies for killing or harming protected eagles has dropped sharply, from a high of 232 in 2014 to just 49 in the Biden administration's first year.
  • Companies often pledge to perform conservation work to offset the deaths, with some permits including direct payments for dead eagles – about $30,000 per bird.
  • Wildlife officials approved over two dozen major wind projects across the country over the past several years, sometimes over opposition from Native American tribes that revere eagles.
  • The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Minnesota has expressed concerns over the Biden administration's proposal to further streamline permitting, saying that wildlife officials had "abandoned" protections for eagle nests and ignored tribal concerns.
  • Environmental groups have lobbied the White House in support of streamlined permitting, arguing that regulating the wind industry through permits is preferable to having companies ignore or cover up eagle deaths.
  • The Fish and Wildlife Service's law enforcement operations are understaffed and underfunded, with special agents at historical low levels.

Statistics:

  • Dozens of permits approved or pending would allow roughly 6,000 eagles to be killed in coming decades.
  • Most permits are for wind farms, and more than half the killed birds would be golden eagles.
  • Since retiring from the wildlife service, Lockhart has continued researching wind turbine impacts on golden eagles under a government contract in central Wyoming.
  • In Wyoming alone, anticipated wind energy projects could kill as many as 800 to 1,000 golden eagles.
  • The Fish and Wildlife Service has revealed special agents were at historical low levels, and that 47 agents will hit mandatory retirement in the next four years.
  • Approximately 40,000 golden eagles remain, which need much larger areas to survive and hunt on the same windy plains where utilities have erected thousands of turbines in Western states.

Sources:

  • U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service data obtained by The Associated Press
  • Government documents show dozens of permits approved or pending
  • Government and court records
  • Meeting minutes with eagle researchers, wind energy companies, and government officials
  • The Associated Press climate and environmental coverage receives support from several private foundations.