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Later, 11:12 am: Minneapolis Star-Tribune -- Feds okay wind turbines killing 15 eagles/year, more if necessary. There is no limit, but the estimate is "at most," 15 eagles would be killed every year for the next 30 years. Gee, that's ony 450 eagles. Someone told me there are about 400 eagles in the area under consideration. One migratory duck drowns in a waste pond and it's a felony for the oil company. Cue up Connie Francis. No wonder Steven Chu resigned; even he saw the craziness.
A bitterly contested wind farm proposed for Goodhue County got the go-ahead Wednesday to pursue a permit that would allow it to legally kill or injure eagles, in what could be the first case of federal authorities issuing a license to kill the protected national symbol.
The 48-turbine project would kill at most eight to 15 eagles a year, a number that would not harm the local population, federal officials said in a letter to state regulators. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said its estimate does not include possible strategies to reduce the number of eagles killed and, that if a permit is eventually granted, the goal would be a much lower figure.So, while the faux environmentalists are upset about sand/gravel pits, they applaud killing unlimited numbers of eagles (and hawks and whooping cranes and ducks), although "at most," 15 eagles/year is the likely worse case scenario.
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Section D (Off Duty): not much.
Section C (Review):
Book review: The Theoretical Minimum, by Leonard Susskind and George Hrabovsky -- Physics made (almost) easy;
Book review: P. G. Wodehouse: A Life in Letters, edited by Sophie Ratcliffe, missives from the master.
Section B (Business & Finance):
Coping with the pain of souring Apple shares.
Exxon, Chevron receive big boost from refining.
Is taxing health plans next?
Section A:
Op-ed: The Fish and Wildlife Service is not for the birds -- the federal government plans to allow wind turbines to kill bald eagles for 30 years. Slicers and dicers have no redeeming features. Nada. Except as a tax break for the rich.
Recently a big windmill collapsed in England. Then a different model a few miles away fell.
ReplyDeleteSabotage is one speculation.
Will ecoterrorists attack windmills? Have they?
Hmmm
Anon 1
I guess I must be off my meds today, all the ranting and raving about wind turbines. I'll try to hold off on any more non-Bakken stories for awhile.
DeleteBy the way, while looking for something else, I came across this "old" post which discussed "decline rates" in the Bakken. I had forgotten about the article, suggesting I was posting rather quickly that day. I will re-post; it has some interesting observations.
Interesting story on how a Grand Forks company has become the 7th largest railroad construction firm in the country mainly because of the Bakken.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.grandforksherald.com/event/article/id/255448/
"As North Dakota’s two primary economic engines of energy and agriculture picked up steam, R&R found itself in the middle of a rail shipping boom for oil and agricultural products.
And as the twin booms have lifted North Dakota’s economy, they have helped make R&R the seventh-biggest railroad construction and design company in the country, a status they just learned about last year, to their pleasure."
Wow, that is an amazing story. Thank you for sending. I will post/link later. But it is incredible, isn't it?
Delete