{"id":275782,"date":"2023-08-27T11:37:19","date_gmt":"2023-08-27T09:37:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=275782"},"modified":"2023-08-27T11:37:22","modified_gmt":"2023-08-27T09:37:22","slug":"green-activists-silent-as-california-moves-to-help-wind-farm-slaughter-of-americas-iconic-bald-eagle","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=275782","title":{"rendered":"Green Activists Silent as California Moves to Help Wind Farm Slaughter of America\u2019s Iconic Bald Eagle"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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From The Daily Sceptic<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

BY\u00a0CHRIS MORRISON<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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America\u2019s national bird, the bald eagle, along with golden eagles and other raptors, face mass slaughter in California\u2019s wind farm avian graveyards following the State Democrat-controlled legislature\u2019s decision to relax controls on wildlife protections. Signed into law last month, with little protest, Senate Bill 147 (SB 147) allows permits to kill previously fully protected species for renewable energy and infrastructure projects. The move comes as the Federal Biden Administration pushes ahead with ambitious plans to increase renewable energy harnessed from both onshore and offshore giant turbines.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Local lawyer\u00a0Cox Castle explained<\/a>\u00a0that before SB 147, no authorisation existed for the slaughter of 37 fully protected native species, except for scientific research. This meant, they continued, that the presence of protected birds on a renewable energy development could stop the project in its tracks. \u201cSB 147 creates more certainty for renewable energy and certain other project developers because it establishes a permitting process for these species,\u201d it notes. Cox Castle also observes that the protected species list has been \u201cupdated\u201d with the removal of the American peregrine falcon and the brown pelican.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Of course, the avian destruction has been going on for years, with giant turbine blades posing serious hazards to large birds such as eagles that rely on air currents for sustained flight. NextEra Energy is one of America\u2019s largest utility companies, and last year it was\u00a0fined $8 million<\/a>\u00a0after 150 eagles were killed at its wind farms across eight states. Almost all the deaths occurred when the eagles were hit by turbine blades. Because carcasses are not always found, officials told the court that the number killed was likely to have been higher.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It might be America\u2019s national bird, displayed everywhere on coins, flags and official documents, but few activists seem to be able to rouse themselves to complain when the natural flight path of the bald eagle stands in the way of green progress. Audubon California\u00a0claims its mission<\/a>\u00a0is to restore and conserve natural ecosystems, focusing on birds, other wildlife and their habitats for the benefit of humanity and the earth\u2019s biological diversity. But Policy Director Mark Lynes said he did not want to see eagle deaths \u201cbeing used to push against clean energy\u201d. Our position is that we need renewable energy resources, \u201cbut we also know that they can be sited and adequately mitigated so that we\u2019re not causing declines in wildlife populations\u201d. In addition,\u00a0during the same interview<\/a>, Lynes confirmed the scale of the slaughter of the golden eagle, noting that a wind farm complex in Altamont had been killing 75-100 golden eagles every year since the 1980s, according to the Golden Gate Audubon Society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In total there are thought to be about 300,000 bald eagles in the United States but less than 30,000 golden eagles, mostly to be found in the West. Extermination on the scale recently identified from wind farms is likely to have a noticeable effect on future numbers. Needless to say, the destruction of wildlife by wind turbines is almost completely ignored by mainstream media, a situation unlikely to occur if, for instance, oil and gas companies were responsible for such carnage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

As the\u00a0Daily Sceptic<\/em>\u00a0has\u00a0reported in the past<\/a>, it is not just large birds of prey that are at risk from onshore wind farms. Recent scientific work suggested that millions of bats across the world are killed every year by turbine blades. A recent German field study identified 55 casualties per megawatt generated. Britain currently has 14,000 megawatts of onshore capacity, although actual generation is less. Political pressure to boost this onshore capacity is growing and it would be helpful if a figure on the accepted bat butcher\u2019s bill could be produced. For its part, the Bat Conservation Trust takes a sympathetic line noting that there has been evidence of bat collision with wind turbines for 20 years, but it supports the development of wind power. Sympathetic towards the highly subsidised wind energy business, it would seem, rather than the unfortunate bats.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Meanwhile, off the eastern coast of the United States whales continue to beach in unusually high numbers. The latest fatality was a humpback that was washed ashore on the New Jersey coast, bringing the total to around 300 fatalities in the last five years. Many suggest the deaths have been caused by\u00a0massive offshore construction<\/a>\u00a0of wind turbine parks, with extensive sonar soundings and pile-driving causing havoc with aquatic feeding, breeding and migration up and down the coast. \u201cThis alarming number of deaths is unprecedented in the last century,\u201d said Cindy Zipf, Executive Director of Ocean Clean Action, adding, \u201cthe only unique factor from previous years is the excessive scope, scale and magnitude of offshore wind powerplant activity in the area.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The veteran environmentalist Michael Shellenberger has weighed in on official denials that the massive offshore building works are wreaking environmental damage. \u201cThey\u2019re lying,\u201d he charged, and he called the issue around the industrialisation in previously pristine waters, \u201cthe biggest environmental scandal in the world\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Chris Morrison is<\/em>\u00a0the\u00a0<\/em>Daily Sceptic\u2019s<\/em>\u00a0Environment Editor.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

America\u2019s national bird, the bald eagle, along with golden eagles and other raptors, face mass slaughter in California\u2019s wind farm avian graveyards following the State Democrat-controlled legislature\u2019s decision to relax controls on wildlife protections.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":121246920,"featured_media":275787,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_coblocks_attr":"","_coblocks_dimensions":"","_coblocks_responsive_height":"","_coblocks_accordion_ie_support":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[691822114,691820715,691818068,691822115,691818154,691820304,691818180],"class_list":["post-275782","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-bald-eagle","tag-birds","tag-california","tag-eco-crucifixes","tag-net-zero","tag-united-states","tag-wind-farms","fallback-thumbnail"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0Wind-energy-company-charged-for-killing-eagles.webp?fit=1200%2C627&ssl=1","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/paxLW1-19K6","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":281754,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=281754","url_meta":{"origin":275782,"position":0},"title":"Horrendous Number of Eagle Deaths From Wind Farms","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/03\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"From The Daily Sceptic BY\u00a0CHRIS MORRISON Further devastating evidence of the toll that onshore wind turbines take on local eagle populations has emerged in Tasmania. The local Wedge-tailed eagle is thought to be down to just 1,000 individuals, but over the\u00a0last 12 years at least 270 birds\u00a0have been killed or\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"Bald eagle\"","block_context":{"text":"Bald eagle","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bald-eagle"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/079446816-e254-11ea-bdea-37eb221646d6.jpg?fit=1180%2C663&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/079446816-e254-11ea-bdea-37eb221646d6.jpg?fit=1180%2C663&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/079446816-e254-11ea-bdea-37eb221646d6.jpg?fit=1180%2C663&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/079446816-e254-11ea-bdea-37eb221646d6.jpg?fit=1180%2C663&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/079446816-e254-11ea-bdea-37eb221646d6.jpg?fit=1180%2C663&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":272640,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=272640","url_meta":{"origin":275782,"position":1},"title":"California sacrifices bald and golden eagles for \u201cGreen\u201d energy","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"08\/10\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"In a major setback for the protection of wildlife, California Governor Gavin Newsom (D) signed a bill that will allow operators of wind and solar projects to slaughter bald and golden eagles, along with other raptors, under the guise of promoting \u201cclean\u201d energy in the state.","rel":"","context":"In \"California\"","block_context":{"text":"California","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=california"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0eagle-wind-turbine-featured.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0eagle-wind-turbine-featured.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0eagle-wind-turbine-featured.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0eagle-wind-turbine-featured.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/08\/0eagle-wind-turbine-featured.jpg?fit=1200%2C800&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":425588,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=425588","url_meta":{"origin":275782,"position":2},"title":"Bald Eagle\u2019s Grizzly Death at Obama\u2011Funded Wind Project Site Triggers Federal Fine","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"02\/10\/2026","format":false,"excerpt":"In early February 2026 a bald eagle was killed by a wind turbine at the University of Minnesota's Eolos Wind Energy Research Field Station in Dakota County, Minnesota. The eagle was struck by the turbine blade, resulting in a gruesome dismemberment into three pieces. he U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"bald and golden eagle\"","block_context":{"text":"bald and golden eagle","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=bald-and-golden-eagle"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQPg-zu_dKSQq8UJjryADtUkFolw_vaYkyw0unNKyKolA1msAPc9s_ly0uJJEpYl83QpvoUrmNQoj7yCHInLgi6BS4c7z-ccDqxU7TOSqR9o3g7dd13wJNDaBiQ6TiDq.jpeg?fit=1200%2C679&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQPg-zu_dKSQq8UJjryADtUkFolw_vaYkyw0unNKyKolA1msAPc9s_ly0uJJEpYl83QpvoUrmNQoj7yCHInLgi6BS4c7z-ccDqxU7TOSqR9o3g7dd13wJNDaBiQ6TiDq.jpeg?fit=1200%2C679&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQPg-zu_dKSQq8UJjryADtUkFolw_vaYkyw0unNKyKolA1msAPc9s_ly0uJJEpYl83QpvoUrmNQoj7yCHInLgi6BS4c7z-ccDqxU7TOSqR9o3g7dd13wJNDaBiQ6TiDq.jpeg?fit=1200%2C679&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQPg-zu_dKSQq8UJjryADtUkFolw_vaYkyw0unNKyKolA1msAPc9s_ly0uJJEpYl83QpvoUrmNQoj7yCHInLgi6BS4c7z-ccDqxU7TOSqR9o3g7dd13wJNDaBiQ6TiDq.jpeg?fit=1200%2C679&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AQPg-zu_dKSQq8UJjryADtUkFolw_vaYkyw0unNKyKolA1msAPc9s_ly0uJJEpYl83QpvoUrmNQoj7yCHInLgi6BS4c7z-ccDqxU7TOSqR9o3g7dd13wJNDaBiQ6TiDq.jpeg?fit=1200%2C679&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":278410,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=278410","url_meta":{"origin":275782,"position":3},"title":"Enviro-Spin Unravels: Eagle \u2018Saving\u2019 Technology Just Another Wind Industry\u00a0Lie","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"09\/12\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"The wind industry has just been caught out lying about a technology that was meant to prevent Eagles being slaughtered by their turbine blades. Cars, cats and skyscrapers don\u2019t kill Eagles, but 60-80 m wind turbine blades with their tips travelling at 350 Kph routinely smash them out of existence.","rel":"","context":"In \"dead bats\"","block_context":{"text":"dead bats","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=dead-bats"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/079446816-e254-11ea-bdea-37eb221646d6.jpg?fit=1180%2C663&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/079446816-e254-11ea-bdea-37eb221646d6.jpg?fit=1180%2C663&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/079446816-e254-11ea-bdea-37eb221646d6.jpg?fit=1180%2C663&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/079446816-e254-11ea-bdea-37eb221646d6.jpg?fit=1180%2C663&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/079446816-e254-11ea-bdea-37eb221646d6.jpg?fit=1180%2C663&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":409193,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=409193","url_meta":{"origin":275782,"position":4},"title":"Avian Mortality: Industrial Wind in Ecological Trouble","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/20\/2025","format":false,"excerpt":"The U.S. Secretary of the Interior, Doug Burgum,\u00a0posted a memorandum\u00a0back in August calling on the agency to\u00a0ensure compliance with the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act, \u201cto ensure that our national bird is not sacrificed for unreliable wind facilities!\u201d","rel":"","context":"In \"dead eagles\"","block_context":{"text":"dead eagles","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=dead-eagles"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/00Golden-eagle-r-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/00Golden-eagle-r-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/00Golden-eagle-r-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/00Golden-eagle-r-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/00Golden-eagle-r-scaled-1.jpg?fit=1200%2C672&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]},{"id":282401,"url":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?p=282401","url_meta":{"origin":275782,"position":5},"title":"Wind Turbine Wipeout: Rare & Endangered Eagles\u2019 Days Are\u00a0Numbered","author":"uwe.roland.gross","date":"10\/07\/2023","format":false,"excerpt":"From STOP THESE THINGS The wind industry is battling on all fronts, including mounting community outrage, driven not least by its wanton slaughter of eagles, whales and other magnificent creatures. The outer tips of 60m wind turbine blades travelling at over 350kph make short work of avian predators, such as\u2026","rel":"","context":"In \"falcons\"","block_context":{"text":"falcons","link":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/?tag=falcons"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0dead-eagle-turbine-2.webp?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200,"srcset":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0dead-eagle-turbine-2.webp?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200 1x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0dead-eagle-turbine-2.webp?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=525%2C300 1.5x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0dead-eagle-turbine-2.webp?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=700%2C400 2x, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/climatescience.press\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/10\/0dead-eagle-turbine-2.webp?fit=1200%2C630&ssl=1&resize=1050%2C600 3x"},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275782","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/121246920"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=275782"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275782\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":275794,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/275782\/revisions\/275794"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/275787"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=275782"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=275782"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/climatescience.press\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=275782"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}