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Dear Aubrey,
Unless we act quickly, Bald and Golden eagles face 30 years of death and injury at the hands of wind power companies. Instead of protecting our national symbol, the Interior Department is preparing to knuckle under to industry lobbyists and sanction the killings.
At issue is a permit Interior is granting the wind industry that lets them kill Bald and Golden eagles despite little if any certainty that the permitting regime can protect eagle populations. Wind farms are often placed in the path of eagle migration routes and dozens perish every year as they collide with invisibly whirling blades and high towers.
Newer technology and siting information is available that could pose less risk to birds, but the Interior’s action has given the wind industry every reason to dawdle. As a result hundreds of eagles will sustain horrible injuries and death.
Those deaths could be averted.
Wind energy is an important piece of moving America beyond fossil fuels. But it is possible for wind farms and birds to co-exist more peacefully. Sadly, if Interior’s plan goes forward, that will not be the case.
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