"Wind power gets eagle reprieve; White House says no penalty in turbine deaths" by Dina Cappiello | Associated Press, December 07, 2013
WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday it will allow for 30 years without penalty the killing or injury of bald and golden eagles when they strike wind turbines, in an effort to spur development and investment in green energy while balancing its environmental consequences.
Wow. The guy wants nuclear, he wants fracking, and now to hell with the sacred national symbol. If this doesn't prove this is a true fa$ci$t government, nothing will.
The change, requested by the wind energy industry, will provide legal protection for the lifespan of wind farms and other projects for which companies obtain a permit and make efforts to avoid killing the birds.
Yeah, it is always about indu$try here in 21st-century AmeriKa.
An investigation by the Associated Press earlier this year documented the deaths of eagles around wind farms, the Obama administration’s reluctance to prosecute such cases, and its willingness to help keep the scope of the eagle deaths secret.
:-(
Related: Obama Lied About Living With Illegal Uncle
It seems like a pathological condition.
The White House has championed wind power, a pollution-free energy intended to ease global warming, as a cornerstone of President Obama’s energy plan.
Tell it to the shivering country that is seeing snowfall already, a$$holes!!!!
In other areas, too, such as the government’s support for corn-based ethanol to reduce US dependence on gasoline, the White House has allowed the green industry to do not-so-green things.
Fact: it takes more greenhouse gases to make ethanol than it saves in burning the cleaner fuel. Fact.
Another AP investigation recently showed that ethanol has proven far more damaging to the environment than politicians promised and much worse than the government admits today.
That bite of sour-ta$ting corn simply reminded me of what I have been typing for years. I never thought burning food was a good idea, but I suppose I'm supposed to applaud the mouthpiece media that finally owns up to the truth, 'eh? Finally admits what we were saying, yay!
Well, fuck that. They haven't listened and are not listening to us, they are simply having to admit such a thing in the face of cold (and I do emphasize the cold right now, America. You know what I mean) hard truth.
Under the change announced Friday, companies would have to commit to take additional measures if their wind turbines kill or injure more eagles than they have estimated they would, or if new information suggests that eagle populations are being affected.
The permits would be reviewed every five years, and companies would have to submit reports of how many eagles are killed. Such reporting is voluntary, and the Interior Department does not release that data.
Un-flipping-real!
‘‘This is not a program to kill eagles,’’ said John Anderson, the director of siting policy at the American Wind Energy Association. ‘‘This permit program is about conservation.’’
Wind farms are clusters of turbines as tall as 30-story buildings, with spinning rotors as wide as a passenger jet’s wingspan.
Then we are just getting even for all the bird-caused plane crashes (remember that shit excuse they trotted out for some crashes?).
Though the blades appear to move slowly, they can reach speeds of up to 170 miles per hour at the tips, creating tornado-like vortexes.
Flying eagles behave like drivers texting on their cellphones; they don’t look up.
Then the cops should start fining them like they do us.
As they scan below for food, they often don’t notice the turbine blades until it is too late.
No wind energy company has obtained permission authorizing the killing, injuring, or harassment of eagles, although five-year permits have been available since 2009. That puts the companies at legal risk and discourages private investment in renewable energy.
It also doesn’t necessarily help eagles, since without a permit, companies are not required to take steps to reduce their impact on the birds or report when they are killed.
This move by the administration, with all do respect, is bird shit.
The new rule makes clear that revoking a permit — which could undermine investments and interest in wind power — is a last resort under the administration’s energy policy.
Sigh.
How much did that co$t me.
********************
Conservation groups, which have been aligned with the wind industry on other issues, said the decision by the Interior Department sanctioned the killing of an American icon.
‘‘Instead of balancing the need for conservation and renewable energy, Interior wrote the wind industry a blank check,’’ said Audubon president and CEO David Yarnold in a statement. The group said it will challenge the decision.
The wind energy industry has said the change mirrors permits already in place for endangered species, which are more at risk than bald and golden eagles. Bald eagles were removed from the endangered species list in 2007 but are still protected under two federal laws.
The rule published Friday was not subjected to a full environmental review because the administration classified it as an administrative change.
We call it DICTATORSHIP because THAT'S WHAT IT IS! Another EXECUTIVE ORDER!
‘‘The federal government didn’t study the impacts of this rule change even though the [law] requires it,’’ said Kelly Fuller, who formerly headed up the wind campaign at the American Bird Conservancy. ‘‘Instead, the feds have decided to break the law and use eagles as lab rats.’’
They do it all the time!
The Fish and Wildlife Service said the new rule enables it to better monitor the long-term environmental effects of renewable energy projects.
‘‘Our goal is to ensure that the wind industry sites and operates projects in ways that best minimize and avoid impacts to eagles and other wildlife,’’ the agency said in a statement.
By ignoring it?
Last month, Duke Energy Corp. pleaded guilty to killing eagles and other birds at two wind farms in Wyoming, the first time a wind energy company has been prosecuted under a law protecting migratory birds.
A study by federal biologists in September found that wind farms since 2008 had been responsible for the deaths of at least 67 bald and golden eagles, a number the researchers said was likely underestimated.
Related: Fly Away Little Birdie, Fly, Fly, Fly
A billion dead birds due to glass skyscrapers and not a chirp? Talk about a Holocaust!
--more--"
I pulled this down on a Saturday and the additions and subtractions are interesting:
"All energy has costs, and the administration has been forced to accept the not-so-green sides of green energy as a means to an end....
A study by federal biologists in September found that wind farms since 2008 had killed at least 67 bald and golden eagles, a number that the researchers said was likely underestimated. That did not include deaths at Altamont Pass, an area in northern California where wind farms kill an estimated 60 eagles a year.
It’s unclear what toll, if any, wind energy companies are having on eagle populations locally or regionally. Gunshots, electrocutions and poisonings almost certainly kill more bald and golden eagles than wind farms. But the toll could grow along with the industry.
We aren't talking about those other things now. Why minimize the issue?
We aren't talking about those other things now. Why minimize the issue?
A recent assessment of the status of the golden eagle in the western U.S. showed that populations have been decreasing in some areas but rising in others.
Same with the polar bear, but no one is making a big deal.
Same with the polar bear, but no one is making a big deal.
--more--"
"Obama pushes renewable energy use" by Matthew Daly | Associated Press, December 06, 2013
WASHINGTON — Saying it should lead by example, President Obama is ordering the federal government to nearly triple its use of renewable sources for electricity by 2020.
I don't necessarily think solar and wind is bad; however, it is in 21$t-century AmeriKa. It's all agenda-pu$hing $hit.
Obama says the plan to use renewables for 20 percent of electricity needs will reduce pollution that causes global warming, promote American energy independence, and boost domestic energy sources such as solar and wind power that provide thousands of jobs.
We have heard all that crap that has proved untrue. Please stop stinking the place up with that fart mist coming from your pie hole.
Obama announced the plan Thursday as part of a drive to combat climate change and prepare for its effects.
Like what, freezing cold and early snowfall?
--more--"
Related: Hot Over Obama's Hypocrisy
But it's okay for him to fly to California to $ave his health plan while having John Kerry jet around the globe serving Israel.
Related: Fart-Misting Fudge-Packers
Oh, it's not us causing the.... new ice age?
"Snow, ice, deep-freeze hit large section of US; About 10 killed; many travelers are left stranded" by Adrian Sainz and Jamie Stengle | Associated Press, December 08, 2013
MEMPHIS — A late-fall cold snap that has gripped much of the country is being blamed for about 10 deaths and has forced people to deal with frigid temperatures, power outages by the thousands, and treacherous roads.
I hold fart-misting global warmers responsible for those deaths just as I hold lying politicians responsible for war dead.
Weather forecasters say the powerful weather system has Virginia and the Mid-Atlantic in its icy sights next.
Temperatures in Montana and South Dakota were more than 20 degrees below zero during the day Saturday while much of the Midwest was in the teens and single digits. Wind chill readings could drop as low as 50 below zero in northwestern Minnesota, weather officials said.
Icy conditions were expected to last through the weekend from Texas to Ohio to Tennessee, and Virginia officials warned residents of a major ice storm likely to take shape Sunday, resulting in power outages and hazards on the roads.
In California, four people died of hypothermia in the San Francisco Bay area. About a half-dozen traffic-related deaths were blamed on the weather in several states.
More than 100,000 customers in the Dallas area were without power Saturday, along with about 7,000 in Oklahoma and thousands more in other states. Some 400 departing flights from Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport were canceled, the airport said. About 3,330 passengers stayed overnight in the terminals.
Icy, treacherous sections of Interstate 35 north of Dallas were closed for hours at a time over the last day as tractor-trailers had trouble climbing hills, wrecks occurred, and vehicles stalled, authorities said.
Jody Gonzalez, chief of Denton County Emergency Services, said about 200 people were in shelters in the Sanger area after getting stuck on the highway. People in that area of I-35 were driving through ruts in 4-inch-thick ice, he said.
That is in TEXAS?
In Virginia, state Emergency Management spokeswoman Laura Southard said the storm had the potential to be a ‘‘historic ice event.’’
‘‘This forecast is very concerning to us,’’ Southard said Saturday. ‘‘I’ve worked multiple disasters, but I’ve never worked an ice storm with a forecast like this. It’s just really important for everybody to take extra precautions.’’
The weather forced the cancellation of countless events, including Sunday’s Dallas Marathon, which was expected to draw 25,000 runners, some of whom had trained for months, and the St. Jude Marathon in Memphis, expected to include 20,000. However, the football game between Central Florida and Southern Methodist in ice-covered Dallas went on in front of a sparse crowd.
Then everything is right with the world.
Meanwhile, around 7 inches of snow fell in northeast Arkansas and the Missouri boot heel, according to the National Weather Service in Memphis, and 8 to 9 inches fell in parts of southern Indiana.
The storm dumped a foot of snow and more in some areas of Illinois, with police scrambling to respond to dozens of accidents and forced scores of schools to remain closed.
At least some kids are happy!
Ice accumulated on trees and power lines in Memphis and the rest of West Tennessee after layers of sleet fell throughout the region Friday but most roads were passable Saturday.
I hope someone I know is safe and with power.
--more--"
It's deja vu all over again -- and most foul.
"Okla. sees increase in earthquakes" Associated Press, December 03, 2013
PRAGUE, Okla. — Scientists are not sure why seismic activity has spiked, but they are studying the phenomenon.
One theory is that the shaking could be related to wastewater from oil and gas drilling that is often discarded by injecting it deep into underground wells.
Everyone knows FRACKING is causing such things as well as poisoning drinking water.
But it's an energy savior and is going to make AmeriKa the number one energy producer in the world -- maybe.
Think it's worth the gamble?
Research at various drilling sites around the country has shown that wastewater injections can weaken nearby fault lines and produce quakes big enough to be felt.
--more--"
Related: Sunday Globe Specials: Washington's Water Supply
Globe never refilled me.
Good thing eagles don't drink water.
