Criminal cases brought by U.S. wildlife officials for killing or harming protected bald and golden eagles dropped sharply in recent years, even as officials ramped up issuing permits that will allow wind energy companies to kill thousands of eagles without legal consequence.
Companies often pledge to perform conservation work to offset the deaths. Some permits include direct payments for dead eagles - about $30,000 per bird. Numerous permits allow the killing of bald eagles with no compensation required.
“They’re going to more than double the capacity and in doing that, the impacts on wildlife, particularly golden eagles, are going to be exponentially going up,” Lockhart said. Eagle deaths at PacifiCorp’s wind farms continued, although at a lower rate, after it paid $2.5 million in fines and restitution in a 2015 case, documents show. NextEra has not reported how many eagles have been killed at its wind farms since it was ordered to pay $8 million in fines and restitution last year. PacifiCorp and NextEra did not respond to questions about their cases.
The Grand Portage Band of Lake Superior Chippewa in Minnesota says the Biden administration should not go forward with its proposal to further streamline permitting. Chairman Robert Deschampe said wildlife officials had “abandoned” protections for eagle nests and ignored tribal concerns. Under the Biden administration, he said, the wildlife service has “conflicting mandates: They are being directed to advance renewable energy and then they have obligations to preserve eagles.”
The figures do not include most of NextEra’s violations because the case against the company - which involved at least 150 eagle deaths at 50 wind farms dating to 2010 - was not fully closed when AP submitted its data request. “Not every criminal investigation substantiates evidence of a criminal violation of federal law,” she said.
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