Readers here have long-known of our distaste for wind turbines. On our commute from Arizona to California and back, we traverse over forty miles along I-10 where the scenic desert landscape and snow-capped mountain peaks are obscured by the flailing fans.
Other than the asthetic downside, wind energy costs orders of magnitude more than coal or hydroelectric per kilowatt hour to produce. That means more cost to the consumer.
We have also known that these installations also endanger wildlife; now, it appears that The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a division of the Interior Department is going to make it OK for turbines to kill the previously endangered bald eagles:
From Planet Gore
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, a division of the Interior Department, is considering loosening regulations on the killing of bald eagles, the national bird of the United States, to accommodate the development of wind energy sources.
A draft regulation first filed in April would allow businesses to apply for 30-year permits allowing them to kill bald eagles in the course of other legal activities. The length of those permits would be a six-fold increase over the five-year window allowed under current law.
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