Recently in Wind
Wind:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has asked the public for help in gathering information on eagle mortality in the wake of the death of a golden eagle at the North Sky River wind facility on January 29. The eagle was found near a North Sky River turbine just one month after the facility started operation in December 2012.
Wind:
A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed two lawsuits against the Ocotillo Express Wind project in Imperial County.
Wind:
A U.S. District Court judge will hear arguments Friday that construction on the Ocotillo express Wind facility in Imperial County should be stopped.
Commentary:
It's become clear that developers are increasingly eyeing the area just north and east of the Mojave National Preserve.
Wildlife:
ReWire reported that we'd learned the North Sky River wind facility in Kern County had been the site of an eagle death. North Sky River's owner offered us a comment on the eagle's death.
Wildlife:
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is considering eliminating most public oversight of wind turbine impacts on protected bald and golden eagles by offering developers 30-year permits to kill eagles by accident, as opposed to the current 5-year permits. What's more, they're shaping the implementation of that proposed policy change in a series of private "stakeholders'" meetings to which the public is not invited.
Wind:
The North Sky River Wind project, which attracted fierce opposition from environmental groups concerned about potential threat to eagles and California condors, was the site of a golden eagle death in January.
Wind:
A proposed wind turbine installation in North Dakota poses a threat to the critically endangered whooping crane, of which fewer than 400 remain in the wild.
Wind:
Imperial County Sheriffs have arrested a construction manager for the project after he allegedly confronted and threatened an Ocotillo resident and project opponent.
Wildlife:
Some people, prominent environmentalists among them, are citing recent reports about wildlife-killing cats to argue that the threat wind turbines pose to birds and bats is far lower, and thus not a big deal. But that argument is fatally flawed both logically and ecologically. Here's why.
Wind:
A years-long campaign to reduce bird mortality at the Altamont Pass wind turbine area has cut deaths of eagles and three other bird of prey species by about 50 percent since 2005.
Wind:
The operator of a proposed wind turbine facility near the city of Mojave got the thumbs-up for its project from Kern County supervisors, but only on the condition that there's a way to monitor California condors and shut down turbines if the birds come too close.
Wind:
A Portland-based wind company is walking away from a controversial project near Joshua Tree National Park, saying that there isn't enough wind to justify building turbines.
Wind:
A report released just before New Years found that many wind turbines' effective lifespans are much shorter than expected. And now a respected British ecologist is slamming the wind industry, saying that wind power is "devastating populations of rare birds and bats across the world."
Wind:
The American wind power industry got its Christmas wish granted a few days late this week.
Wind:
As we get closer to the end of the year, there's still no word on any Congressional action to extend the expiring Wind Production Tax Credit.
Wind:
A leading wind power group wants a federal tax credit extended for another six years
Wind:
A controversial wind power project in Imperial County starts delivering power this week.
Wind:
As the federal Wind Production Tax Credit comes ever closer to expiring, an environmental group has released a report detailing what it calls the major environmental benefits of wind development in danger of being lost.
Wind:
A proposed wind turbine installation that would have covered more than 63,000 acres of the California desert has been canceled by the federal government.
News and analysis about renewable energy in California. Blog host Chris Clarke is an environmental writer of two decades standing. He currently lives in Joshua Tree and can be contacted at: rewire@kcet.org.
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