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• Anonymous

  At yesterday’s LURC hearing, the IFW’s reluctant witness stated “there are certainly going to be bat and bird moralities”. As usual, the plan seems to be to do studies following the construction of the project in question, with a comment that if the mortality levels are too high, they would come up with a plan. The US Fish and Wildlife experts refuse to show up for the hearings. It has been stated that, due to budgetary problems at both state and federal levels, pre- permitting studies are not being done. What a bonus situation for wind developers.

• http://www.facebook.com/WiegandsWindow Jim Wiegand

  It is time for everyone to take a closer look at the true character of
  the wind industry. For over 25 years there has been bird mortality/wind
  turbine cover-up. As it now stands at wind farms across the world,
  thousands of protected bird species are killed daily. I have been told
  by good sources the industry has been hiding the bodies of rare and
  endangered species for decades. Today body disposal is all a part of a
  days work at a wind farm. This tragic cover-up will continue until it is
  made a felony to conceal fatalities at wind farms. Not until enough
  people stand up against this industry can they be forced to implement
  new turbine designs into their wind farms. Until then the profiteers
  will lie, pacify the public with bogus studies, claim they are working
  on the problem, and continue to make their fortunes from these killers.Today
  the California Condor habitat in the mountainous region of Tehachapi
  and Tejon ranch has been destroyed for the condors. This is due to the
  thousands of lethal wind turbines constructed in their natural habitat.
  The wind industry has made a complete mockery of the condor recovery.
  Despite the success of condor breeding programs there are few if any
  free flying condors and it will stay that way as long as there are
  propeller style turbines.Today the only way to keep the condors
  from flying off into the turbines is by the permanent feeding stations
  that have been set up for them. Without the feeding stations the condors
  would be hopping on the same wind currents used to spin the turbines
  searching the countryside looking for a meal. Their clumsy slow flights
  that would normally cover hundreds of square miles a day make them an
  easy target for the spinning wind turbine blades. Now the condors
  primarily just wander from perches close to the stations where the
  carcasses are dumped. If condors start to wander, they are trapped so
  they will not perish.The new propeller style wind turbines reach
  400- 500 ft into the sky and have a kill zone 30-45 times the area of
  the famous eagle killing turbines built at Altamont Pass. Now a wind
  farm of just 50 turbines is equivalent to 1500-2250 of theses early
  turbines. The blade tips on the new models with 12 ton blades rip
  through the air at over 220-240 mph when spinning at 20 just rotations
  per minute. This is twice as fast as the old turbines and over three
  times the speed of a major league baseball bat swing. The industry does
  not like to talk about these facts but this is the truth.Despite
  industry propaganda, cats, windows, cars etc. kill almost no rare and
  endangered species such as Condors, Whooping Cranes, Red Kites,
  Tasmanian Wedge Tailed Eagles, and Egyptian Vultures. I could go on and
  on with this industry death list. The fact is, once these turbines are
  put into their foraging and nesting habitats they become the primary
  killers of these species. The reality is that no bird or bat is safe
  from these turbines. The public rarely hears about it because of bogus
  studies, wind farm security and carefully written contracts with gag
  orders. Think about it. Why would an honest industry ever need gag
  orders? Why would they rig Environmental Impact Documents? Why hide
  bodies?Recent studies from Altamont Pass would have us believing
  that the new larger wind turbines are much safer than the early
  turbines used at Altamont pass. Much has been written about the benefits
  of repowering Altamont Pass with the new safer turbines. After reading
  the June 6 Wind Energy story published in the LA Times I began looking
  into the research behind the statement made by Dr. Shawn Smallwood
  ………”The neighboring Buena Vista Wind Energy Project recently
  replaced 179 aging wind turbines with 38 newer and more powerful
  1-megawatt turbines. That repowering effort has reduced fatality rates
  by 79% for all raptor species and 50% for golden eagles, according to a
  study by Shawn Smallwood, an expert on raptor ecology in wind farms”. I
  found a major flaw in the research and everyone I have shown this to
  agrees with me about this. The reason the studies are flawed is that all
  the search areas looking for blade strike victims are statistically
  inconsistent with the turbine sizes. I will illustrate the most extreme
  example of this inconsistency. The old 40KW turbines at Altamont have a
  stated historical search areas of a 50 meter radius yet the new and much
  larger 1 Mw turbines have a search area radius of only 75 meters. The
  comparison between these turbines reveals that the new 1 MW turbines
  have a 20.65 times greater rotor sweep(Kill Zone), yet their search
  areas were only increased by 2.2 times. By my calculations the search
  areas should have been many times larger. There is good reason bird
  mortality went down per KW of power production in these studies, the
  search areas are proportionally much smaller. Being a Wildlife
  biologist with decades of observations, I know as well as anyone the
  integrity of the wind industry. I have read their rigged Environmental
  Impact Reports and I have yet to see an honest one. In my opinion there
  should many going to jail for this ongoing fraud. If corporations would
  lie about the impacts to Condors, Whopping Cranes and Eagles, they would
  lie about anything, including energy projections. As it now stands with
  wind energy, the taxpayers and wildlife are the big losers. I
  will finish by saying that in order to keep all this in proper
  perspective one must keep in mind that state and federal renewable
  energy mandates that were written into law were created by this
  industry. The laws that absolve this industry from killing endangered species
  were also created by them. These deliberate actions created a demand
  for their products and enabled the industry to circumvent Federal
  Wildlife Laws. It is time to rethink what has taken place and
  acknowledge the terrible impact this industry will have on the world.
  New non-lethal turbine designs have to be put into production. If not,
  then there will be the inevitable extinction of several bird species in
  the near future.

• http://www.facebook.com/WiegandsWindow Jim Wiegand

  It is time for everyone to take a closer look at the true character of
  the wind industry. For over 25 years there has been bird mortality/wind
  turbine cover-up. As it now stands at wind farms across the world,
  thousands of protected bird species are killed daily. I have been told
  by good sources the industry has been hiding the bodies of rare and
  endangered species for decades. Today body disposal is all a part of a
  days work at a wind farm. This tragic cover-up will continue until it is
  made a felony to conceal fatalities at wind farms. Not until enough
  people stand up against this industry can they be forced to implement
  new turbine designs into their wind farms. Until then the profiteers
  will lie, pacify the public with bogus studies, claim they are working
  on the problem, and continue to make their fortunes from these killers.Today
  the California Condor habitat in the mountainous region of Tehachapi
  and Tejon ranch has been destroyed for the condors. This is due to the
  thousands of lethal wind turbines constructed in their natural habitat.
  The wind industry has made a complete mockery of the condor recovery.
  Despite the success of condor breeding programs there are few if any
  free flying condors and it will stay that way as long as there are
  propeller style turbines.Today the only way to keep the condors
  from flying off into the turbines is by the permanent feeding stations
  that have been set up for them. Without the feeding stations the condors
  would be hopping on the same wind currents used to spin the turbines
  searching the countryside looking for a meal. Their clumsy slow flights
  that would normally cover hundreds of square miles a day make them an
  easy target for the spinning wind turbine blades. Now the condors
  primarily just wander from perches close to the stations where the
  carcasses are dumped. If condors start to wander, they are trapped so
  they will not perish.The new propeller style wind turbines reach
  400- 500 ft into the sky and have a kill zone 30-45 times the area of
  the famous eagle killing turbines built at Altamont Pass. Now a wind
  farm of just 50 turbines is equivalent to 1500-2250 of theses early
  turbines. The blade tips on the new models with 12 ton blades rip
  through the air at over 220-240 mph when spinning at 20 just rotations
  per minute. This is twice as fast as the old turbines and over three
  times the speed of a major league baseball bat swing. The industry does
  not like to talk about these facts but this is the truth.Despite
  industry propaganda, cats, windows, cars etc. kill almost no rare and
  endangered species such as Condors, Whooping Cranes, Red Kites,
  Tasmanian Wedge Tailed Eagles, and Egyptian Vultures. I could go on and
  on with this industry death list. The fact is, once these turbines are
  put into their foraging and nesting habitats they become the primary
  killers of these species. The reality is that no bird or bat is safe
  from these turbines. The public rarely hears about it because of bogus
  studies, wind farm security and carefully written contracts with gag
  orders. Think about it. Why would an honest industry ever need gag
  orders? Why would they rig Environmental Impact Documents? Why hide
  bodies?Recent studies from Altamont Pass would have us believing
  that the new larger wind turbines are much safer than the early
  turbines used at Altamont pass. Much has been written about the benefits
  of repowering Altamont Pass with the new safer turbines. After reading
  the June 6 Wind Energy story published in the LA Times I began looking
  into the research behind the statement made by Dr. Shawn Smallwood
  ………”The neighboring Buena Vista Wind Energy Project recently
  replaced 179 aging wind turbines with 38 newer and more powerful
  1-megawatt turbines. That repowering effort has reduced fatality rates
  by 79% for all raptor species and 50% for golden eagles, according to a
  study by Shawn Smallwood, an expert on raptor ecology in wind farms”. I
  found a major flaw in the research and everyone I have shown this to
  agrees with me about this. The reason the studies are flawed is that all
  the search areas looking for blade strike victims are statistically
  inconsistent with the turbine sizes. I will illustrate the most extreme
  example of this inconsistency. The old 40KW turbines at Altamont have a
  stated historical search areas of a 50 meter radius yet the new and much
  larger 1 Mw turbines have a search area radius of only 75 meters. The
  comparison between these turbines reveals that the new 1 MW turbines
  have a 20.65 times greater rotor sweep(Kill Zone), yet their search
  areas were only increased by 2.2 times. By my calculations the search
  areas should have been many times larger. There is good reason bird
  mortality went down per KW of power production in these studies, the
  search areas are proportionally much smaller. Being a Wildlife
  biologist with decades of observations, I know as well as anyone the
  integrity of the wind industry. I have read their rigged Environmental
  Impact Reports and I have yet to see an honest one. In my opinion there
  should many going to jail for this ongoing fraud. If corporations would
  lie about the impacts to Condors, Whopping Cranes and Eagles, they would
  lie about anything, including energy projections. As it now stands with
  wind energy, the taxpayers and wildlife are the big losers. I
  will finish by saying that in order to keep all this in proper
  perspective one must keep in mind that state and federal renewable
  energy mandates that were written into law were created by this
  industry. The laws that absolve this industry from killing endangered species
  were also created by them. These deliberate actions created a demand
  for their products and enabled the industry to circumvent Federal
  Wildlife Laws. It is time to rethink what has taken place and
  acknowledge the terrible impact this industry will have on the world.
  New non-lethal turbine designs have to be put into production. If not,
  then there will be the inevitable extinction of several bird species in
  the near future.

• http://www.facebook.com/WiegandsWindow Jim Wiegand

  It is time
  for everyone to take a closer look at the true character of the wind industry.
  For over 25 years there has been bird mortality/wind turbine cover-up. As it
  now stands at wind farms across the world, thousands of protected bird species
  are killed daily. I have been told by good sources the industry has been hiding
  the bodies of rare and endangered species for decades. Today body disposal is
  all a part of a days work at a wind farm. This tragic cover-up will continue
  until it is made a felony to conceal fatalities at wind farms. Not until enough
  people stand up against this industry can they be forced to implement new
  turbine designs into their wind farms. Until then the profiteers will lie,
  pacify the public with bogus studies, claim they are working on the problem,
  and continue to make their fortunes from these killers.

  Today the California Condor habitat in the mountainous region of Tehachapi and
  Tejon ranch has been destroyed for the condors. This is due to the thousands of
  lethal wind turbines constructed in their natural habitat. The wind industry
  has made a complete mockery of the condor recovery. Despite the success of
  condor breeding programs there are few if any free flying condors and it will
  stay that way as long as there are propeller style turbines.

  Today the only way to keep the condors from flying off into the turbines is by
  the permanent feeding stations that have been set up for them. Without the
  feeding stations the condors would be hopping on the same wind currents used to
  spin the turbines searching the countryside looking for a meal. Their clumsy
  slow flights that would normally cover hundreds of square miles a day make them
  an easy target for the spinning wind turbine blades. Now the condors primarily
  just wander from perches close to the stations where the carcasses are dumped.
  If condors start to wander, they are trapped so they will not perish.

  The new propeller style wind turbines reach 400- 500 ft into the sky and have a
  kill zone 30-45 times the area of the famous eagle killing turbines built at Altamont Pass. Now a wind farm of just 50
  turbines is equivalent to 1500-2250 of theses early turbines. The blade tips on
  the new models with 12 ton blades rip through the air at over 220-240 mph when
  spinning at 20 just rotations per minute. This is twice as fast as the old
  turbines and over three times the speed of a major league baseball bat swing.
  The industry does not like to talk about these facts but this is the truth.

  Despite industry propaganda, cats, windows, cars etc. kill almost no rare and
  endangered species such as Condors, Whooping Cranes, Red Kites, Tasmanian Wedge
  Tailed Eagles, and Egyptian Vultures. I could go on and on with this industry
  death list. The fact is, once these turbines are put into their foraging and
  nesting habitats they become the primary killers of these species. The reality
  is that no bird or bat is safe from these turbines. The public rarely hears
  about it because of bogus studies, wind farm security and carefully written
  contracts with gag orders. Think about it. Why would an honest industry ever
  need gag orders? Why would they rig Environmental Impact Documents? Why hide
  bodies?

  Recent studies from Altamont Pass would have us believing that the new larger wind
  turbines are much safer than the early turbines used at Altamont
  pass. Much has been written about the benefits of repowering Altamont Pass
  with the new safer turbines. After reading the June 6 Wind Energy story
  published in the LA Times I began looking into the research behind the
  statement made by Dr. Shawn Smallwood ………”The neighboring Buena
  Vista Wind Energy Project recently replaced 179 aging wind turbines with 38
  newer and more powerful 1-megawatt turbines. That repowering effort has reduced
  fatality rates by 79% for all raptor species and 50% for golden eagles,
  according to a study by Shawn Smallwood, an expert on raptor ecology in wind
  farms”.

  I found a major flaw in the research and everyone I have shown this to agrees
  with me about this. The reason the studies are flawed is that all the search
  areas looking for blade strike victims are statistically inconsistent with the
  turbine sizes. I will illustrate the most extreme example of this inconsistency.
  The old 40KW turbines at Altamont have a
  stated historical search areas of a 50 meter radius yet the new and much larger
  1 Mw turbines have a search area radius of only 75 meters. The comparison
  between these turbines reveals that the new 1 MW turbines have a 20.65 times
  greater rotor sweep(Kill Zone), yet their search areas were only increased by
  2.2 times. By my calculations the search areas should have been many times
  larger. There is good reason bird mortality went down per KW of power production
  in these studies, the search areas are proportionally much smaller.

  Being a Wildlife biologist with decades of observations, I know as well as
  anyone the integrity of the wind industry. I have read their rigged
  Environmental Impact Reports and I have yet to see an honest one. In my opinion
  there should many going to jail for this ongoing fraud. If corporations would
  lie about the impacts to Condors, Whopping Cranes and Eagles, they would lie
  about anything, including energy projections. As it now stands with wind
  energy, the taxpayers and wildlife are the big losers.

  I will finish by saying that in order to keep all this in proper perspective
  one must keep in mind that state and federal renewable energy mandates that
  were written into law were created by this industry. The laws that absolve this
  industry from killing endangered
  species were also created by them. These deliberate actions created a demand
  for their products and enabled the industry to circumvent Federal Wildlife
  Laws. It is time to rethink what has taken place and acknowledge the terrible
  impact this industry will have on the world. New non-lethal turbine designs
  have to be put into production. If not, then there will be the inevitable
  extinction of several bird species in the near future.

• http://www.facebook.com/WiegandsWindow Jim Wiegand

  It is time
  for everyone to take a closer look at the true character of the wind industry.
  For over 25 years there has been bird mortality/wind turbine cover-up. As it
  now stands at wind farms across the world, thousands of protected bird species
  are killed daily. I have been told by good sources the industry has been hiding
  the bodies of rare and endangered species for decades. Today body disposal is
  all a part of a days work at a wind farm. This tragic cover-up will continue
  until it is made a felony to conceal fatalities at wind farms. Not until enough
  people stand up against this industry can they be forced to implement new
  turbine designs into their wind farms. Until then the profiteers will lie,
  pacify the public with bogus studies, claim they are working on the problem,
  and continue to make their fortunes from these killers.

  Today the California Condor habitat in the mountainous region of Tehachapi and
  Tejon ranch has been destroyed for the condors. This is due to the thousands of
  lethal wind turbines constructed in their natural habitat. The wind industry
  has made a complete mockery of the condor recovery. Despite the success of
  condor breeding programs there are few if any free flying condors and it will
  stay that way as long as there are propeller style turbines.

  Today the only way to keep the condors from flying off into the turbines is by
  the permanent feeding stations that have been set up for them. Without the
  feeding stations the condors would be hopping on the same wind currents used to
  spin the turbines searching the countryside looking for a meal. Their clumsy
  slow flights that would normally cover hundreds of square miles a day make them
  an easy target for the spinning wind turbine blades. Now the condors primarily
  just wander from perches close to the stations where the carcasses are dumped.
  If condors start to wander, they are trapped so they will not perish.

  The new propeller style wind turbines reach 400- 500 ft into the sky and have a
  kill zone 30-45 times the area of the famous eagle killing turbines built at Altamont Pass. Now a wind farm of just 50
  turbines is equivalent to 1500-2250 of theses early turbines. The blade tips on
  the new models with 12 ton blades rip through the air at over 220-240 mph when
  spinning at 20 just rotations per minute. This is twice as fast as the old
  turbines and over three times the speed of a major league baseball bat swing.
  The industry does not like to talk about these facts but this is the truth.

  Despite industry propaganda, cats, windows, cars etc. kill almost no rare and
  endangered species such as Condors, Whooping Cranes, Red Kites, Tasmanian Wedge
  Tailed Eagles, and Egyptian Vultures. I could go on and on with this industry
  death list. The fact is, once these turbines are put into their foraging and
  nesting habitats they become the primary killers of these species. The reality
  is that no bird or bat is safe from these turbines. The public rarely hears
  about it because of bogus studies, wind farm security and carefully written
  contracts with gag orders. Think about it. Why would an honest industry ever
  need gag orders? Why would they rig Environmental Impact Documents? Why hide
  bodies?

  Recent studies from Altamont Pass would have us believing that the new larger wind
  turbines are much safer than the early turbines used at Altamont
  pass. Much has been written about the benefits of repowering Altamont Pass
  with the new safer turbines. After reading the June 6 Wind Energy story
  published in the LA Times I began looking into the research behind the
  statement made by Dr. Shawn Smallwood ………”The neighboring Buena
  Vista Wind Energy Project recently replaced 179 aging wind turbines with 38
  newer and more powerful 1-megawatt turbines. That repowering effort has reduced
  fatality rates by 79% for all raptor species and 50% for golden eagles,
  according to a study by Shawn Smallwood, an expert on raptor ecology in wind
  farms”.

  I found a major flaw in the research and everyone I have shown this to agrees
  with me about this. The reason the studies are flawed is that all the search
  areas looking for blade strike victims are statistically inconsistent with the
  turbine sizes. I will illustrate the most extreme example of this inconsistency.
  The old 40KW turbines at Altamont have a
  stated historical search areas of a 50 meter radius yet the new and much larger
  1 Mw turbines have a search area radius of only 75 meters. The comparison
  between these turbines reveals that the new 1 MW turbines have a 20.65 times
  greater rotor sweep(Kill Zone), yet their search areas were only increased by
  2.2 times. By my calculations the search areas should have been many times
  larger. There is good reason bird mortality went down per KW of power production
  in these studies, the search areas are proportionally much smaller.

  Being a Wildlife biologist with decades of observations, I know as well as
  anyone the integrity of the wind industry. I have read their rigged
  Environmental Impact Reports and I have yet to see an honest one. In my opinion
  there should many going to jail for this ongoing fraud. If corporations would
  lie about the impacts to Condors, Whopping Cranes and Eagles, they would lie
  about anything, including energy projections. As it now stands with wind
  energy, the taxpayers and wildlife are the big losers.

  I will finish by saying that in order to keep all this in proper perspective
  one must keep in mind that state and federal renewable energy mandates that
  were written into law were created by this industry. The laws that absolve this
  industry from killing endangered
  species were also created by them. These deliberate actions created a demand
  for their products and enabled the industry to circumvent Federal Wildlife
  Laws. It is time to rethink what has taken place and acknowledge the terrible
  impact this industry will have on the world. New non-lethal turbine designs
  have to be put into production. If not, then there will be the inevitable
  extinction of several bird species in the near future.

• http://www.facebook.com/WiegandsWindow Jim Wiegand

  It is time
  for everyone to take a closer look at the true character of the wind industry.
  For over 25 years there has been bird mortality/wind turbine cover-up. As it
  now stands at wind farms across the world, thousands of protected bird species
  are killed daily. I have been told by good sources the industry has been hiding
  the bodies of rare and endangered species for decades. Today body disposal is
  all a part of a days work at a wind farm. This tragic cover-up will continue
  until it is made a felony to conceal fatalities at wind farms. Not until enough
  people stand up against this industry can they be forced to implement new
  turbine designs into their wind farms. Until then the profiteers will lie,
  pacify the public with bogus studies, claim they are working on the problem,
  and continue to make their fortunes from these killers.

  Today the California Condor habitat in the mountainous region of Tehachapi and
  Tejon ranch has been destroyed for the condors. This is due to the thousands of
  lethal wind turbines constructed in their natural habitat. The wind industry
  has made a complete mockery of the condor recovery. Despite the success of
  condor breeding programs there are few if any free flying condors and it will
  stay that way as long as there are propeller style turbines.

  Today the only way to keep the condors from flying off into the turbines is by
  the permanent feeding stations that have been set up for them. Without the
  feeding stations the condors would be hopping on the same wind currents used to
  spin the turbines searching the countryside looking for a meal. Their clumsy
  slow flights that would normally cover hundreds of square miles a day make them
  an easy target for the spinning wind turbine blades. Now the condors primarily
  just wander from perches close to the stations where the carcasses are dumped.
  If condors start to wander, they are trapped so they will not perish.

  The new propeller style wind turbines reach 400- 500 ft into the sky and have a
  kill zone 30-45 times the area of the famous eagle killing turbines built at Altamont Pass. Now a wind farm of just 50
  turbines is equivalent to 1500-2250 of theses early turbines. The blade tips on
  the new models with 12 ton blades rip through the air at over 220-240 mph when
  spinning at 20 just rotations per minute. This is twice as fast as the old
  turbines and over three times the speed of a major league baseball bat swing.
  The industry does not like to talk about these facts but this is the truth.

  Despite industry propaganda, cats, windows, cars etc. kill almost no rare and
  endangered species such as Condors, Whooping Cranes, Red Kites, Tasmanian Wedge
  Tailed Eagles, and Egyptian Vultures. I could go on and on with this industry
  death list. The fact is, once these turbines are put into their foraging and
  nesting habitats they become the primary killers of these species. The reality
  is that no bird or bat is safe from these turbines. The public rarely hears
  about it because of bogus studies, wind farm security and carefully written
  contracts with gag orders. Think about it. Why would an honest industry ever
  need gag orders? Why would they rig Environmental Impact Documents? Why hide
  bodies?

  Recent studies from Altamont Pass would have us believing that the new larger wind
  turbines are much safer than the early turbines used at Altamont
  pass. Much has been written about the benefits of repowering Altamont Pass
  with the new safer turbines. After reading the June 6 Wind Energy story
  published in the LA Times I began looking into the research behind the
  statement made by Dr. Shawn Smallwood ………”The neighboring Buena
  Vista Wind Energy Project recently replaced 179 aging wind turbines with 38
  newer and more powerful 1-megawatt turbines. That repowering effort has reduced
  fatality rates by 79% for all raptor species and 50% for golden eagles,
  according to a study by Shawn Smallwood, an expert on raptor ecology in wind
  farms”.

  I found a major flaw in the research and everyone I have shown this to agrees
  with me about this. The reason the studies are flawed is that all the search
  areas looking for blade strike victims are statistically inconsistent with the
  turbine sizes. I will illustrate the most extreme example of this inconsistency.
  The old 40KW turbines at Altamont have a
  stated historical search areas of a 50 meter radius yet the new and much larger
  1 Mw turbines have a search area radius of only 75 meters. The comparison
  between these turbines reveals that the new 1 MW turbines have a 20.65 times
  greater rotor sweep(Kill Zone), yet their search areas were only increased by
  2.2 times. By my calculations the search areas should have been many times
  larger. There is good reason bird mortality went down per KW of power production
  in these studies, the search areas are proportionally much smaller.

  Being a Wildlife biologist with decades of observations, I know as well as
  anyone the integrity of the wind industry. I have read their rigged
  Environmental Impact Reports and I have yet to see an honest one. In my opinion
  there should many going to jail for this ongoing fraud. If corporations would
  lie about the impacts to Condors, Whopping Cranes and Eagles, they would lie
  about anything, including energy projections. As it now stands with wind
  energy, the taxpayers and wildlife are the big losers.

  I will finish by saying that in order to keep all this in proper perspective
  one must keep in mind that state and federal renewable energy mandates that
  were written into law were created by this industry. The laws that absolve this
  industry from killing endangered
  species were also created by them. These deliberate actions created a demand
  for their products and enabled the industry to circumvent Federal Wildlife
  Laws. It is time to rethink what has taken place and acknowledge the terrible
  impact this industry will have on the world. New non-lethal turbine designs
  have to be put into production. If not, then there will be the inevitable
  extinction of several bird species in the near future.

• Anonymous

  The entire wind industry is a scam that is starting to collapse. It’s one negative impact after another and virtually no benefit when one gets past the industry’s myriad lies.

  See the PDF entitled: “Maine’s Wind Goals, CO2 and the Forest”, based on NRCM’s own numbers.

  http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/maines-wind-goals-co2-and-the

• Anonymous

  The entire wind industry is a scam that is starting to collapse. It’s one negative impact after another and virtually no benefit when one gets past the industry’s myriad lies.

  See the PDF entitled: “Maine’s Wind Goals, CO2 and the Forest”, based on NRCM’s own numbers.

  http://www.windtaskforce.org/profiles/blogs/maines-wind-goals-co2-and-the

• Penny Gray

  Currently, every single industrial wind development on our ridgelines and mountains is in violation of the federal migratory bird act.  Why doesn’t Maine Audubon step up to the plate in defense of our birds and bats, instead of accepting “tangible benefits” (bribes) from the wind industry to endorse their industrial projects?  Which is more important, lining the pockets of these wind developers with our hard earned tax dollars, or protecting our natural resources?  

• Penny Gray

  Currently, every single industrial wind development on our ridgelines and mountains is in violation of the federal migratory bird act.  Why doesn’t Maine Audubon step up to the plate in defense of our birds and bats, instead of accepting “tangible benefits” (bribes) from the wind industry to endorse their industrial projects?  Which is more important, lining the pockets of these wind developers with our hard earned tax dollars, or protecting our natural resources?  

• Penny Gray

  Currently, every single industrial wind development on our ridgelines and mountains is in violation of the federal migratory bird act.  Why doesn’t Maine Audubon step up to the plate in defense of our birds and bats, instead of accepting “tangible benefits” (bribes) from the wind industry to endorse their industrial projects?  Which is more important, lining the pockets of these wind developers with our hard earned tax dollars, or protecting our natural resources?  

• Penny Gray

  Currently, every single industrial wind development on our ridgelines and mountains is in violation of the federal migratory bird act.  Why doesn’t Maine Audubon step up to the plate in defense of our birds and bats, instead of accepting “tangible benefits” (bribes) from the wind industry to endorse their industrial projects?  Which is more important, lining the pockets of these wind developers with our hard earned tax dollars, or protecting our natural resources?  

• Penny Gray

  Currently, every single industrial wind development on our ridgelines and mountains is in violation of the federal migratory bird act.  Why doesn’t Maine Audubon step up to the plate in defense of our birds and bats, instead of accepting “tangible benefits” (bribes) from the wind industry to endorse their industrial projects?  Which is more important, lining the pockets of these wind developers with our hard earned tax dollars, or protecting our natural resources?  

• Penny Gray

  Currently, every single industrial wind development on our ridgelines and mountains is in violation of the federal migratory bird act.  Why doesn’t Maine Audubon step up to the plate in defense of our birds and bats, instead of accepting “tangible benefits” (bribes) from the wind industry to endorse their industrial projects?  Which is more important, lining the pockets of these wind developers with our hard earned tax dollars, or protecting our natural resources?  

• Penny Gray

  Currently, every single industrial wind development on our ridgelines and mountains is in violation of the federal migratory bird act.  Why doesn’t Maine Audubon step up to the plate in defense of our birds and bats, instead of accepting “tangible benefits” (bribes) from the wind industry to endorse their industrial projects?  Which is more important, lining the pockets of these wind developers with our hard earned tax dollars, or protecting our natural resources?  

• Penny Gray

  Currently, every single industrial wind development on our ridgelines and mountains is in violation of the federal migratory bird act.  Why doesn’t Maine Audubon step up to the plate in defense of our birds and bats, instead of accepting “tangible benefits” (bribes) from the wind industry to endorse their industrial projects?  Which is more important, lining the pockets of these wind developers with our hard earned tax dollars, or protecting our natural resources?  

• Penny Gray

  Currently, every single industrial wind development on our ridgelines and mountains is in violation of the federal migratory bird act.  Why doesn’t Maine Audubon step up to the plate in defense of our birds and bats, instead of accepting “tangible benefits” (bribes) from the wind industry to endorse their industrial projects?  Which is more important, lining the pockets of these wind developers with our hard earned tax dollars, or protecting our natural resources?  

• Penny Gray

  Currently, every single industrial wind development on our ridgelines and mountains is in violation of the federal migratory bird act.  Why doesn’t Maine Audubon step up to the plate in defense of our birds and bats, instead of accepting “tangible benefits” (bribes) from the wind industry to endorse their industrial projects?  Which is more important, lining the pockets of these wind developers with our hard earned tax dollars, or protecting our natural resources?  

• Anonymous

  Audubon was in favor of the project.
  Money talks.

• Anonymous

  Audubon was in favor of the project.
  Money talks.

• Anonymous

  Audubon was in favor of the project.
  Money talks.

• Anonymous

  Audubon was in favor of the project.
  Money talks.

• G. Alan Woods

  At yesterday’s LURC hearing on First Wind’s 27 turbine plan for Bowers Mountain we learned that IFW has no spine.

  Weeks ago IFW complained about the bat mortality the project will casuse. Given the spread of white-nose syndrome bat mortality has to be kept to an absolute minimum, if not eliminated. In their comments on the application, IFW stated:

  “In order to minimize risk of mortality to bats MDIFW recommends that operational control measures be established. These measures should be employed from April 20th through October 15th, such that the applicant set the turbine cut-in speed to 5.0 m/s starting at one-half hour before sunset to one-half hour after sunrise. During this time frame when the wind speed is less than the 5.0 m/s, turbine blades are not allowed to rotate thus reducing risk of fatality for bats.”  (Letter to LURC from Mark Caron, Regional Wildlife Biologist, April 15th).

  Sounds prudent to me! But apparently First Wind was not happy. So IN ORDER TO KEEP FIRST WIND HAPPY,  IFW back-pedalled so that First Wind only has to apply this bat-saving standard to one half of the 27 turbines (and because it’s an odd number, I’ll bet you anything they round down to 13 turbines).

  IFW also refuses to address the fact that there are endangered Canada Lynx on Bowers Mountain. There is a record of at least one being accidentally trapped last winter and several more in previous years. In fact, IFW sent out a notice to local trappers warning them that there are Canada Lynx in the region and precautions must be taken not to harm them! Ask any local guide or trapper and he’ll tell you there absolutely are Lynx and at least one Lynx den on Bowers Mountain.

  First Wind’s transmission corridor goes through recognized “Critical Lynx Habitat” north of Rte 6 and the turbines themselves are within 2 or 3 miles. Just 2 miles south of the turbines is Passamaquoddy land which is also being managed as “Critical Lynx Habitat”. In effect this project will cut a swath through what is obviously critical habitat for an animal on the endangered species list!!

  Does IFW care? Absolutely not. When it comes to First Wind blasting our mountains, don’t count on IFW to stand up to them!

• G. Alan Woods

  At yesterday’s LURC hearing on First Wind’s 27 turbine plan for Bowers Mountain we learned that IFW has no spine.

  Weeks ago IFW complained about the bat mortality the project will casuse. Given the spread of white-nose syndrome bat mortality has to be kept to an absolute minimum, if not eliminated. In their comments on the application, IFW stated:

  “In order to minimize risk of mortality to bats MDIFW recommends that operational control measures be established. These measures should be employed from April 20th through October 15th, such that the applicant set the turbine cut-in speed to 5.0 m/s starting at one-half hour before sunset to one-half hour after sunrise. During this time frame when the wind speed is less than the 5.0 m/s, turbine blades are not allowed to rotate thus reducing risk of fatality for bats.”  (Letter to LURC from Mark Caron, Regional Wildlife Biologist, April 15th).

  Sounds prudent to me! But apparently First Wind was not happy. So IN ORDER TO KEEP FIRST WIND HAPPY,  IFW back-pedalled so that First Wind only has to apply this bat-saving standard to one half of the 27 turbines (and because it’s an odd number, I’ll bet you anything they round down to 13 turbines).

  IFW also refuses to address the fact that there are endangered Canada Lynx on Bowers Mountain. There is a record of at least one being accidentally trapped last winter and several more in previous years. In fact, IFW sent out a notice to local trappers warning them that there are Canada Lynx in the region and precautions must be taken not to harm them! Ask any local guide or trapper and he’ll tell you there absolutely are Lynx and at least one Lynx den on Bowers Mountain.

  First Wind’s transmission corridor goes through recognized “Critical Lynx Habitat” north of Rte 6 and the turbines themselves are within 2 or 3 miles. Just 2 miles south of the turbines is Passamaquoddy land which is also being managed as “Critical Lynx Habitat”. In effect this project will cut a swath through what is obviously critical habitat for an animal on the endangered species list!!

  Does IFW care? Absolutely not. When it comes to First Wind blasting our mountains, don’t count on IFW to stand up to them!

• http://www.facebook.com/karen.b.pease Karen Bessey Pease

  Okay, folks.  These comments are important to help educate Mainers, but will they have an impact when it comes to saving our wildlife– and goldens, in particular?

  What we need, really need, is for everyone to write to the IF&W and the USFWS and Audubon.  Now.  Today.  We, the people, have had most of our power to ‘have a say’ removed by the corporate lobby and the government which supports it.  As long as we allow it to happen, we remain powerless.  I urge you to speak up, now.

  Virgil Caine and others don’t have a ‘voice’.  We need to speak up for them.

• http://www.facebook.com/karen.b.pease Karen Bessey Pease

  Okay, folks.  These comments are important to help educate Mainers, but will they have an impact when it comes to saving our wildlife– and goldens, in particular?

  What we need, really need, is for everyone to write to the IF&W and the USFWS and Audubon.  Now.  Today.  We, the people, have had most of our power to ‘have a say’ removed by the corporate lobby and the government which supports it.  As long as we allow it to happen, we remain powerless.  I urge you to speak up, now.

  Virgil Caine and others don’t have a ‘voice’.  We need to speak up for them.

• http://www.facebook.com/karen.b.pease Karen Bessey Pease

  Okay, folks.  These comments are important to help educate Mainers, but will they have an impact when it comes to saving our wildlife– and goldens, in particular?

  What we need, really need, is for everyone to write to the IF&W and the USFWS and Audubon.  Now.  Today.  We, the people, have had most of our power to ‘have a say’ removed by the corporate lobby and the government which supports it.  As long as we allow it to happen, we remain powerless.  I urge you to speak up, now.

  Virgil Caine and others don’t have a ‘voice’.  We need to speak up for them.

• http://www.facebook.com/karen.b.pease Karen Bessey Pease

  Okay, folks.  These comments are important to help educate Mainers, but will they have an impact when it comes to saving our wildlife– and goldens, in particular?

  What we need, really need, is for everyone to write to the IF&W and the USFWS and Audubon.  Now.  Today.  We, the people, have had most of our power to ‘have a say’ removed by the corporate lobby and the government which supports it.  As long as we allow it to happen, we remain powerless.  I urge you to speak up, now.

  Virgil Caine and others don’t have a ‘voice’.  We need to speak up for them.

• http://www.facebook.com/karen.b.pease Karen Bessey Pease

  Okay, folks.  These comments are important to help educate Mainers, but will they have an impact when it comes to saving our wildlife– and goldens, in particular?

  What we need, really need, is for everyone to write to the IF&W and the USFWS and Audubon.  Now.  Today.  We, the people, have had most of our power to ‘have a say’ removed by the corporate lobby and the government which supports it.  As long as we allow it to happen, we remain powerless.  I urge you to speak up, now.

  Virgil Caine and others don’t have a ‘voice’.  We need to speak up for them.

• Anonymous

  Golden eagles, YES… windsprawl NO. Biologist Caron was all in favor of the Rollins project. How do you like them now Mark?

• Anonymous

  Golden eagles, YES… windsprawl NO. Biologist Caron was all in favor of the Rollins project. How do you like them now Mark?

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7ARBFNYJAE23QMOBALXD7FM4W4 gempaint

  Spruce Mountain; Patriot Renewables pre-study by IFW shows a golden eagle flying in the area, but, it did not fly over the ridgeline therefore IFW said “no adverse” impact to raptors..
  Did PR get a “take” permit?
  Saddleback Ridge; Patriot Renewables did their migratory  bird studies in the spring of 2009, ending the study date at 5/31.  Every June, Canadian Geese fly over, see Janice Glover Windtaskforce.
  IFW does not have the man power to make complete studies and NIMBYs do not have the money to fight these bogus studies.

  I write testimonies to LURC, DEP, DOE,  and now IFW.  I cannot speak for the animals but I do know they are sited in Saddleback Ridge area all the time. 

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7ARBFNYJAE23QMOBALXD7FM4W4 gempaint

  Spruce Mountain; Patriot Renewables pre-study by IFW shows a golden eagle flying in the area, but, it did not fly over the ridgeline therefore IFW said “no adverse” impact to raptors..
  Did PR get a “take” permit?
  Saddleback Ridge; Patriot Renewables did their migratory  bird studies in the spring of 2009, ending the study date at 5/31.  Every June, Canadian Geese fly over, see Janice Glover Windtaskforce.
  IFW does not have the man power to make complete studies and NIMBYs do not have the money to fight these bogus studies.

  I write testimonies to LURC, DEP, DOE,  and now IFW.  I cannot speak for the animals but I do know they are sited in Saddleback Ridge area all the time. 

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7ARBFNYJAE23QMOBALXD7FM4W4 gempaint

  Spruce Mountain; Patriot Renewables pre-study by IFW shows a golden eagle flying in the area, but, it did not fly over the ridgeline therefore IFW said “no adverse” impact to raptors..
  Did PR get a “take” permit?
  Saddleback Ridge; Patriot Renewables did their migratory  bird studies in the spring of 2009, ending the study date at 5/31.  Every June, Canadian Geese fly over, see Janice Glover Windtaskforce.
  IFW does not have the man power to make complete studies and NIMBYs do not have the money to fight these bogus studies.

  I write testimonies to LURC, DEP, DOE,  and now IFW.  I cannot speak for the animals but I do know they are sited in Saddleback Ridge area all the time. 

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7ARBFNYJAE23QMOBALXD7FM4W4 gempaint

  Spruce Mountain; Patriot Renewables pre-study by IFW shows a golden eagle flying in the area, but, it did not fly over the ridgeline therefore IFW said “no adverse” impact to raptors..
  Did PR get a “take” permit?
  Saddleback Ridge; Patriot Renewables did their migratory  bird studies in the spring of 2009, ending the study date at 5/31.  Every June, Canadian Geese fly over, see Janice Glover Windtaskforce.
  IFW does not have the man power to make complete studies and NIMBYs do not have the money to fight these bogus studies.

  I write testimonies to LURC, DEP, DOE,  and now IFW.  I cannot speak for the animals but I do know they are sited in Saddleback Ridge area all the time. 

• http://pulse.yahoo.com/_7ARBFNYJAE23QMOBALXD7FM4W4 gempaint

  Spruce Mountain; Patriot Renewables pre-study by IFW shows a golden eagle flying in the area, but, it did not fly over the ridgeline therefore IFW said “no adverse” impact to raptors..
  Did PR get a “take” permit?
  Saddleback Ridge; Patriot Renewables did their migratory  bird studies in the spring of 2009, ending the study date at 5/31.  Every June, Canadian Geese fly over, see Janice Glover Windtaskforce.
  IFW does not have the man power to make complete studies and NIMBYs do not have the money to fight these bogus studies.

  I write testimonies to LURC, DEP, DOE,  and now IFW.  I cannot speak for the animals but I do know they are sited in Saddleback Ridge area all the time.