A Hunting License for Bald Eagles?

Senator Lamar Alexander explained why the federal Production Tax Credit (PTC) for industrial wind is like "Going to War in Sailboats". In today's address at the Heritage Foundation, Senator Alexander mentions the AWA Goodhue project's application for an Incidental Take Permit (at 19:50) comparing it to a hunting license for bald eagles. He also mentions that oil companies have been fined for killing birds, but wind turbine owners have not.

Senator Alexander hits on three main themes:

1. There is no money.
2. Wind is unreliable.
3. Environmental damage.

“We hear a lot of talk about federal subsidies for Big Oil. I would like to talk about federal subsidies for Big Wind – $14 billion between 2009 and 2013, according to the Joint Tax Committee. And what do we get for these billions in subsidies? A puny amount of unreliable electricity that arrives disproportionately at night when we don’t need it. Americans are finding out that these are not your grandma's windmills. These gigantic turbines – which look so pleasant on the television ads paid for by the people getting all the tax breaks – are three times as high as football stadiums, taller than the Statue of Liberty, with blades as wide as a football field; you can see the blinking lights for 20 miles, and on top of that, these giant turbines have become the Cuisinart in the sky for birds. It’s time to end Big Wind’s big loophole.”
– Lamar Alexander

The Coalition for Sensible Siting agrees. Citizens have been oppressed long enough by tax and rate money being squandered through Big Wind. The eagles of Goodhue County should not be sacrificed on the alter of Green Greed.



Adult Bald Eagle photo by Kristi Rosenquist March 6, 2012