Committing multiple felonies in the name of alt.energy

Windmills are not called Eagle Cuisinarts for no reason. Now it seems that the numbers are a lot higher than previously released. From FOX News:

�Alarming� number of eagles killed by wind farms, new study finds
Wind energy facilities have killed at least 67 golden and bald eagles in the last five years, but the figure could be much higher, according to a new scientific study by government biologists.

The research represents one of the first tallies of eagle deaths attributed to the nation's growing wind energy industry, which has been a pillar of President Obama's plans to reduce the pollution blamed for global warming. Wind power releases no air pollution.

But at a minimum, the scientists wrote, wind farms in 10 states have killed at least 85 eagles since 1997, with most deaths occurring between 2008 and 2012, as the industry was greatly expanding. Most deaths -- 79 -- were golden eagles that struck wind turbines. One of the eagles counted in the study was electrocuted by a power line.

And it just keeps getting better:

Still, the scientists said their figure is likely to be "substantially" underestimated, since companies report eagle deaths voluntarily and only a fraction of those included in their total were discovered during searches for dead birds by wind-energy companies. The study also excluded the deadliest place in the country for eagles, a cluster of wind farms in a northern California area known as Altamont Pass. Wind farms built there decades ago kill more than 60 per year.

Emphasis mine -- again, the reporting is voluntary so the reported number is a lot smaller than the real number. Each eagle death is a felony charge if one of us were to do it. The report was published by the Journal of Raptor Research and is unfortunately locked behind the paywall at BioOne. Wind power is a highly flawed source of energy. Conventional generators need to be kept running on hot-standby to take up the slack when the wind dies. Wind is not a baseline energy source. Plus, there is the excellent question of whether wind turbines are actually a net contributor as they have major energy needs for their operation. Thorium reactors now please!