"But there's a problem. The whirring blades kill birds. A lot of them.

"Such mass bird kills represent a dilemma for the Obama administration. Can it promote renewable energy development and still enforce laws that protect wildlife?"

Obama admin sweats legal response as turbines kill birds

Lawrence Hurley, E & E reporter

Greenwire: Thursday, January 26, 2012

Turn the final bend on Route 42 as it snakes up Mount Storm and a towering turbine appears, its blades swooshing in the winter gusts.

Cape Vincent, NY could become an
addition to the Wolfe Island
Killing Fields.

Dozens more of these giants crown this remote mountain ridge 150 miles west of Washington, D.C. Dominion and Shell WindEnergy's NedPower Mount Storm facility -- 132 turbines in all -- generates up to 264 megawatts, enough to power around 66,000 homes.

But there's a problem: The whirring blades kill birds. A lot of them.

Turbines at the NedPower Mount Storm wind energy project in West Virginia where 59 birds were killed on Sept. 24. Photo by Lawrence Hurley.

The turbines, positioned just so to harness the wind, are dead in the path of hawks, yellow-billed cuckoos, wood thrushes and other migrating birds. On one night last September, Mount Storm turbines killed 59 birds when a light was left on in one of the towers.

Such mass bird kills represent a dilemma for the Obama administration. Can it promote renewable energy development and still enforce laws that protect wildlife?

In theory, wind farm operators could face prosecution under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act for every migratory bird their turbines kill.

But nobody's been prosecuted. And the administration has sent signals indicating that companies won't face legal trouble, though it has fallen short of issuing any cast-iron guarantees.

Further muddying the waters, legal experts say it is not clear under what circumstances a wind energy company could face liability under the bird-protection law.

The status quo provides ammunition for foes of new wind-energy projects.

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