Trevor Butterworth takes a look at the double-standard for wildlife protections Wind Developers are allowed to play by as compared to other energy industries. Regulations to prevent huge impacts to birds and wildlife are “voluntary” and often written by the Wind Industry itself.
Op-Ed: A mighty wind – Trevor Butterworth – The Daily
Imagine the U.S. government had asked the oil industry to observe “voluntary” environmental guidelines to protect wildlife — and then imagine that the oil companies were so upset by how burdensome these “voluntary” guidelines were that they were allowed to substantially rewrite them. Of course, this is the kind of dystopian conspiracy that many people imagine already occurs when commercial interests collide with conservation and ecology. What’s remarkable though, is that this is precisely what the U.S. government is allowing to happen with the wind power industry, and not the oil companies — or any other fossil fuel utility.
Comments
Great deal for companies like BP.
On both the right and the left, they get politicians fighting for reduced environmental protections.