Ed. note: This is a weekly column by Elie Mystal, Managing Editor of Above the Law Redline. This space will focus on the laws that exist, should exist, and should be put out of their misery. OVER-REGULATED: The Pipeline That Won’t Die: How about we agree to build the Keystone pipeline, but only send beer… Keep reading →
It’s Palen, not Palin, but it’s still proving to be controversial and unpredictable. Seemingly dead in December, then indicted in the press last month as a likely wanton bird incinerator, the Palen Solar Electric Generating System now looks like it might get the go-ahead. A California Energy Commission committee recommended approval of a scaled-down version… Keep reading →
What the flux? Renewable energy and its advocates and detractors are having a moment, that’s what, a bout of hysteria after the Associated Press revealed that, OMG, renewables aren’t a magical force capable of keeping our air conditioners humming and big-screen TVs aglow without exacting some toll. As with wind, the toll here is in… Keep reading →
The American Bird Conservancy is suing the Obama Administration over a rule that would allow wind farm operators to kill a certain number of federally protected eagles for a period of 30 years without threat of prosecution. The group says the rule is illegal because the US Fish & Wildlife Service never had an opportunity… Keep reading →
The 377 MW Ivanpah solar plant started up in California today amid controversy over wildlife apparently killed by the intense heat emitted from the solar receivers located on top of the facility’s “power towers.” 3,500 acres of specially-designed mirrors focus the sun’s radiation on the towers, which convert water to steam used to spins power-generating… Keep reading →
Federal oversight of wind energy’s adverse impacts to birds, bats and other wildlife will increase due to two recent developments: the pending first programmatic take permit under the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act (“BGEPA”) and the first criminal enforcement action for avian fatalities under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (“MBTA”). Wind farms face a… Keep reading →
The Audubon Society is upset with a US Department of Interior decision to allow wind farm operators to obtain permit extensions allowing accidental bird death or injury for up to 30 years. Interior says the permit extensions provide regulatory certainty to wind developers, but Audubon thinks the move fails to balance “the need for conservation… Keep reading →
For a long time, the wind industry operated pretty much with impunity when it came to its impact on golden eagles and other birds. Those days could be coming to an end. In California, the Obama administration is pushing an operating 102-megawatt wind power plant to accept a first-ever permit under the Bald and Golden… Keep reading →
