US Fish and Wildlife Service

Trans-Alaska Pipeline

Last Friday, Alaska Governor Sean Parnell reacted to the US Fish and Wildlife Service’s rejection of the state’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR) exploration plan. Parnell has been pushing to open up a section of ANWR to exploration, and submitted a proposal earlier this year to the Secretary of the Interior to conduct 3-D seismic… Keep reading →


Even with well-established forms of energy development like oil and gas, the science on impacts to the environment can be hard to quantify and harder to predict. The challenge for sectors like the wind industry – comparatively new in its current form – are even higher given the lack of operational data, but as in other areas, the wind business is sprinting to get ahead.

A number of wind energy industry leaders joined several years ago with major environmental groups to form the American Wind Wildlife Institute, which plays several roles but represents an early effort by the sector to be certain wind energy development remains attractive while assuaging or minimizing concerns about impacts on wildlife. Keep reading →


Wind farms have been accused of killing hosts of birds that get caught in their turbines, accusations that have failed to slow the proliferation of wind energy installations across the country, but killing an eagle is a different matter.

The US Fish and Wildlife Service is investigating the death of a golden eagle at a wind farm in Kern County, California, and is asking for local resident’s help. Keep reading →