The Obama Administration Is Ignoring The Massacre Of Thousands Of Hawks, Falcons, And Eagles Every Year

The Obama administration is engaging in a significant double standard on deaths of golden eagles, prosecuting oil and power companies while excusing their deaths on various wind farms. 

The Associated Press' Dina Cappiello reports that the Obama administration has not once fined or prosecuted a wind-energy company for these birds' deaths, which occur quite frequently on wind farms. According to estimates from the Wildlife Society Bulletin, wind farms kill 83,000 hunting birds — like hawks, falcons, and eagles — per year.

As part of the fiscal cliff deal in January, Congress passed a one-year extension on $12.1 billion in tax breaks for the wind-energy industry. President Barack Obama has made wind energy a key cog of his administration's green-energy policy.

The Obama administration has not only refused to prosecute wind-energy companies in the deaths of the birds, but it has also gone after oil and power companies. Under both the Bald and Gold Eagle Protection Act and the Migratory Bird Treaty Act, the death of a single bird without a special permit is illegal.