at interview This week on Fox News, former President Donald Trump, a climate change denier and ardent supporter of fossil fuels that are causing global warming, furthered his long record of exaggerating the impact of the wind industry on birds.
But this time he expressed concern that wind power companies were killing eagles with impunity.
“If you shoot a bald eagle or any kind of eagle, you go to jail for two years,” he told Fox News host Jesse Waters. “Go under a windmill and see how many eagles there are under there. Nobody goes to jail.”
It was a surprisingly interesting story, considering that Trump brought it up during his first term. Made it easier The energy sector, including wind power companies, has been allowed to kill eagles and other migratory birds with impunity.
In late 2017, Daniel Giorgiani, a top lawyer for the Trump administration’s Interior Department and a longtime adviser to fossil fuel tycoons Charles and David Koch, made a highly controversial statement. Legal opinion It effectively legalized all unintentional migratory bird deaths, including those caused by wind turbines, oil and gas operations, chemical spills and power lines. Companies or individuals were protected from prosecution unless they intended to kill the birds.
The move broke with decades of legal precedent, effectively destroying the 1918 Migratory Bird Treaty Act and opening the door to gross industry negligence. The Huffington Post reported At that time, the investigation into the deaths of MBTA-protected birds due to industrial activity was abruptly halted.
In 2020 federal judge Trump’s MBTA rollback was reversed. But in the final days of Trump’s term, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service issued a rule aimed at incorporating Jorjani’s legal interpretation into regulations. The Biden administration is quickly Cancelled A retreat from the Trump era.
Trump, now seeking a second term in the White House, has repeatedly said: Spreading misinformation President Trump met with oil and gas industry executives in April and vowed to attack wind energy and restore fossil fuel “energy dominance.” According to reports, requested He received $1 billion in campaign contributions in exchange for promises to roll back many of the president’s policies. Joe Biden‘s green energy policy.
It is true that wind turbines are often fatal to birds, including eagles. But what Trump did not mention is that the number of birds killed by wind turbines each year is far smaller than the number killed by skyscrapers, power lines, and domestic and feral cats.
If Trump wins in 2024, migratory bird protections will likely be cut again. The newly adopted Republican platform, which Trump endorsed, promises to “unleash American energy” and “cut costly and burdensome regulations.”
And Trump Tried to claim He said he “knew nothing about Project 2025,” a policy blueprint document drafted by at least 140 former Trump administration officials that specifically calls for reinstating Trump-era MBTA rules.
Make no mistake, this would give industry, including wind energy companies, a license to kill eagles and all kinds of migratory birds without legal liability.
