Convicted felon President Trump is finally going to the mat against wind energy, issuing a $32,340 fine against turbine builder and operator Orsted Onshore North America for two violations of the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act by killing the birds without an “incidental take permit.”
And yes, this is real. Or as real as can be in a Fox News “exclusive” that says the US Fish and Wildlife Service is trying to hit Orsted with the fine for the deaths, the first of which occurred in March 2024 at Orsted’s Plum Creek facility in Nebraska. The second was in Illinois in April of this year.
The permits are actually a thing and it is a requirement of turbines situated in proximity to known bald eagle nests. Problem is here that at no point in the Fox News article is it mentioned that these incidents were a clear breach of that stipulation. In fact it was Orsted themselves that reported the deaths to the FWS. So yes, this is what you might call “arbitrary and capricious enforcement.”