Wind turbines are decapitating golden eagles in California while federally financed solar projects threaten to kill hundreds of baby tortoises, disrupt protected kit fox populations, and potentially desecrate a Native American burial site—consequences that could have been avoided, experts say.
Advocacy groups claim the federal government’s rush to promote renewable energy projects—to which the Obama administration has steered billions in taxpayer funding—has led it to ignore long-standing guidelines and processes designed to safeguard protected species and cultural artifacts.
“In the rush to get some of these renewable projects on the ground, I think the review processes have not been as rigorous as they should have been, which has led to projects that are problematic,” said Ileene Anderson of the Center for Biological Diversity. “Companies haven’t been doing their homework, environmental reviews have been flawed. They have been sort of bullheaded in not recognizing the potential impacts.”
The Obama administration’s handling of at-risk species has come under question recently, following reports that the president purchased food from a San Francisco restaurant serving shark fin soup, a Chinese delicacy abhorred by animal rights groups. On Wednesday, meanwhile, the Obama administration approved a controversial plan to save the endangered spotted owl by shooting barred owls, a rival species, out of the sky.
Anderson’s organization, which assists in the preparation of environmental reviews for such projects, is pursuing a number of lawsuits against state and federal agencies. In some cases, Anderson said, these agencies and their corporate partners have “completely disregarded” warnings from field experts and ignored standard review procedures.
