Time for golden eagles to relocate? The West Butte Wind Project in Oregon is asking for “the first programmatic eagle take permit application that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has received…” USFWS just released a draft assessment in what it calls “the first analysis of such a permit that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has undertaken.” In other words the wind project and USFWS recognize that the giant cuisinarts in the sky may butcher a few golden eagles.

It may be more than just a few though. California kills roughly 80 eagles per year and that number is likely to climb as the state increases its renewable energy mandate to 33 percent (just three percent more than Colorado’s). If only saved one pound of CO2 wouldn’t it be worth it? Yes according to one elected official:

‘We would like to have no bird deaths and no bird injuries. But, once again, we have to balance all the needs of society. All the people who want to flip their switch and have electricity in their homes,’ said Lorelei Oviatt, Kern County planning commissioner.

Blogger Tory Aardvark put California’s eco-evanglicals’ hypocrisy in perspective, “Balancing the needs of society against something eco, green and fluffy; but only when Climate Religion is being blindly followed. Imagine the hue and cry if it were “Big Oil” or frakking involved.”

In the blood sport of renewable energy, looks like golden eagles will lose out to wind turbines.