Some Animals Are More Equal Than Others

George Orwell, in his 1945 novella Animal Farm, includes the oft-quoted passage, "All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others".

Our hard-working Federal regulators take this passage literally.  This week, it was reported that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is poised to issue the first-ever permit to a wind farm to kill bald eagles, our national symbol.  It is estimated that the proposed wind farm, to be located in Minnesota's Goodhue County, may kill up to 15 (per year) of the majestic birds that appear on our coins, bills, and other symbols of our republic.  Keep in mind that it is against the law to so much as possess an eagle feather.


Meanwhile, in North Dakota, the Federal government was moving in the opposite direction.  The U.S. Attorney there attempted to prosecute 7 local oil companies for the deaths of 28 ducks.  At an average of 4 ducks per company, that's only about a quarter of the kill rate that the Feds were o.k. with here in Minnesota.  A Federal judge threw out the North Dakota case.

Back in 2009, ExxonMobil was not so lucky.  The oil company was ordered by the Feds to pay $600,000 for the deaths of 85 birds (no eagles) over five years over a five state area.  That works out to 3.4 birds per state per year, well under the Goodhue wind power take.  The dollar fine works out to more than $7,000 per bird.

Yes, some birds are more equal than others.  Now an oil company does not make for a sympathetic defendant, but a dead bird is a dead bird.

The lesson here is that wind power can kill birds, but not oil power.  I guess that justice is not blind, after all.