Perfect case in point, the lawsuit against Syncrude because 1500 ducks died. Now I am really sorry that those ducks died the way they did because that made them inedible. What I fail to see is why one incident in 20 years makes this an international scandal.
Oil giant Syncrude failed to install noise making cannons near one of its toxic tailing ponds two years ago, leading to the death of more than 1,600 migratory birds, prosecutors told an Alberta court Monday.
The allegations came as prosecutors faced off against the oil company's lawyers over an April, 2008 incident which made headlines around the world and tarnished Alberta's most lucrative industry.
On Monday, lawyers alleged that Syncrude was the only oil company in northern Alberta that didn't have a warning system in place to scare birds away from dangerous tailing ponds.
"Other companies in the area had deployed their bird-deterrent devices," said Alberta Crown prosecutor Susan McRory. "Syncrude failed in its duty to protect the birds."
McRory is twisting the facts. I remember the blizzard that hit us unexpectedly....you would think our weather stations could have forewarned us about that storm, especially because they can supposedly predict what will happen 50 to a 100 years from now. So, in a one time incident, some ducks died. This is a HUGE deal to the eco-nuts.
But the Pembina Institute, an Alberta-based environmental group, said the facts of oilsands production simply don't back up the province's arguments.
The current tailings ponds for oilsands giants Syncrude, Suncor Energy and Albian Sands Energy Inc. cover 50 square kilometres, the group said.
The collective size of the ponds could quadruple, if all the projects proposed for the province go ahead, said Simon Dyer, Pembina's oilsands program director.
Dyer said an estimated 1.8 billion litres of tailings are produced every day in Alberta.
He called the incident with the ducks a "flashpoint," signalling the much larger problems unfolding in the oilsands.
"There are major problems with oilsands development on a whole host of fronts," he said.
"The oilsands are not a positive story when you delve into the data."
So, oilsands dead ducks, a HUGE environmental problem, and these "oil giants" need to pay. How about those wind turbines killing thousands of birds a year? Are the eco-nuts demanding lawsuits against those companies? Not so much.
Funny how the eco-industry can use consultants and spend huge amounts of money on the image of eco-industry, but when the oil industry does the same thing they are the bad guys.
Look at how the eco-nuts defend the fact that wind turbines are killing thousands of birds a year, every year. Not just a one shot deal like at Syncrude. These blades are slicing and dicing birds and bats daily, but that's okay because more birds are killed by cats and windows.
Human Causes of Bird Fatalities
Curry & Kerlinger has compiled the following information from environmental organizations and goverment agencies.
This list is meant to inform the public and to put wind turbine fatalities in perspecitve.
Glass Windows
Bird Deaths a year: 100 to 900+ million
Dr. Daniel Klem of Muhlenberg College has done studies over a period of 20 years, looking at bird collisions with windows. His conclusion: glass kills more birds than any other human related factor.
House Cats
Bird Deaths a year: 100 Million
The National Audubuon Society says 100 million birds a year fall prey to cats. Dr. Stan Temple of the University of Wisconsin estimates that in Wisconsin alone, about 7 million birds a year are killed by cats
So, 1500 ducks in one incident deserves a lawsuit, but because other things kill more birds, wind turbines are just fine and move along, nothing to see here.
The size of the annual body count — conservatively put at 4,700 birds — is unique to this sprawling, 50-square-mile site in the Diablo Mountains between San Francisco and the agricultural Central Valley because it spans an international migratory bird route regulated by the federal government. The low mountains are home to the world's highest density of nesting golden eagles.
Scientists don't know whether the kills reduce overall bird populations but worry that turbines, added to other factors, could tip a species into decline. "They didn't realize it at the time, but it was just a really bad place to build a wind farm," says Grainger Hunt, an ecologist with the Peregrine Fund who has studied eagles at Altamont.
Funny how all these green plans go so wrong. I think it's because you have university educated lefties with an agenda to save the world, kind of like the hippies of the 60's but more harmful. Biofuels take food out of peoples mouths, but they can justify that. Thousands of birds being killed by turbines, well, they aren't as bad as....blah, blah, blah. Eco-friendly good, heated homes for all, bad. Mercury filled light bulbs great idea, genetically altered seeds that would feed millions more people, bad. The list is endless.
I call them eco-nuts, but when you start reading what they say, they really are dangerous to our standard of living and life as we know it. Perfect case is DDT.
The greenies want it both ways, but it looks like people are wisely choosing not to listen to them anymore. Well except for those university students who think they know everything and the rest of us are just too stupid to understand the issues. Maybe if mommy and daddy cut off their funds they would sing a whole different tune.
