Is Obama administration's pro-wind policy keeping it from fining wind farms for killing birds?

Is the Obama administration biased in levying fines for deaths of protected birds? Some say that while oil and power companies have been heavily fined or prosecuted for such violations, a blind eye has been turned when the deaths happen as a result of flying into industrial-sized turbines on wind farms, reports Dina Cappiello for The Associated Press. (Cappiello photo: A golden eagle flies over a wind turbine in Converse County, Wyoming)

More than 573,000 birds are killed each year by wind farms, including 83,000 hawks, falcons and eagles, according to the Wildlife Society Bulletin, reports Cappiello. In Converse County in eastern Wyoming, nearly 50 golden eagles have died on wind farms since 2009. No one has been fined or prosecuted for any of the deaths.

That has some crying favoritism. In 2009 Exxon Mobil was fined $600,000 for killing 85 birds in five states including Wyoming, Cappiello nptes. Many think the reason no one is fined or prosecuted is because "wind power, a pollution-free energy intended to ease global warming, is a cornerstone of President Obama's energy plan. His administration has championed a $1 billion-a-year tax break to the industry that has nearly doubled the amount of wind power in his first term." 

Sen. David Vitter (R-La.) said, "We obviously don't want to see indiscriminate killing of birds from any sort of energy production, yet the administration's ridiculous inconsistencies begs questioning and clarity -- clarity on why wind-energy producers are let off the hook." (Read more)