The Audubon Society tilting at windmills in Washington state.

I am one of these guys that's all for energy independence and I'm talking about at all levels. We need to stop buying oil from other countries. We need to improve our renewable resources, whether it be hydroelectric, solar, wind and Geothermal. And I also believe in the concept of nuclear power generation although I'm still not convinced that private enterprise can be trusted with it. 

This time around, we're talking about wind energy. And specifically, what is intended to be Washington state's largest wind farm? This would be the Horse Heaven Clean Energy Center located South of the tri-cities near the Oregon border. This clean energy center would combine wind, solar and battery storage. 

According to electrek.com,
“But Horse Heaven has been stuck at the permitting stage with the seven-person Energy Facility Site Evaluation Council (EFSEC) for the last three years. Yesterday, the EFSEC voted 5-2 in favor of a rule stating that new wind turbines could not be located within two miles of the nests of endangered ferruginous hawks.” 

North America's Largest hawk has been classified as a priority one species so now their habitat must be protected. The ferruginous hawk nests can be found all over the area, many of them empty. But here's the thing, this hawk sometimes will wait two or three years before returning to the same nest.  

The Audubon society says on their website that they “strongly supports wind energy that is sited and operated properly to avoid, minimize, and mitigate effectively for the impacts on birds, other wildlife, and the places they need now and, in the future,” However, they also support the EFSEC’s decision. 

So, what does this mean for the horse heaven energy center. The decision would effectively cut the number of wind turbines in Half from 224, possibly down to 112. So far there is no word on how this would impact the solar and battery storage portion of the project.  

My hope is that the Horse Heaven Energy Center project will continue even with a reduced number of wind turbines.  

We do need the energy. 

The size of Washington State's largest wind farm just got cut by 50% (electrek.co)