In July 2023, a local media outlet reported on progress of a wind farm project south of Lompoc: “Strauss applied to the federal agency for the incidental take permit [to kill birds] in March 2023, with a BayWa representative saying an oversight led to the delayed application,” (Noozhawk, “Strauss Wind Energy Project Seeks to Operate Without Golden Eagle Permit”).
Strauss, the wind farm developer, was requesting that the Santa Barbara County Planning Commission allow it “to begin operating despite not having a federal permit regarding harming or killing golden eagles.”
The county Planning Commission decided that it could circumvent federal law just because, as 3rd District Commissioner John Parke said, “This is not a moral issue. Should we spank BayWa for being slow? I don’t really care. I want to get things done for the citizens of California,” according to the Noozhawk article.
Of course, this same courtesy has never been and still isn’t provided to other developers.
Ultimately the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service authorized the incidental take (killing) of up to 12 golden eagles throughout the 30-year life of the project.
The Canary of the Santa Maria Sun observed, “The project that was late to the party when it came to managing the deaths of endangered or threatened species but got the go-ahead anyway went back to the county after a year of data collection. Guess what? One golden eagle was killed in the past year. It was one of 47 winged creatures who bit the dust beneath those giant wind turbines outside of Lompoc. Not bad, I guess, considering that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service predicted that 15 golden eagles would succumb to the spinning blades,” (“Soaring to new heights,” Dec. 19, 2024).
This demonstrates the hypocrisy of the environmental movement; when a commercial project, farmer/rancher, or private home builder wants to do something on their property that might directly harm an endangered species or disturb their habitat, the project will be denied. But when it’s a project favored by environmentalists, then killing several endangered birds or wrecking their habitat is OK.
When the county Planning Commission asked BayWa what they were going to do to reduce the killing of birds, they said there was a nondisclosure agreement “that prevents Santa Barbara County from understanding how a new technology will help prevent the Strauss Wind Energy Project from killing too many winged things,” as stated in the Canary.
Somehow, I don’t think environmentalists or the Planning Commission would accept an explanation like that from any other project, but the local Planning Commission, which stands in the way of many projects for lesser reasons, seems OK with it. And those environmentalists—they are silent.
There is another potential issue that shouldn’t be overlooked by the neighboring Vandenberg Space Force Base. SpaceX has a camera mounted on one of the wind towers that overlooks Space Launch Complex 4. They use it to stream videos of all their launches.
The questions that come to mind are: What else is up there and who put it there? Recently a foreign national was caught using a drone to photograph portions of the base, and he is currently awaiting prosecution, according to the Santa Barbara Independent (“Chinese Citizen Arrested for Allegedly Flying Drone over and Photographing Vandenberg Space Force Base,” Dec. 12, 2024). It seems plausible that someone could “rent space” on one of those towers to snoop on base activities.
Another question that comes to mind is: Just how much power does the Strauss project generate? It was sold to the public based on capability, not actual output.
I doubt we will ever know the answer to these questions, and the eradication of endangered species will continue as misguided politicians support “saving the earth” while killing off its original inhabitants.
Ron Fink writes to the Sun from Lompoc. Send a letter for publication to letters@santamariasun.com.
This article appears in Feb 6-16, 2025.