You may not have noticed, but a few months ago the Trump Administration stopped using a century-old law to fine industries when birds are accidentally killed by oil spills, power lines or wind farms.
However, conservationists and bird lovers aren't taking it sitting down.
鈥淚t really represents one of the most significant rollbacks in bird protections in our history,鈥� Erik Schneider, a policy analyst with the , said.
According to Schneider, the Migratory Bird Treaty Act of 1918 was used to hold industry accountable specifically when it came to the accidental deaths of birds.
He points to the Exxon Valdez and Deepwater Horizon tragedies, where lots of birds died and the companies were fined millions of dollars.
But late last year, the U.S. Interior Department at the law. They decided it would only protect birds that are killed or captured by poachers, not ones that die incidentally from uncovered oil pits, wind turbines or massive oil spills.
Schneider called the second look senseless and unnecessary.
鈥淭his isn鈥檛 something that has caused serious burden for industry. Unfortunately I think we鈥檙e seeing a variety of actions that aim to reduce perceived burdens on the energy industry and I think this plays into that.鈥�
The Audubon Society has suit, but the American Petroleum Institute has the government鈥檚 reinterpretation of the law. They say it was used overzealously to hurt oil and gas companies.
The new interpretation, however, doesn鈥檛 mean industry is completely off the hook. They can still receive financial penalties for massive oil spills or hazardous substance releases under the
That program, however, takes a broader look at environmental impacts and doesn鈥檛 address bird deaths specifically.
The U.S. Interior Department was unable to comment before deadline.
This story was produced by the Mountain West 暗黑爆料 Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, Yellowstone Public Radio in Montana, KUER in Salt Lake City and KRCC and KUNC in Colorado.
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