President Trump is always calling the giant wind turbines that are contributing to renewable energy in many places of the country “windmills” that “kill the birds.” But when it comes to oil companies killing the birds, Trump’s okay with that. Why? The oil companies have been big financial supporters of this president.
The Washington Post reported Wednesday, “A federal judge in New York has invalidated rule changes by the Trump administration that allowed individuals and corporations to kill scores of birds as long as they could prove they did not intentionally set out to do so.
“In a blistering ruling that cited Harper Lee’s ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’ U.S. District Judge Valerie E. Caproni ripped the administration’s interpretation of ‘takings’ and ‘killings’ of birds under the century-old Migratory Bird Treaty Act as applying only if the animals are specifically targeted.
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“The changes made by the Trump administration largely benefited oil companies, which have paid most of the fines for violating the act, according to an analysis by the National Audubon Society.
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“‘It is not only a sin to kill a mockingbird, it is also a crime,’ Caproni wrote. ‘That has been the letter of the law for the past century. But if the Department of the Interior has its way, many mockingbirds and other migratory birds that delight people and support ecosystems throughout the country will be killed without legal consequence.'”
This Post article goes on to list some lawsuits the pro-business, anti-environmentalist Trump administration has lost in its efforts to roll back laws to protect the environment that were established by previous presidential administrations.
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