Obama-funded Minnesota wind project fined after bald eagle killed by turbine
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Editor’s note: This story contains graphic images of the remains of an animal that some readers may find disturbing.
SPECIAL: The University of Minnesota faces a proposed penalty of more than $14,000 after it was revealed that a green energy initiative funded by an Obama administration grant was responsible for the gruesome death of the American bald eagle.
The incident occurred at the University of Minnesota’s Eolos Wind Energy Research Field Station in Dakota County, Minnesota.
Photos obtained by Fox News Digital show the moment a University of Minnesota wind turbine struck a bald eagle, tearing it into three pieces and leaving a bloody carcass on the ground.
A notice of violation says the university violated the Bald and Golden Eagle Protection Act by killing eagles without what is called an “incidental take permit.” So the university faces a proposed fine of $14,536 for illegally killing what a Home Office official called a “national treasure.”
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The university was aware that bird collisions were a danger and was in the process of testing collision detection sensors when the incident occurred, according to an Interior Department violation notice reviewed by Fox News Digital.
The eagle’s remains were discovered in pieces. While the lower fuselage and tail were found by technicians first, the head and wings were not found until a month later.
Following the incident, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service sent a letter to the university recommending that the agency reassess the turbine’s danger to eagles and apply for a long-term permit for bycatch of eagles. However, the violation notice issued by DOI in January does not indicate that the university has obtained such permission since then.
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The Minnesota turbine is part of the Eolos Wind Energy Research Consortium, the university’s wind energy research collaboration. Construction of the turbine was funded by a $7.9 million grant from the Obama Department of Energy in 2010, the local Minnesota Daily reported.
One of former President Barack Obama’s first major legislative achievements was the passage of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, which appropriated an unprecedented $90 billion to “lay the foundation for the clean energy economy of the future,” according to a report by the Center for Climate and Energy Solutions; “$35.2 billion of this was given to the US Department of Energy.”
The Minnesota incident isn’t the only homicide in recent years.
In November, Fox News Digital reported that FWS was recommending hefty fines against renewable energy company Ørsted Onshore North America for two bald eagles killed by wind turbines in Nebraska and Illinois. In January, FWS issued final fine notices totaling $32,340 for two eagles killed by Ørsted turbines.
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Close-up photos of a bald eagle killed by a turbine found dead at Ørsted’s Plum Creek facility in Wayne County, Nebraska, in March 2024. (Fox News Digital)
U.S. Interior Secretary Doug Burgum has previously criticized solar and wind projects, saying they “destabilize our grid and drive up prices.”
“When you think about the new green scam, it was pro-China, it was anti-American, and it was also unaffordable and unreliable,” Burgum said. Jesse Watters’ Primetime In June.
DOI spokesman Matthew Middleton commented on the killings, telling Fox News Digital that under President Donald Trump and Secretary Doug Burgum, the department “enforced the law to protect these iconic birds and demand accountability from an industry that endangers these protected species.”
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“America’s bald eagles are a national treasure, not the collateral damage of costly wind experiments,” Middleton said, adding, “Wind companies will no longer get a free pass as this administration protects bald eagles and advances energy policies that prioritize affordability and strengthen America’s economy.”
A spokesperson for the University of Minnesota confirmed to Fox News Digital that the university received the DOI’s notice and said it was “currently under review.”
Ørsted did not immediately respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment.
