One of the most successful wildlife preservation projects in history - the battle to save America's Bald Eagales from extinction - has apparently allowed the White House to formulate a rule for wind farms that grants them a 30-year exemption from penalties that would ordinarily be applied when the birds fly into the turbines and are killed. The Hill: The Obama administration has nearly finalized a rule that would give energy companies lengthy permits for wind farms that end up killing bald and golden eagles. Hundreds of thousands of birds are killed every year after flying into large wind turbine blades, an issue that became an ongoing saga for the administration this year. The White House finalized its review on Thursday of a rule that would give the farms a 30-year pass for the killings, known as "takings." The details of the Interior Department rule are not yet known and it is possible it could be tweaked, though significant changes would be unusual at...(Read Full Post)