Holy ESA Permit, Batman! Do Greens Aim To Kill Green Energy?
Do "environmental groups" aim to kill green energy? A distressing pattern of litigious conduct suggests at least some "greens" oppose any energy project supporting the supposedly "unsustainable" Western lifestyle. So, they sue.
Thanks to Robert Lamkin for the following post.
Judge Roger W. Titus of the U.S. District Court of Maryland has “reluctantly” enjoined construction of a West Virginia wind farm under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) to protect the Indiana bat. 
In Animal Welfare Institute v. Beech Ridge Energy LLC, Judge Titus ordered construction cease and operations suspended except when the bat hibernates.
It is not clear whether this decision - the first from a federal court holding a wind power project violates ESA - means the Indiana bat is the green 
energy northern spotted owl, but it very well might. The Judge assumed the developers could have obtained the FWS permit, but, as anyone with FWS experience can tell you, this is quite an assumption. The Indiana bat's habitat spans approximately twenty states in the mid-western and eastern U.S. Thus, the Beech Ridge decision means wind power projects in a huge part of the US now may need to factor FWS permits into development financing and cost estimates, creating yet another barrier to green energy deployment.
