Bird Protection Measure on Turbines Fails to Pass

A bill that would have added new regulations on wind turbines that generate electricity was defeated in the state Senate on Wednesday. The measure was intended to support developing renewable energy in a responsible manner without harming birds and bats. But the Department of Environmental Quality would need to write new regulations; and opponents said a wind-turbine park off Virginia’s coast is awaiting a decision by federal agencies, bird-flight patterns already were considered, and adding new regulations would harm the project.