Used wind turbine blades have been filling landfills around the nation.

Those things don't break down easily, and folks don't know what to do with them.

A Wyoming father and son might have a solution.

First, we have to find out what they are made of, then, what can be done with them.

Much of what is used to create wind and solar power is actually toxic to produce and toxic to dispose of.

As for the blades, they are lightweight, but also very strong.

I just found it difficult to get much information on them, to get a look at them, even,” he said. “And to get a blade to experiment with was just about impossible,” said Jess Anderson. (Gillette News Record).

Cam Anderson reached out to a research group in Laramie. They've been working on recycling turbine blades on a large scale.

They became finalists in the Energy Capital Startup Challenge.

On Dec. 12, they will make a presentation at Gillette College Presentation Hall.

If their idea is accepted they could get a $50,000 seed fund established for the event.

Their idea involves placing the turbine blades under high heat and high pressure to extract a resin epoxy along with fiberglass from the blades.

The resin epoxy is a type of oil that can go into asphalt, and the fiberglass can be recycled to make more turbine blades.

If this works it would certainly solve a worldwide problem with used turbine blades.

Good luck to them.

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CODY, Wyo. (AP) — The rush to build wind farms to combat climate change is colliding with the preservation of one of the U.S. West’s most spectacular predators — the golden eagle — as the species teeters on the edge of decline.

November 23, 2013. A Wyoming wind farm, just outside of Casper, is fined by the federal government for killing a golden eagle.  (CSM).

Eagle deaths lead to Duke Energy Corp. paying $1 million for birds killed at two Wyoming wind farms. It was the first time a US wind energy company had been successfully prosecuted for the deaths of eagles or other protected birds. (CSM).

The answer from the Obama Administration was to give wind farms permits, allowing them to kill birds.

Wyoming is home to one of the largest habitats of the golden eagle. They used to be endangered. But over the years, through a lot of work, their numbers have stabilized.

Yet they are considered to be on the edge of slipping back into the endangered species category if they lose too many more.

One of the biggest dangers to birds of all kinds, and bats, is wind turbines.

Yet Wyoming is building them in record numbers, putting the lives of these birds and many other raptors in danger once again.

Energy companies eager to take advantage of federal green energy subsidies are still putting up wind turbines in Wyoming at a frantic pace, with many of them being right in the golden eagle’s prime hunting and nesting territory. It’s estimated that hundreds of the birds have died in turbine blades in the past few years and it’s only getting worse. But scientists claim that climate change will kill off the birds also, so it’s a case of “robbing Peter to pay Paul.” (Associated Press).

So-called "environmental groups" and animal protection groups like Wild Earth Guardians want to "save the planet from man-made climate change."

So are they willing to put these golden eagles and other birds at risk to do so?

The AP interviewed scientists who work to save the golden eagles. They are primarily working on tagging them.

Dr. Charles Preston of the Teton Raptor Center in Wilson, Wyoming said that nobody is suggesting stopping the construction of new wind turbines in the mountains.

But are these wind farms really "saving the planet?"

They are not. In fact, these farms have been shown to be, in many ways, not green, clean, or sustainable. Toxic waste is made to create and dispose of them. But the "green movement" ignores this and still strongly believes in them.

You aren’t hearing voices in the "green energy" movement shedding many tears for the golden eagles.

The humble Gunnison sage-grouse, also found in the area has also been declining in numbers. The federal government canceled oil drilling leases to protect those birds.

Doesn’t the golden eagle deserve at least the same amount of respect and protection as the sage grouse? One bird is not more valuable than the other.

But the "green movement" cares more about wind turbines and wants to stop drilling. This is a fight to shut down the oil and gas industry.

The Kansas City Star just this week on the subject. He admits that wind turbines kill a lot of birds, but says “that’s a distraction from bigger problems.”

Yes, wind turbines do kill birds. A 2014 study cited by the United States Geological Survey estimated that 368,000 bird deaths are caused by wind turbines annually.

That study was done back in 2014.

How many more are being killed today now that we have so many more wind farms?

Hot Air Balloon Threads Wind River Canyon Wyoming

Gallery Credit: Glenn Woods

A Stunning Look At Wyoming Life Through The Eyes Of Photographer Chris Dickinson

Chris Dickinson is a premier western photographer based out of Utah who can often be found propped on his elbows in the mud, boots covered in manure, facing a rearing horse, all for the sake of the perfect shot. He's a man who does whatever it takes to achieve greatness. Below is a gallery of his pictures taken in Wyoming.

Gallery Credit: Chris Dickinson