{"id":1904986,"date":"2023-03-26T04:10:22","date_gmt":"2023-03-26T08:10:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/resistance-to-offshore-wind-is-growing-on-us-coasts\/"},"modified":"2023-03-26T04:12:52","modified_gmt":"2023-03-26T08:12:52","slug":"resistance-to-offshore-wind-is-growing-on-us-coasts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/resistance-to-offshore-wind-is-growing-on-us-coasts\/","title":{"rendered":"Resistance to Offshore Wind Is Growing on US Coasts"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fresistance-to-offshore-wind-is-growing-on-us-coasts%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1904986&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div class=\"post_content\">\n<p style=\"text-align: left;\">A growing chorus of interest groups is calling for a pause in offshore wind activities to allow further assessment of the sector\u2019s impacts on the marine ecosystem.<\/p>\n<p>Congressman Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, a Republican, introduced a congressional resolution on March 21 to halt work on east-coast offshore wind projects until investigations into its possible impact on marine mammals can be done.<\/p>\n<p>Fishing groups and local residents have filed five lawsuits against proposed or under-construction wind projects along the Atlantic seaboard.<\/p>\n<p>A leading body for the U.S. Pacific fishing industry is urging the federal government to call off its proposed auction for offshore wind off the Oregon coast.<\/p>\n<p>And the United States\u2019 largest lobbying group for Native Americans recently called for a halt to all offshore wind scoping and permitting.<\/p>\n<p>Wind energy is a key component of the Biden Administration\u2019s climate agenda. Its goal is to generate 30 gigawatts of energy from fixed-bottom offshore wind farms by 2030, which it says could power 10 million homes, as well as 15 gigawatts from floating offshore wind infrastructure by 2035, potentially providing power to 5 million homes.<\/p>\n<h2>Driven by Whale Deaths<\/h2>\n<p>An uptick in marine mammal deaths along the north Atlantic has been cited as reason for concern.<\/p>\n<p>Since December, 29 whales have died on the east coast, and 14 dead dolphins have washed ashore in New Jersey in the past month, including eight on March 21.<\/p>\n<p>Van Drew believes the survey and construction work associated with wind farms, which can reportedly damage dolphin and whale hearing, may be to blame.<\/p>\n<p>NOAA has said its marine mammal stranding network has not linked any of the whale deaths to offshore wind technology.<\/p>\n<p>Van Drew said that the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) have approved \u201cthese massive construction projects right in the middle of whale feeding and breeding grounds, as well as migration routes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>BOEM has already leased 2.3 million acres and plans to lease another 1.7 million to install an estimated 3,500 turbines on the Atlantic coast.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe are not even in the construction stage of these industrial wind turbine grids, yet we are already witnessing a highly unusual mortality rate of these intelligent marine animals,\u201d he told The Epoch Times.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need a moratorium on all offshore wind projects before this gets worse, and I have introduced a resolution calling on Congress to do just that,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n<p>House Resolution 239 states that the Atlantic offshore wind leases represent an industrialization of the oceans that has not been thoroughly evaluated and asks Congress to declare an \u201cimmediate moratorium on development\u201d until it can \u201cconduct investigations to determine [its] true impacts.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cLease areas sit along known migration routes and foraging areas of North Atlantic right whales, humpback whales, and economically important commercial and recreational fish species,\u201d\u00a0it added of concerns about\u00a0the cables that will require dredging along hundreds of miles of ocean floor.<\/p>\n<p>Congressman Andy Harris, a Republican from Maryland, supports Van Drew\u2019s resolution.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince BOEM began authorizing testing for offshore wind project developments, we have witnessed an uptick in whale deaths,\u201d including one recent whale death on Assateague Island in Maryland, Harris told The Epoch Times in an email.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe need to take the time to gather proper scientific data, act in full transparency, and not rely upon platitudes for these projects, their construction, and the impact they may have upon our environment.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Agency officials have since said an initial necropsy indicates the whale death on Assateague Island is consistent with a vessel strike, after observing blunt force trauma on the 33.8-foot female.<\/p>\n<p>According to\u00a0NOAA\u2019s Marine Mammal Health and Stranding Response Program\u00a0coordinator\u00a0Sarah Wilkin, there has been an \u201cunusual ongoing mortality event since 2016\u00a0that is specific to the humpback whales,\u201d and that a similiar increase in deaths have been observed for the endangered\u00a0North Atlantic right whales. Researchers are unsure of the cause of the spike in mortalities.<\/p>\n<p>While no deaths have been linked to the offshore wind farms, according to NOAA, a better understanding of the potential impacts from the wind projects planned off southern New England will be crucial to protecting the endangered right whale that is increasingly using the same waters as habitat.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_4129169\" style=\"width: 600px\" class=\"wp-caption alignnone\"><figcaption class=\"wp-caption-text\"><noscript><\/noscript> A North Atlantic right whale feeds on the surface of Cape Cod bay off the coast of Plymouth, Mass., on March 28, 2018. (Michael Dwyer\/AP Photo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>\u201cIncreased noise from wind turbine construction and operations and vessels could \u2026 directly impact important whale behaviors and interfere with the detection of critical acoustic cues. These types of impacts may also be associated with physiological stress and\u00a0could affect the whales\u2019 use of the region,\u201d an agency news release said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe presence of wind turbine foundations may impact\u00a0oceanographic and atmospheric conditions including potential changes in ocean\u00a0stratification. This might\u00a0alter the formation of plankton aggregations and thus foraging opportunities for right whales.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Back to the Drawing Board<\/h2>\n<p>The Pacific Fishery Management Council is urging BOEM to rescind the current Oregon lease areas designated for floating offshore wind energy development in the Pacific.<\/p>\n<p>The Council passed a resolution at its March 10 meeting recommending that BOEM restart the process for identifying suitable areas for installing offshore wind turbines to account for the needs of the fishing industry.<\/p>\n<p>BOEM announced in April 2022 that it would lease two areas for offshore wind development off the Oregon coast. In the coming year it plans to auction 1.15 million acres starting 12 miles offshore along the south-central and southern Oregon coast.<\/p>\n<p>Acknowledging the risk to marine life\u2014including that of whales becoming tangled in the moorings and cables associated with floating wind platforms\u2014 federal agencies have commissioned more than a dozen studies of the environmental, economic, and social impact of large-scale development along the Pacific Coast.<\/p>\n<p>But the Pacific coast leasing areas were selected before the studies were complete.<\/p>\n<p>The council recommended BOEM start the siting process over using a spatial mapping tool focused on identifying areas suitable for wind energy development that will not negatively impact west coast fisheries.<\/p>\n<h2>Native Concerns<\/h2>\n<p>Meanwhile, Native American tribes claim they have been left out of the process.<\/p>\n<p>The nation\u2019s oldest association of American Indian and Native Alaskan tribes has called for a moratorium on offshore wind development along U.S. coasts, insisting the Biden administration do a better job protecting tribal interests.<\/p>\n<p>The National Council of American Indians (NCAI) issued a resolution on Feb. 24, asserting \u201cshared tribal jurisdictional authority over and tribal management of offshore renewable energy activities, aimed at empowering Native communities through socio-economic benefits such as job opportunities, revenue sharing, and support for tribal energy development projects.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It urged the Department of the Interior and BOEM to \u201chalt all scoping and permitting for offshore wind projects until completion of a comprehensive and transparent procedure adequately protecting tribal environmental and sovereign interests is developed and implemented.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A growing chorus of interest groups is calling for a pause in offshore wind activities to allow further assessment of the sector\u2019s impacts on the marine ecosystem. Congressman Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey, a Republican, introduced a congressional resolution on March 21 to halt work on east-coast offshore wind projects until investigations into its<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":336,"featured_media":1904987,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[543],"tags":[22787,3758,16796,15667,6784],"class_list":["post-1904986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-epoch-times","tag-coasts","tag-growing","tag-offshore","tag-resistance","tag-wind"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/cndimages.nyc3.digitaloceanspaces.com\/breaking-news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/IMG_2758-scaled-1.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/336"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1904986"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1904986\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1904987"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1904986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1904986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1904986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}