Offshore Wind Project Approved Despite US Gov’t Scientists Warnings

By B.N. Frank

Warnings about offshore wind farms have been ongoing for years. Nevertheless, the Biden Administration has gone forward with its controversial offshore wind plans (see 1, 2, 3), ignoring even government scientists’ warnings.

From Bloomberg:

US ignored own scientists’ warning in backing Atlantic wind farm

US government scientists warned federal regulators the South Fork offshore wind farm near the Rhode Island coast threatened the Southern New England Cod, a species so ingrained in regional lore that a wooden carving of it hangs in the Massachusetts state house.

The Interior Department approved the project anyway.

The warnings were delivered in unpublished correspondence weeks before Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management authorized the 12-turbine South Fork plan in November 2021. And they serve to underscore the potential ecological consequences and environmental tradeoff of a coming offshore wind boom along the US East Coast. President Joe Biden wants the US to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by the end of the decade.

The nascent US industry is already facing mounting challenges from supply-chain struggles and surging costs, including interest rates, prompting the developers behind a separate project near Massachusetts to seek a delay in planning for the venture.

Ecological challenges represent another headwind for offshore wind. Although conservationists argue that building more emission-free renewable power is critical to combat climate change and bolster dwindling ocean species threatened by warming oceans, the short-term impacts on marine life can be significant.

Marine scientists have warned that projects along the New England coast could imperil endangered North Atlantic right whales. And in August, the New England Fishery Management Council identified Atlantic waters already leased for offshore wind development as a “habitat area of particular concern,” a designation that encourages the government take a more stringent and cautious approach to permitting.

Still, the oceanic agency faulted the Interior Department for shrugging off other recommendations to protect cod, saying the bureau had based some decisions on flawed assumptions not supported by science. That includes a decision to not block pile driving at the very start of the spawning season in November, even though NOAA said the noise could deter the activity and force some cod to abandon the area.

An Orsted spokesperson declined to comment, and representatives of Eversource did not comment on the matter.

Bureau of Ocean Energy Management representatives did not specifically comment on the final warnings from NOAA. However, more comprehensive mitigation efforts are underway. In an emailed statement, the bureau stressed it was using spatial modeling to guide its leasing decisions in the Gulf of Mexico, central Atlantic and waters near Oregon. BOEM is also reviewing public feedback on its proposed blueprint for limiting offshore wind’s impact on fishing through better project siting and design, as well as financial compensation.

Source: By Jennifer A Dlouhy | December 29, 2022 | bloomberg.com

Opposition to wind turbines and farms on land and offshore is likely to increase worldwide until significant biological (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8) economic (see 1, 2, 3, 4), environmental (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11), and safety risks (see 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6) – including fires (see 1, 2), noise (see 1, 2,) and toxic emissions – are eliminated or greatly reduced (see also 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9).