Tag Archives: Department of Defense

Balloon debris recovered by Alaskan fishermen was ‘in the ocean for well over a year,’ Pentagon says

Balloon debris recovered off the coast of Alaska earlier this month appears to have been in the water for “well over a year,” a Pentagon official said Friday.  The remnants of the object were discovered by commercial fishermen, who notified the FBI of their find before bringing it back to shore. “Initial inspection of the balloon debris indicates that the material has been in the ocean for well over a year,” a spokesperson for the Department of Defense told reporters. “Some material has been transferred to US government facilities for further examination and analysis,” the official added. Photos, links, more, >>click to read<< 06:57

Biden admin under fire for offshore wind impacts on military operations

Earlier this week, Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., industry stakeholders and experts met with officials from the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a top federal watchdog agency, to discuss their concerns about offshore wind development. According to Smith, who represents a district along the Atlantic coast home to a naval weapons depot and where offshore wind projects have been proposed, more than an hour of the three-hour meeting was devoted to military impacts. The GAO recently agreed to investigate the wide-ranging effects of offshore wind development after Smith, fellow New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., and several other lawmakers called for a probe. The investigation will look, in part, into wind turbines’ impact on military operations and radar. >click to read< 07:55

Deal emerges to bring 1st offshore wind farms to California Coast, but a fleshed-out deal could be elusive

For years, the military has managed to block the establishment of offshore wind lease areas off of Southern and central California, effectively holding back development across the entire state.,,  Now, a tentative compromise is being floated by Rep. Salud Carbajal (D-Calif.) with backing from the military and federal and state agencies: Let developers produce wind power in central California waters that the military had once ruled incompatible with its own operations, But a fleshed-out deal could be elusive. Military spokespeople and state officials who oversee coastal land use were quick to downplay suggestions that a breakthrough is afoot. >click to read< 17:40

More questions than answers emerge from New York wind meeting

A horde of New Bedford fishermen and representatives from the city’s Port Authority shared a train ride down to New York City for a meeting involving an offshore wind project south of Long Island. The Intergovernmental Renewable Energy Task Force meeting was held to discuss a guide the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management released earlier this month outlining potential leasing sites. The day long dialogue, though, may have only introduced more questions rather than provided answers.,,, Another new item from the Port Authority’s perspective involved a presentation by the Department of Defense. It included a diagram that ruled out areas that had previously been listed as “primary” and “secondary” recommendations. >click to read<11:13

East Coast offshore drilling just got dumber

Seismic testing for potential offshore oil or gas — long opposed by Beaufort Mayor Billy Keyserling and City Council — just got dumber. Frank Knapp Jr., president and CEO of the SC Small Business Chamber of Commerce, has been bird-dogging opposition to offshore drilling and seismic testing. “Government documents and firsthand accounts of munitions and radioactive waste being dumped off the Atlantic Coast from Massachusetts to Florida came to our attention only recently,” Knapp said. On Friday, Knapp sent out a news release with this warning: >click to read<16:26

The next Salmon Battle. HYDABURG, Alaska has what the Green Beans and the War Machine need. “rare-earth” element Dysprosium.

Because the Department of Defense needs dysprosium for weapons production, it has recently shown interest in Bokan Mountain –Dr. David Shuh,  a senior scientist in the Chemical Sciences Division at the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL), explained why dysprosium is currently essential in hybrid cars like the Prius continued@newamericamedia