Tag Archives: labor unions

Lobster row rocks offshore wind as state tells turbines to stay away

The government of South Australia is unimpressed by a federal decision to include the state’s waters among a list of six areas chosen for pioneering offshore wind tenders, citing risks to its valuable fisheries industry and sparking a row with trade unions which support the renewable source. A period of consultation for the Southern Ocean Wind Zone was opened by Australia’s energy minister Chris Bowen in July, as part of a federal government plan to have six areas fully defined and declared by mid-2024. As part of this process, the South Australian government has come out in opposition, and said the proposed zone should simply stop at the border with Victoria, pointing out that the proposed wind farms will be connected to that state’s grid. >>click to read<< 13:42

With the Ocean Wind Offshore Wind Farm on the horizon, a storm is building

Ocean Wind, according to those closely following the project, is headed for a series of turf wars, loud debates and protracted legal battles, even before the first turbine is sited off the coast of southern New Jersey.,, even supporters and opponents of the proposed wind farm at times disagree among themselves on how to move forward. Environmentalists, commercial fishermen, recreational boaters, labor unions, homeowners, boardwalk businesses, NIMBYs and ratepayer advocates are all circling Orsted, the Dutch wind power company behind what could be one of the largest wind farms in North America. Local, state and federal officials are also starting to feel the heat. Just about everyone involved, including David Hardy, CEO of Orsted US, worries the project could devolve into chaos. >click to read< 13:11

Offshore Wind: Cuomo’s incredible wind-power pander

Flanked by former veep and climate-crusader Al Gore, Gov. Andrew Cuomo last week signed a wide-ranging “climate-action” bill. He also ­announced that New Yorkers would subsidize construction of more than 200 wind turbines off New York City and Long Island — one of the biggest efforts of its kind in the United States — all in the name of reducing the state’s carbon emissions to “net zero” in about 30 years. Amid what he described as the “chaos of political pandering and hyperbole” surrounding the issue of climate change, Cuomo portrayed his plan as grounded in “facts, data and evidence.” >click to read<09:14

The Jones Act’s Strange Bedfellows

A strange thing happened on December 6th, 2018, when President Donald Trump signed a waiver that allowed the American business, Fishermen’s Finest, to sail its 80.5-meter fishing boat, America’s Finest, out of a Washington State shipyard over objections from special interest labor unions and trade associations. The ship was held in the harbor because its hull was made with too much Dutch steel. This violated the century-old protectionist law, the Jones Act, a little-known law passed in 1920. Even many of those who are hurt by it are unfamiliar with how this cumbersome law that likely costs the American economy millions of dollars every year. >click to read<15:53