Tag Archives: wind farms
Will Morro Bay wind farms be the demise of Port San Luis?
I heard about the proposed Morro Bay Offshore Wind Farm awhile back but didn’t really think too much about it. But now I understand there is a plan to industrialize Port San Luis to be used as a base to assemble, operate, and maintain the 1,000 feet wind turbines for the wind farm and for the Vandenberg Space Force base to barge in rockets and components that are too large to travel by land. I am not sure this is such a good idea. I began to do some research on wind farms. This developed into hours and hours of digging through material. What I have learned is quite alarming. >click to read< 08:06
Chasing Utopian Energy: How I Wasted 20 Years of My Life
For years, I chased utopian energy. I promoted solar, wind, and energy efficiency because I felt like I was protecting the environment. But I was wrong! Feeling like you’re doing the right thing doesn’t mean you are. I just couldn’t admit it. My sense of identity was tied to my false beliefs about energy myths that blinded me to what really does and doesn’t help the planet. I learned how to see things not just the way environmentalists do, but also the way utilities, governments, builders, engineers, lenders, and manufacturers see them. But by 2008, I started to see cracks in my beliefs. The Obama administration had earmarked billions of dollars in federal funding to create jobs in the energy sector, and my company won multi-year contracts valued at over $60 million. >click to read< 13:41
Want To Cripple America? Have the Democrats Got A New ‘Green’ Deal For You!
The Democrats have been doing the bidding of America’s cabal of crony capitalists who designed the wind and solar scam for years; characters who’ve made obscene profits from massive taxpayer subsidies to renewable energy and who are obviously very keen for more of the same.,, Paul Driessen takes a look at what might happen in the US in the event that these lunatics ever get anywhere near the controls., How many wind turbines, solar panels, batteries, biofuel plants and miles of transmission lines will be required under various GND plans? Where will they go? Whose scenic and wildlife areas will be impacted? How will rural and coastal communities react to being made energy colonies for major cities? >click to read< 09:03
Cancel Culture: Michael Shellenberger Censored For Exposing Climate Industrial Complex
The media’s obsession with cataclysmic climate change is matched only by their fixation on unreliable wind and solar power as the only solution. But even among their own ilk, the “only more subsidies for wind turbines and solar panels will save us” narrative has worn thin, of late. Michael Moore’s Planet of the Humans lifted the lid on the cynical and manipulative crony capitalists profiteering from the climate industrial complex that they helped to create.,, Michael Shellenberger, once worshipped by America’s green-left, has found himself in the same territory. Shellenberger, obviously no fool, was alive to the tactics employed by the mainstream press to marginalise, de-platform and ultimately cancel anyone deemed to be ‘problematic’, whether for spouting inconvenient truths or simply failing to support the party line. >click to read< 09:36
A miraculous turn of events – Michael Moore and Driessen agree! Wind, solar and biofuel energy are devastating Planet Earth
Never in my wildest dreams did I envision a day when I’d agree with anything filmmaker Michael Moore said – much less that he would agree with me. But mirabile dictu, his new film, Planet of the Humans, is as devastating an indictment of wind, solar and biofuel energy as anything I have ever written. The documentary reflects Moore’s willingness to reexamine environmentalist doctrine. It’s soon obvious why more rabid greens tried to have the “dangerous film” banned. Indeed, Films for Action initially caved to the pressure and took Planet off its website, but then put it back up. The film is also on YouTube. >click to read< 10:04
So! What’s the Big Rush to Offshore Wind?!! Part 1 and Part 2
The U.S. is currently in a mad rush to build offshore wind farms on every square inch of the ocean on the east coast, despite the fact that there is presently little known about the environmental effects of so many structures on the marine ecosystem. The surveying, construction, operation and maintenance of these huge, up to 900 foot tall structures, will create a cacophony of sound never before heard in these ocean waters.,, So, why must we ignore all semblances of concern to the possible effects of thousands of huge off shore wind turbines on the marine environment? By Commercial Fisherman Jim Lovgren. This is a two part series, >click to read< Part 1, >click to read< Part 2 23:04
Coast Guard says it will continue rescues near wind farms
State Sen. Susan Sosnowski said last week that the U.S. Coast Guard will continue to conduct its search-and-rescue missions in and near wind farms.,, The Coast Guard confirmed the information last week as well.,, Two other agencies, the U.S. Navy and the Federal Aviation Administration, also responded to the task force’s concerns relating to the displacement of vessel traffic, collision risks and radar interference. >click to read< 07:44
Wind Farms Another Challenge to Scallop Fishery at Barnegat Light’s Viking Village
Barnegat Light Mayor Kirk Larson is part of a fishing dynasty going back to his grandfather, who owned one of the town’s first commercial fishing boats, the Mary Ann. With business partner James Gutowski, they collectively represent 12 commercial vessels at the Viking Village docks. Larson has 50-plus years in the fishing industry and has weathered many changes such as the proliferation of federal and state regulations and changes in the types of fish to target for the increasing demand for seafood. Today, Larson and Gutowski’s largest investment is in the ocean or sea scallop fishery, and they are not alone in targeting the succulent bivalve. >click to read< 13:25
Commercial and conservationist interests competing fiercely for space on increasingly crowded seas
A conference Tuesday at New Jersey’s Monmouth University brought together industry and environmental groups, who agreed that communication and coordination are essential to sharing the ocean. “Ocean activity is on the rise, and it’s exponential,” said Timothy Gallaudet, deputy administration of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and a retired rear admiral with the Navy. “There has been 400 percent growth in ocean activity over the last 25 years.” >click to read< This is my footnote. If you are in the fishing industry, you are being marginalized, sold out. You better figure out who’s on your side, fast, or simply be eliminated. 09:13
Opinion: Focus on oil industry, not lobstermen, in whale deaths
I went to the Aug. 20 meeting at NOAA regarding the lobster trap lines and the entanglement of the right whales.,, Larry Stepenuck brought up the problem of the mussel farms and their spat lines – another potential cause of whale entanglements. What! Is nobody hearing him? I think lobsterman Mike Goodwin also brought up a good point,,, It’s a gold mine out there. The big oil rigs with their seismic testing, wind farms, fish farms, mining of the ocean floor, etc., want a piece of the action, and those pesky lobstermen are raining on their parade. by Sue Waller, >click to read< 20:43
Troubling questions, concerns raised about off-shore wind farms
Oceanographer Jon Hare listed the effects of offshore wind development on the marine environment. There’s disturbance to the sea floor during installation of turbine platforms.,,,“Putting a pile into the sediment in essence is habitat alteration,” said Hare, a science and research director with Northeast Fisheries Science Center.,,The questions about offshore wind, of course, aren’t limited to the $2.8-billion Vineyard Wind project,,,,but there are more than a dozen proposals in the works all along the Atlantic Coast and plans for the Great Lakes and the West Coast. >click to read< 21:06
Fisherman, conservationists want more research before developing wind farms
Before Humboldt County begins investing in offshore wind energy, local conservationists and fishermen say more research needs to be done to assess the projects’ local impacts. Harrison Ibach, president of the Humboldt Fishermen’s Marketing Association, said much of California’s waters are already closed to commercial fishing and the installation of wind turbines is going to further reduce the number of areas where fishermen can operate. “We can’t afford to lose any more grounds,” Ibach said. >click to read<07:49
Stakeholders Voice Concerns and Cautious Optimism About Offshore Wind Energy at McGuire-Hosted Hearing – click here to read<
Wind farms, fishing industry must co-exist?
A new report from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has highlighted the enormous impact of the fishing industry on the Massachusetts economy, with New Bedford topping the list of highest-value ports in the entire United States with a whopping $389 million worth of seafood landed in 2017. The report also highlights that fishing supports 87,000 jobs in the commonwealth,,,, This data could not come at a more critical time for New England’s fishermen, who are raising concerns about how new wind farms will impact marine life in the area. While reducing the state’s carbon footprint is a noble goal, the heavily taxpayer-subsidized wind projects have yet to prove themselves reliable and effective in the marketplace and come with a host of unanswered questions about the costs and long-term environmental outcome. Gov. Charlie Baker believes the state can find a way to make wind energy work for everyone, including fishermen. “Nobody cares more about the fishing community than this administration,” >click to read<
Montauk Trying To Save Long Island Shore From Wind Farms – Residents are against it and need more support.
July 11, at the Montauk Playhouse just beneath the Montauk Manor there was an open town hall meeting featuring representatives of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management concerning a project to produce 2,400 megawatts of power by 2030 (12 years from now.) The plan is to construct “eventually” clusters of wind farms along the 100-mile south shore of Long Island from 3 to 200 miles out. The project is to start off Montauk. The large hedge fund putting up a reported $560M has tried to frame the debate as “commercial fishermen worried about their fishing grounds versus clean wind power energy,” but that just is not the case. >click to read<07:53
Wind Farms Are Not Only Expensive They Are Terribly Noisy
Northeast States are turning to wind farms hoping for relief from high energy bills, they’re finding out wind energy is not only expensive but very noisy. Brazil, the world’s eighth largest producer of wind power, has erected wind turbines off its Atlantic coast where the wind blows consistently and the noise is constant. Recently, officials in Massachusetts and Rhode Island announced contracts for two large offshore wind farms off Martha’s Vineyard.,,, The wind developers are rushing the projects to benefit from a federal tax credit for offshore wind projects before it expires in 2020. As with other offshore wind projects, fishermen are wary of the detrimental impacts that the wind turbines, the associated subsurface cables and the subsequent noise will have on their livelihood. >click to read<20:35
Wind Turbine Development and the future of fishing? Nils E. Stolpe/FishNet USA
Let’s start with commercial fishing perspectives on wind farms in the North Sea: Seventeen fishing vessels docked in the centre of Amsterdam, a city that built its wealth and prosperity on the herring fishery. Between 600 and 700 fishermen from Holland and Belgium arrived in the city for a peaceful but highly visible protest that was followed by dozens of journalists.,,, In spite of the fact that in the U.S. our experience with producing electricity with offshore wind turbines is virtually nonexistent, we are apparently well on the way to committing billions of dollars to the effort – and most of that effort is going to be in the waters off New England and the mid-Atlantic. How much experience do we have with offshore wind turbines in the United States? >click to read<12:23
‘Industrialisation of the sea must end’
A fisherman has backed a protest calling for the end to the environmental destruction of our seas. Leigh fisherman Paul Gilson spoke out after protests were staged in Amsterdam against the European discard ban. The ban has resulted in fish going to landfill rather than being thrown back into the sea. Fishermen also protested over the growing numbers of windfarms springing up in the North Sea. Hundreds of fishermen from Holland and Belgium this week protested about the loss of fishing grounds due to the impact of the windfarms and the EU’s discard ban. >click to read<18:27
Opponents say Block Island wind farm is causing problems across prime fishing grounds
The five enormous turbines that have been generating electricity off Block Island over the past year are considered a model for the future of offshore wind. But the nation’s first ocean-based wind farm also has exposed what fishermen say are serious threats to them caused by scattering massive metal shafts and snaking underwater cables across prime fishing grounds.,,, Wind power companies have dismissed most of their concerns, and fishermen have become increasingly frustrated, saying that they’re being ignored.>click to read<09:38
Central Coast should look to Rhode Island for bad experience with wind turbines
Our commercial fishermen met with the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the bureau plans on putting hundreds of wind turbines off our coastline, taking hundreds of square miles of ocean away from fishing. We spoke with fishermen on the East Coast that had five wind turbines installed off Rhode Island, and they had nothing good to say. The installation required huge cement slabs on the bottom. The blades cause radar interference for miles. They are in squid and scallop fishing grounds, costing hundreds of jobs and millions of dollars lost to Rhode Island. They are placing them in navigation lanes, causing shipping vessels to travel around them. Also, most of the time they don’t work! They need repair constantly, and if the wind blows over 50 mph, they have to shut them down! They are being federally subsidized by millions of taxpayer dollars to mainly companies from other countries! It’s costing four times the amount it costs them for natural gas-powered electricity. Gov. Jerry Brown thinks using our oceans for energy is what we need. He is wrong. The ocean is a food source. It is wild and powerful and is not meant for industrialization. Tom Hafer, Atascadero link 09:19
Fishermen’s Energy Loses Bid for Wind Farm Leases Off LBI
The U.S. Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held an offshore land lease sale for the purposes of developing future wind farms on Monday, Nov. 9. Although a locally held company, Fishermen’s Energy, participated in the auction, it lost out to two other concerns. The proposed areas for wind farms off Long Island would also affect the squid fishery and mackerel catches, Mayor Kirk Larson said. “It’s not just scallops. It could affect who knows how many fisheries.” Read the rest here 09:51
Wind farms are making the North Sea one of the world’s most overcrowded bodies of water
The report noted that the installation of cables, pipelines, and other energy-related structures can impact marine life. Dolphins, it said, “can be seriously affected by the noise of pile driving new structures into the seabed.” Ships have to navigate around turbines and oil platforms. Cables can present problems for fishermen. And the precious waters already are becoming degraded. The report cites a study in which 98% of Norwegian seabirds were found to have plastic particles in their stomachs. Read the rest here 11:54
Why are the Green Energy Projects pushed by the Enviro’s, kill wildlife and fish, Destroy Bio Diversity, and it’s acceptable to them?
The Green Energy projects that the enviro’s push, wind farms that chop up bird’s, and are sited in the paths of migratory species, tidal power projects that close off entire bay’s, and install turbines that chop up fish. These same groups ride herd over fishermen, and cry about by catch, degrade working people, calling them careless, and greedy, and then have the audacity to allow and support this destruction? All the while, they lobby OUR representatives, fill them with agenda driven BS, and they then have the nerve to show up for photo op’s, smiling, and claiming they are here to help fishermen. Help them out of business? 16:02
N.C. coast ideal for wind farms, but logistics complicated – The wind shills try to make it look so,,,,attractive.
Industrial sprawl
The chatter persists for good reason. North Carolina has the greatest offshore wind resource along the Eastern Seaboard, according to analysis by the National Renewable Energy Lab. That’s due to a number of factors, including the state’s long coastline, high energy usage among residents, and construction and labor costs that rank among the cheapest in the Southeast. continued
