Standing next to a 30-square-foot sand drawing of a humpback whale and her calf, U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew and other speakers made a call to “save the whales” Sunday afternoon. Van Drew, R-2nd, and state Sen. Vince Polistina, R-Atlantic, headlined a half-dozen speakers who once again opposed proposals for wind turbines off the coast of New Jersey and other Eastern states, claiming the sonar testing has led to a rise in marine mammal deaths over the past four months. They spoke to about 500 people on the beach at Suffolk Avenue. “Those whales — and I don’t mean to sound corny — were a divine blessing from God to wake us the hell up and say we’ve got to do something. This is the real thing. We are really in trouble with this and we’ve got to fight,” Van Drew said. Video, and a pile of photos! >click to read< 21:22
Tag Archives: BOEM
Congressman Van Drew Joins Chairman Westerman on Natural Resources in Leading Letter to GAO Requesting Offshore Wind Study
“BOEM and offshore wind companies have engaged in a sloppy and rushed environmental review process—ignoring national security concerns, ignoring concerns from our fishermen, and ignoring impacts on our ocean life—all in the name of ‘climate change,'” said Congressman Van Drew. “We must continue to demand transparency throughout this process. Without diligent oversight, we risk not only our natural resources and local economies, but the livelihoods of the constituents we serve as well. I thank Chairman Westerman for his support in uncovering the real impacts these offshore wind turbines will have on our coast, including the economic impact on pertinent industries and the effects on sensitive environments.” >click to read< 10:31
Old lumber port preps for new life as California offshore wind hub
Eureka’s halcyon days as the “timber capital” of California are long gone, but the deepwater port city 270 miles north of San Francisco may see its fortunes turn as the hub of the state’s first foray in offshore wind energy. Eureka sits across two of the five swaths of Pacific Ocean along the California coast that the federal government auctioned off to offshore wind developers this past December for a total of $757 million. The three other leases are on the Central Coast across from Morro Bay. Humboldt Bay, the second-largest bay in California after the San Francisco Bay, is ideally suited to become the final assembly port for the massive turbines. >click to read< 15:43
Environmental Regulations and Wind Turbines Are Backing New England Fishermen into a Corner
Just three weeks ago, Jerry Leeman was a commercial fishing captain in New England and a very successful one at that. Now, as executive director of the newly formed New England Fishermen Stewardship Association, he’s leading the charge against Biden administration policies that threaten the industry he loves, including overregulation and wind-turbine development in the Gulf of Maine. Leeman said that he and fellow New England fishermen have serious concerns about the accuracy of the NOAA data. Fish-population assessments fell to the wayside during the Covid years — 2021 and 2022 — and the data-collection process has not yet been corrected. “Whether you’re a lobsterman or a ground fisherman, a trend up and down the coast here is that nobody wants wind turbines placed in our environment. It’s going to mess up our stocks and our species. Not to mention it’s going to change the viability for generations to come in the fishing grounds,” Leeman said. Photos, >click to read< 07:51
Where have all the dead whales gone? By Nils Stolpe, FishNet-USA
Beginning in December of last year and extending through most of the first quarter of 2023, New Jersey and New York beaches were inundated with abnormally high numbers of dead or dying whales and smaller marine mammals. These majestic creatures-though not so majestic when being pushed about willy-nilly by tides, wind, waves and various types of earth moving machines-have never expired in such large numbers in such publicly accessible locations in local residents’ memories. Perhaps coincidently, intensive hydroacoustic surveys to determine the suitability of potential sites for the construction of thousands of gigantic windmills and their supporting infrastructure (supposedly to help us all survive what is being sold as an imminent energy/climate crisis) were being committed offshore of the beaches where all of these marine mammal deaths and strandings have been concentrated. To us inveterate observers of that hunk of Atlantic Ocean real estate known as the New York Bight, and the critters that temporarily or permanently live there, and of the actions of the public agencies charged with-and entitled to tens of millions of taxpayer dollars each year to do so-administering the Endangered Species and the Marine Mammal Protection Acts, that surely hints at, at best, ineptitude at that’s ineptitude at a fairly advanced level. >click to read the article< 16:14
Revolution Wind offshore wind farm project clears CRMC hurdle. What’s next for the project?
The vote by the Coastal Resource Management Council moved Revolution Wind one step closer to becoming the third utility-scale offshore wind farm to be cleared for construction in America. The vote came despite objections from fishermen, who say the project and others like it will shut them out of fishing grounds and cause economic losses in their industry. Not all in the fishing industry are against the project. David Yerman, a Connecticut fisherman whose firm is employed by Ørsted and Eversource, said those in the industry can work with offshore wind developers. “Offshore wind development is not a threat to commercial fishing,” he said. “It is an opportunity.” But every other person from the fishing industry that spoke voiced opposition to the application. >click to read< 09:49
Fewer turbines but more conflict for Revolution Wind farm
The fishing industry and offshore wind developers are again at odds over how a mammoth array of 80-story-high wind turbines will affect ocean species, and the fishermen whose livelihoods depend on them. And without consensus on the potential damage, the two sides also can’t agree on what measures – including money – are enough to offset the harm caused by the Revolution Wind project. Even a 33% cut to the number of wind turbines – from 100 to 65 – negotiated by state coastal regulators hasn’t done much to reduce conflict. Developers Orsted A/S and Eversource Energy LLC have agreed to pay $12.9 million, to commercial and charter boat fishermen to offset potential revenue losses caused by the noise, electromagnetic field waves, boulder moving and other disturbances that the towers and undersea cables cause to the delicate underwater ecosystem. >click to read< 08:46
U.S. identifies Gulf of Maine area for offshore wind development
President Joe Biden’s administration on Tuesday said it had finalized an area of nearly 10 million acres in the Gulf of Maine for potential offshore wind development, a major step toward expanding the industry into northern New England. The announcement was the latest milestone in the government’s plan to put wind turbines along every U.S. coastline to help displace fossil fuel for power generation and fight climate change. In a statement, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management said it would kick off a 45-day period for public comment on the area, which sits off the coasts of Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Maine. >click to read< 08:25
In the Race for Clean Energy, Is Offshore Wind Harming the Nation’s Fisheries?
Tom Hafer remembers the first time the fish stopped biting. It was a little over 20 years ago when fiber optic cables were being installed in waters off the coast of central California, where he fishes commercially for spot prawns and rockfish. The fishing was disrupted for “miles and miles,” says Hafer, who has been fishing since the 1970s. Now, he and many other fishermen are bracing themselves for what could be a much larger threat looming in the water. Offshore wind farms, which are ramping up in the United States, could come at a tremendous cost to fishermen as they are being sited in prime fishing areas. And the process of erecting wind farms and their long-term presence in the water could alter aquatic ecosystems, potentially driving away fish and marine mammals. >click to read< 10:27
Fishery council executive directors warned Biden admin about dangers wind energy projects pose to fishing industry
In an Aug. 22 letter to former Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) Director Amanda Lefton, the three officials, who respectively lead the New England, Mid-Atlantic and South Atlantic Fishery Management Councils, expressed concern about current processes for approving offshore wind development. They also made a series of recommendations to help the federal government mitigate impacts on fisheries. “As we have stated in several past comment letters to BOEM, we are very concerned about the cumulative impacts of multiple wind energy projects on the fisheries we manage,” they stated in the letter. “The multiple wind energy projects planned along the east coast will have cumulative and compounding effects on our fisheries.” >click to read< 08:32
Congressman Van Drew: National Security is the Price We Will Pay
On April 17, Congressman Van Drew issued the following statement after the Pentagon sounded the alarms on how the development of offshore wind farms will affect our national security. “During my field hearing in South Jersey last month, my colleagues and I highlighted the adverse effects offshore wind development would have on various sectors and industries, from our environment to our national security, “said Congressman Van Drew. “These warnings can no longer be ignored. This President and this administration continue to disregard these valid concerns,,, >click to read< 08:06
Blown Away: Offshore wind regulators ignore danger to fishing industry
“This industry, this group of people in the room today, really are the key to unlocking that clean energy future,” Beaudreau, the deputy secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior, proclaimed at a conference hosted by the American Clean Power Association, a lobbying group largely funded by offshore wind developers. Just one year earlier, Beaudreau had been a corporate lawyer, earning part of his $2.4 million income from offshore wind developers. Then he was appointed to regulate the industry he was previously paid to represent. During Beaudreau’s tenure, developers including several of his former clients have gained preliminary or final approvals for an unprecedented expansion of offshore wind, despite repeated warnings from federal scientists about potential harms to marine life and the fishing industry. Photos, >click to read< 07:48
Intense reaction to wind/fishing investigation – >click to read the comments< 4/25/2023
Morro Bay – Winds of Change
The offshore wind industry is expected to grow in coming years, sourcing a global market for renewable energy. The waters off Morro Bay have been sanctioned by The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) as a viable site for offshore wind development, considering the town’s existing electrical transmission capabilities. The introduction of an offshore wind farm would have devastating effects on Morro Bay due to the town’s historic reliance on the fishing industry. This project has the potential to displace fishermen and cause widespread economic harm to the community. Winds of Change explores the complexities of this case, while giving underrepresented fishermen a voice in the matter. Video, >click to watch< 10:01
EXCLUSIVE: Federal Regulator Acknowledges Danger to Wildlife Caused by Offshore Wind Farms
Captain Jerry Leeman, who heads the fishing vessel F/V Teresa Marie IV, sent a copy of the Norwegian haddock study to Nies in a January 9 letter. “Thank you for your January 9 letter … A federal fisheries council acknowledged that some power cables for offshore wind turbines could harm certain fish, according to a letter seen by the DCNF. Multiple recent studies have demonstrated that a variety of commercially popular fish can be negatively impacted by their exposure to magnetic fields emitted by high voltage direct current cables, which can confuse their ability to navigate and, in some cases, leave them exposed to predators. “We were previously aware of this study and agree that it has concerning implications for the possible effects of high voltage direct current cabling on larval behavior and resulting predation rates,” Thomas Nies, executive director of the New England Fishery Management Council (NEFMC), said in a January 18 letter. >click to read< 20:01
Resistance to Offshore Wind Is Growing on US Coasts
A growing chorus of interest groups is calling for a pause in offshore wind activities to allow further assessment of the sector’s impacts on the marine ecosystem. Fishing groups and local residents have filed five lawsuits against proposed or under-construction wind projects along the Atlantic seaboard. 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. And the United States’ largest lobbying group for Native Americans recently called for a halt to all offshore wind scoping and permitting. Wind energy is a key component of the Biden Administration’s climate agenda. >click to read< 08:10
Nils Stolpe: How many statisticians does it take to….
Screw in a lightbulb? Trivialize the deaths of at least two dozen whales? Convince the world that the massive installation of wind power off our East Coast won’t irreparably damage our estuarine, inshore and offshore ecosystems? The folks at NOAA/NMFS (and with the convenient parroting of myriad so-called environmentalists, and BOEM, the other part of the federal cheerleading squad selling Ocean Wind as a major solution to our “energy crisis”) have declared that it hasn’t been proven that there aren’t any relationships between the extensive survey work being committed by Big Wind and the associated contractors and the two dozen deaths that have been visited upon several species of whales off New York and New Jersey. What is their proof? Inadequately enough, their “proof” boils down to the fact that they have seen no proof. To my way of thinking, that’s tantamount to convicting someone of murder because there is no proof that he or she isn’t a murderer. But it appears as if, as far as dead whales and President Biden’s and New Jersey’s Governor Murphy’s windmill fantasies are concerned, that’s good enough. At least for NOAA/NMFS, BOEM and a bunch of environmental organizations. Why? >click to read< 09:54
New Jersey: Van Drew leads chorus of condemnation of wind projects in Wildwood
If there were any fans of offshore wind energy proposals in the Wildwoods Convention Center on Thursday afternoon, they kept quiet during a congressional hearing on the issue, led by U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd. Over about 2½ hours, speakers dove into what they see as problems with the proposal for wind turbines off the coast of New Jersey and other Eastern states, and with the state and federal approval process they say favors the wind developers. The hearing was billed as “An Examination into Offshore Wind Industrialization.” After opening statements, which were each deeply critical of the wind power plans, the Congress members heard from environmental advocates, an attorney representing Cape May County, a fishing industry member and others. They did not hear from Ørsted, the Danish energy company that owns Ocean Wind 1, the offshore wind power project expected to be the first in operation off New Jersey. Photos, Video, >click to read< 07:43
Pacific Fishery Management Council says Rescind Oregon OSW Call Areas
The Pacific Fishery Management Council acted today to join a chorus of voices recommending the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management rescind the current Oregon call areas designated for floating offshore wind energy development. Heather Mann, Executive Director of the Midwater Trawlers Cooperative and one of the leaders of the informal coalition Protect US Fishermen said in her testimony, “we hear the climate crisis is so severe that collateral damage to birds, whales, the California current ecosystem, food security, even to fisheries, fishermen and rural community economies is an accepted part of the transition to cleaner energy. That is an unacceptable premise to me, and I hope it is to you as well.” The motion passed unanimously (10-0) with four abstention votes cast by the state representatives for Oregon, Washington, and California as well as the NMFS representative. >click to read< 19:24
Whale death confusion abounds, and some is deliberate
Press coverage of the tragic whale deaths is a supreme study in confusion, especially the foolish attempts to somehow exonerate offshore wind development. Here are some prominent examples. The evergreen New York Times wins the race for worst coverage by claiming to explain the numerous recent whale deaths as due to online shopping. I am not making this up. Their headline promises an explanation: “Why 23 Dead Whales Have Washed Up on the East Coast Since December”. The primary reason claimed is that East Coast shipping has increased due to people buying lots of stuff post Covid, especially online, and ship strikes account for a lot of the deaths. >click to read< 13:11
Fed Official: Offshore Wind Will Adversely Impact North Atlantic Right Whale
Ahead of his March 16 hearing on offshore wind at the Wildwood Convention Center, Congressman Jeff Van Drew is challenging the federal government and offshore wind companies to prove they have nothing to hide when it comes to negatively impacting the environment. “Hearings are critical,” he said in a statement released last week condemning President Joe Biden’s administration for “its continual lack of transparency with the American people – this time about the correlation of offshore wind development and the death of endangered whales.” Van Drew’s latest comments follow the release of a May 13, 2022 missive from Sean Hayes, chief of protected species for NOAA’s National Marine Fisheries Service. In the letter to Brian Hooker, lead biologist for Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, Office of Renewable Energy Programs, Hayes laid out how offshore wind development in New England would negatively affect the North Atlantic right whale. >click to read< 08:04
Panel discusses impact of offshore wind on West Coast fisheries
The Biden administration has called for deploying 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy to combat climate change by 2030. Depending on where the turbines are placed, they could displace highly productive fishing grounds that account for billions of dollars and thousands of jobs in Oregon, Washington and California. Projects must be planned carefully using the best available science to mitigate potential damage, according to a panel of experts who spoke March 1 at the Northwest Offshore Wind Conference in downtown Portland. >click to read< 11:52
Blue State Enviro Groups Demand Answers From Green Biden Administration On Whale Deaths
Nonprofit groups in the state’s coastal towns have spent months trying to get the administration to place a moratorium on offshore wind projects until a thorough, transparent investigation can be completed to see if there is a connection to recent whale strandings. Since December 2022, over 20 whales have washed up along east coast shores near survey sites for future offshore wind projects in an unusual mortality rate, according to NOAA. “The low-frequency sonar used in the windmills is causing deafness in the whales. It’s one of those things that science is only going to pick up on years after the fact, in the meantime, whales are being killed,” James Lovgren, board of trustee member of Clean Ocean Action and retired commercial fisherman, told the DCNF. “You have to pause and ask, ‘why are we doing this?’” >click to read< 09:17
Many voices weigh in on offshore wind plan
Three days after Governor Janet Mills unveiled an offshore wind roadmap, a “comprehensive plan that offers detailed strategies” for offshore wind power in the Gulf of Maine, a handful of unconvinced citizens gathered at the Sustainable Maine Fishing Foundation Feb. 26 on Bar Harbor Road in Trenton. The idea was to inform lobstermen and interested people on offshore wind development before a Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) presentation that opens the Fishermen’s Forum March 2 in Rockport, board member Ginny Olsen said. Energy operations consultant George Stover of Freeport, who has worked in the state’s energy industry for decades, discussed the Maine power grid and its energy sources and why, to his mind, offshore wind power is not a good fit or needed here. “If they continue down this road, it scares me,” he said. He is not alone. The idea of floating offshore wind installations in the Gulf of Maine has raised fears and concerns from environmentalists and fishermen alike. >click to read< 12:42
Gloucester webinar tackles concerns about wind farm projects
At the nascent stage of wind farm development in the Gulf of Maine, a webinar last week looked at the possible impacts to marine life, coastal communities and fisheries while acknowledging there are many unknowns to such projects. Capt. Al Cottone, a commercial fisherman and executive director of the Gloucester Fisheries Commission, said the industry has “a ton of questions that haven’t been answered yet. And I don’t think these questions will be answered in the time frame that was shown earlier in the presentation and it’s very concerning to the industry.” “We are very concerned about the displacement of vessels,” Cottone said. “Once you start losing access to fishing grounds, it puts a lot of pressure on other fishing grounds.” >click to read< 12:28
Biden’s Offshore Wind Dreams Face Rising Controversy, Opposition
By now, most Americans are likely aware of the increasing number of whales that have been found grounded on Atlantic beaches, some of which lie adjacent to offshore wind projects already under development. In a May, 2022 letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) lead biologist, Brian Hooker, NOAA scientist Brian Hayes warned that “the development of offshore wind poses risks to these species,” and that the “risks occur at varying stages, including construction and development, and include increased noise, vessel traffic, habitat modifications, water withdrawals associated with certain substations and resultant impingement/entrainment of zooplankton, changes in fishing effort and related potential increased entanglement risk, and oceanographic changes that may disrupt the distribution, abundance, and availability of typical right whale food (e.g. Dorrell et al 2022).”But that warning seems to have had little impact. >click to read< 09:53
NOAA and BOEM; Ignorance is Bliss. By Jim Lovgren
For about twenty years the Natural Resources Defense Council [NRDC] engaged the US Navy in a legal battle over the effects of the Navy’s use of Mid Frequency Sonar in training exercises and its impact on marine mammals and other creatures, with one case even reaching the US Supreme court. While there are many different aspects of NRDC’s legal actions, the results of the litigation have produced an enormous amount of scientific data and research regarding the effects of underwater sound on marine creatures, with an emphasis on Sonar and marine mammals. They forced the Navy to admit that their use of sonar had resulted in the unintentional mass strandings of many different marine Mammals in a dozen different instances around the world, primarily involving Beaked whales, that are classified as being low to mid frequency cetaceans. >click to read< 08:48
“Save Our Whales” Rally on “World Whale Day” in Point Plesant Over Concerns of Recent Whale Deaths
Rep. Chris Smith (R-Manchester) called for immediate answers from the Biden Administration and Governor Murphy to the growing questions raised by him, county and local officials, environmental leaders, and concerned Jersey Shore residents over the massive offshore wind projects along the New Jersey-New York coastline in light of the recent unprecedented surge in whale deaths. The rally comes less than a week after a dead whale washed ashore in Manasquan and just two days after another dead whale washed ashore in New York, marking the ninth and tenth whale deaths in the area since early December. Photos, >click to read< 08:54
Are NOAA scientists being silenced? By Jim Lovgren
Since the beginning of December there have been at least twelve strandings of whales along the New York and New Jersey shores, all resulting in the death of these animals. An abnormal amount of strandings have been reported in a few southern states as well during this time frame, exacerbating
what NOAA has declared as an unusual mortality event taking place on the East coast that started in 2016. These deaths include, Humpback, Minke, Fin, Sperm, Northern Right Whale, various Dolphins and more since 2016. Many of the Mammals stranded are endangered species, with the Northern Right Whale considered critically endangered having a population of less then 350 animals remaining, which is down from close to 500 only a decade ago. A curious coincidence among these particular marine mammals is that they are classified as Low frequency cetaceans, meaning that they communicate, navigate and feed using low frequency sound. Similar to the frequency most commonly used for sonar mapping or submarine detection by the Navy. >click to read the article< 16:02
Pleas to pause wind farm plans over whale deaths have fallen on deaf ears: ‘Reeks of hypocrisy’
The mayor of Point Pleasant Beach, N.J., Paul Kanitra, has a theory on what may be behind the mysterious string of whale deaths that has left officials speechless. Since offshore wind energy development began in December, the region has witnessed 18 whale deaths – a severe uptick that is not a “coincidence,” the New Jersey mayor argues. “In a normal year, the Jersey Shore coast and in the tri-state area, we have one, two, maybe three whale deaths. Since they started doing this sonar testing, which started in December, we’ve had eight whale deaths off our coast, and that seems a lot more than a coincidence to us,” Kanitra said on “America’s Newsroom,” Friday. >click to read< 09:00
12 Jersey Shore mayors call for moratorium on offshore wind following whale deaths
The announcement followed news that another humpback whale had died off of the coasts of New Jersey and New York and washed ashore in Lido Beach, Nassau County, New York, according to numerous reports. “While we are not opposed to clean energy, we are concerned about the impacts these (offshore wind) projects may already be having on our environment,” the 12 New Jersey mayors wrote in a joint letter to Washington officials. On Saturday, a dead humpback was seen floating about 12 miles off Long Beach Island, said Andrea Gomez, a spokeswoman for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. It was not clear Monday if the Lido Beach whale could be the same one spotted off Long Beach Island. >click to read< 10:48
