Tag Archives: bureau-of-ocean-energy-management
First Lawsuit Over Whales and Wind Dismissed
A federal district judge in Massachusetts has rejected an effort to stop an offshore wind project near Nantucket Island on the basis of danger to whales, apparently the first court test of similar claims being raised against wind turbine proposals along the U.S. eastern seaboard, including here in Virginia. On May 17, U.S. District Judge Indira Talwani granted a motion for summary judgement to the federal agency that approved the Vineyard Wind One project. With a planned 84 turbines, the project is about half the size of Dominion Energy Virginia’s planned project off Virginia Beach. Both are just the first phases of larger planned buildouts. The same judge is hearing the other cases, with the two from fishing interests now combined. >click to read< 09:47
R.I. fishermen threaten legal action over South Fork wind farm
A group of fishermen in Rhode Island is threatening to sue the state’s coastal agency, the federal government, and developer Ørsted over the under-development of the South Fork wind farm in federal waters off Rhode Island. The Fishermen’s Advisory Board and the individual fishers it represents said in a letter Wednesday that the deal to approve the South Fork wind farm did not adequately compensate them for their losses. Making matters worse, they say, a fishing vessel working on the project broadcast over a radio channel used for emergency and distress calls in April that nobody was allowed within a mile and a half of either side of recent work to construct the project’s cable. >click to read< 07:46
N.J. GOP seeks wind projects halt to see if whales benefit
Four state senators hosted a online hearing about offshore wind energy generation and whale deaths, three weeks after the most recent East Coast whale death was reported and despite the assurances of most scientists and conservationists that there is no correlation. The two-hour hearing came a week after Democrats, who control the Legislature and the governorship, held a similar hearing and many of New Jersey’s major environmental groups said the greatest danger to whales is climate change, not offshore wind generation. “I’ve been labeled a climate change denier and a tin-foil hat wearer,” said Jim Hutchinson, managing editor of The Fisherman,,, U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr., who represents part of the Jersey Shore and who led last week’s Democratic-led forum, said pausing offshore wind projects wouldn’t prevent whale deaths. >click to read< 08:05
Massive study examines offshore wind’s impact on fishing, fisheries
A just released “first of its kind” report that federal regulators and the fishing industry spent three years working on is making the rounds, exploring the impacts of offshore wind on fisheries and commercial fishermen, and identifying the questions that remain unanswered. They just released their results in a nearly 400-page “Synthesis of Science” report — a collaborative effort between the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the lead regulator of offshore wind; NOAA’s Northeast Fisheries Science Center; and the Responsible Offshore Development Alliance (RODA), a membership-based coalition of the fishing industry. >click to read< 09:31
US Navy Sounds Alarm Over Biden’s Offshore Wind Plans
The US Navy and Pentagon are sounding alarms over Biden administration plans to advance offshore wind projects along the central Atlantic US coast, warning that almost all of the new terrain eyed for development conflicts with military operations. Maps shared with industry stakeholders and seen by Bloomberg News show vast red areas that the Navy and Air Force have deemed “highly problematic,” covering prime real estate the Interior Department last year earmarked for leasing off the coasts of North Carolina, Virginia, Maryland and Delaware. The Defense Department’s concerns, which come on top of other conflicts identified by the US Coast Guard, have spooked renewable power developers and US East Coast states counting on mid-Atlantic wind farms to meet clean energy and climate goals. >click to read< 11:18
4 lawsuits threaten Vineyard Wind
The lawsuits against America’s first major offshore wind project are coming to a head. Four cases are challenging the federal environmental permit issued to Vineyard Wind, a 62-turbine facility being planned for construction in the waters off Martha’s Vineyard. A federal judge in Massachusetts heard arguments brought by landowners in two cases in recent weeks. The other two suits, brought by fishing groups, have been consolidated and will appear before the same judge for oral arguments in Boston on Monday. The cases against Vineyard Wind allege that the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management conducted an inadequate environmental review when it approved the project by failing to account for its impact on everything from fishermen to the critically endangered North American right whale. >click to read< 07:32
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 deaths exploited in ‘cynical disinformation’ push against wind power, advocates say
Efforts to stop wind turbines off the Atlantic coast have a new mascot: the whale. A dozen New Jersey beach town mayors and several other groups now argue offshore wind power activity could be the cause of recent whale deaths and wind projects must be stopped while scientists investigate. But those most vocal about their concern have been silent in recent years as whale strandings surged along the East Coast. Wind energy supporters and whale advocates say these groups and politicians appear to be using whales as pawns. >click to read< 10:17
Feds push ignorance defense for whale killing by offshore wind development
The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the NOAA Fisheries agency have both put out what amount to “arguments from ignorance” claiming that offshore wind development has nothing to do with the recent whale deaths. “We know nothing about it so it must not be happening” is a ridiculous defense to the charge of offshore wind development causing the death of a lot of whales. But this is exactly what the Feds are now saying. NOAA Fisheries is a scientific agency and their version is more scientific, which is important because this is really a scientific issue. Let us look at their arguments. >click to read< 17:38
Offshore Wind Farms in New England Create Headaches for Both Man and Beast
“I don’t think ever in history has there been such a massive alteration of the ecosystem in such a short amount of time,” says the executive director of New Jersey-based Clean Ocean Action, Cindy Zipf. “We’re looking at 3,500 turbines as tall as the Chrysler Building, 2.2 million acres of ocean, and 10,000 miles of cable just in the Northeast in just the next seven years.” At the center of the conflict is the North Atlantic right whale and other endangered marine mammals that the Commerce Department’s National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association National Marine Fisheries Service are charged with protecting. Fewer than 350 right whales are left in the Atlantic Ocean, according to the fisheries service. >click to read< 08:14
Draft North Atlantic Right Whale and Offshore Wind Strategy Announced
As the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has ramped up offshore wind development to meet the Biden-Harris administration’s goal of generating 30 gigawatts of offshore wind by 2030, the question of how the expansion of offshore wind energy could affect the critically endangered North Atlantic right whale (NARW) has come under close review. To help address this question and support the recovery of endangered NARW and the responsible development of offshore wind energy, BOEM and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s National Marine Fisheries Service (NOAA Fisheries) developed a joint Draft North Atlantic Right Whale and Offshore Wind Strategy (the Draft Strategy). >click to read< 11:29
Joel Dejean: Turn the Tide Against the Texas Gulf Wind Farms
The Biden Administration announced last week that the first offshore wind farms in the Gulf of Mexico will be positioned off the coasts of Texas and Louisiana. The first selected area was described approvingly in the July 22 issue of The Texas Tribune by Mitchell Ferman. It is “24 nautical miles off the coast of Galveston, covering 546,645 acres, bigger than the city of Houston, with the potential to power 2.3 million homes, according to the U.S. Interior Department’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management.” The other project, praised in Houston Chronicle headlines, will be near Port Arthur [Texas] covering 188,023 acres, 56 miles offshore, with power potential estimated at 799,000 homes. Public hearings are to start in August. Two issues come immediately to mind. First, in the description of both projects, the phrase ”potential to power” is used. The figures given represent 100% potential productive capacity, but the wind usually delivers only 30%, and often even less. >click to read< 11:25
Protect Our Coast NJ cites offshore wind farm’s ‘negative impacts’
Protect Our Coast NJ, a group dedicated to stopping the Ocean Wind 1 wind turbine project, has weighed in on the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s Draft Environmental Impact Statement, pointing out the areas the 1,400-page document shows dangers to the region. Meanwhile, Ocean Wind said it is finalizing comments that it plans to publicly release on points the project developers believe should be addressed in the Final Environmental Impact Statement. A statement released Monday said it has already taken steps to minimize the project’s impact. The public comment period on the draft statement, or DEIS, closes Aug. 8. Most commenters either roundly supported the job creation they expect from Ocean Wind 1 and a series of other wind turbine projects off the coast, or they attacked the project for the harm they believe it will cause to marine mammals and the tourism, commercial fishing and recreational fishing industries. >click to read< 09:09
New Jersey residents sue over offshore wind farm leases
A group of New Jersey residents have sued the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to seek the reversal of its March decision to pursue the development of an area of ocean 30 miles off the coast of New Jersey for wind turbines. Community group Save Long Beach Island accused BOEM in Washington, D.C., federal court Monday of failing to prepare an in-depth report on potential environmental impacts of selecting 800,000 acres of the New York Bight to lease to developers that would install wind turbines. The group also says that the development could further imperil the North Atlantic right whale, one of the world’s most endangered large whale species. >click to read< 19:35
TPPF: Vineyard Wind Project Violates Federal Law
Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for the American Future filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden administration challenging the approval of the Vineyard Wind Project off the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. The project would severely harm the commercial fishing industry in the area and destroy the lives of countless families, as well as create irreparable harm to the environment and ocean wildlife. >click to read< Included is a link to view the full text of the lawsuit 12:28
Offshore Wind Farms : We’re from the government and we’re here to _______ you!
It is just another example of the commercial fishing industry being “thrown under the bus” for the benefit of more politically powerful interests-in this case the wind energy industry and the political support that has been generated by it. But then again, perhaps not. Gina McCarthy, described as the Biden Administration’s “Climate Czar” (actually the first-ever climate advisor) “said the administration already took those complaints.” These are the comments RODA and various other folks and organizations made on the COP which were never addressed. “McCarthy said offshore wind is emerging as an even more important linchpin of the Biden administration’s clean energy strategy than had originally been expected. There are about 16 projects currently in the pipeline,,, >click to read< 15:52
Commercial fishermen being ignored on wind farm projects
For the past three decades, Town Dock fishermen and their counterparts across the Northeast have struggled to stay afloat in the face of strict regulations designed to rebuild depleted stocks of cod, flounder and other species. But now that many of the species have rebounded and government regulators are increasing the amounts of fish they can land, the fishermen face a new threat: offshore wind farms. Longtime Town Dock fisherman Bob Guzzo said the federal government is giving away land that fishermen have used to feed people for more than 300 years. “I’d like to pass this on to someone else who wants to go fishing,” he said. >click to read< 18:54
This comment is excellent-Seems like we can add to the list of lies from big wind, if anyone is keeping score. I would doubt it, their whole industry is based on lies!
State of New Jersey Needs to Address Community Offshore Wind Farm Concerns
Oersted is currently seeking federal permits for its planned 99 turbine wind farm 15 miles off the southern New Jersey coast. Public meetings held by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held in April did little to calm the growing skepticism surrounding the project. Cape May County’s economy is heavily dependent on tourism and commercial fishing.,, Save Our Shores argues that the turbines pose a threat to migratory birds and marine mammals. The Sierra Club says those opposing the wind farms are doing so based on bad science. The Garden State Seafood Association contends that the location studies did not consider the potential negative impact on commercial fishing. >click to read< 08:22
Offshore Wind Farms: Cape May Commercial Fishermen Must be Heard – They may be heard, they won’t be listened to
“The commercial fishermen have a lot of reservations about what’s going on,” said Thornton. “I would like the board to take a position to oppose this, “I am going to personally oppose it,”,,, Thornton cited figures provided by Rutgers University, reporting the commercial fishing industry in the county produces $192 million of product. “It is very significant,” In the Northeast, from Maine to Virginia, the county is ranked second in value and total pounds harvested, he said, adding it is “standard practice” in Europe and Asia to compensate commercial fishing businesses for lost income from offshore wind projects. NO! “We’re not hearing any of that here. Not at all,” said Thornton. In the U.S., there is no legal process for that to take place, he said. Certain states negotiated payments of their own with commercial fishermen, he continued. >click to read< 10:54 (starting to smell,,,)
Big Blow Joe – Biden’s Rush to put Windmills off the Coast of Massachusetts
It didn’t take long for fishermen to realize that Joe Biden is not their friend. Biden, or whoever is calling the shots these days in Washington, rushed through a review of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farm, moving the project, expected to be online by the end of 2023, closer to becoming a reality. It’s not the first time Joe Biden has dealt the fishing industry a losing hand. The Obama-Biden Administration closed fishing grounds off the New England coast by declaring the area a national monument. Trump reversed the decision upon taking office. >click to read< 07:10
Federal lease allows Oregon State’s offshore wave energy testing facility to move ahead in 2021
The lease for PacWave South is the first marine renewable energy research lease the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has issued in federal waters off the West Coast. The estimated $80 million facility will be located offshore southwest of Newport, Oregon. The project still must receive licensing approval from the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission before it can move forward. Obtaining the lease is an essential component of the licensing requirements. >click to read< 12:22
Biden administration gives boost to offshore wind. Orstead fails to renew fisheries representative contract
The Biden administration’s announcement this week of a plan to resume an environmental review of a wind farm off the Massachusetts coast and accelerate green-energy development was welcomed by developers and proponents of projects for Long Island. Biden on Jan. 27 signed an executive order,,, Orsted officials declined to comment on the decision by the company not to renew the contract of Julie Evans, a Montauk fishing boat captain who had been a fisheries representative to the company for local fishing issues. She had worked with fishermen in 2020 on fishing-gear loss cases tied to Orsted survey work. One fishermen, Vinny Damm of Montauk, had his claim rejected. Orsted declined to comment on the matter. >click to read< 11:16
Offshore Wind Plans Will Drive Up Electricity Prices And Require ‘Massive Industrialization Of The Oceans’
Joe Biden’s climate advisors (crackpots) are calling for the immediate approval of a slew of pending offshore wind projects. In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo is calling for 9 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity to be built by 2035. Other East Coast governors (a real crackpot)are also floating multi-gigawatt offshore plans. In all, according to a report issued by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management last June “approximately 22 gigawatts of Atlantic offshore wind development are reasonably foreseeable along the East Coast.” >click to read< 10:34
Offshore Wind Developer Asks Biden to Restart Permitting Process
Vineyard Wind, the developer of the first major U.S. offshore wind farm, said on Monday it has asked the Biden administration to restart its permitting process after former President Donald Trump’s government abruptly canceled it last month.,,, U.S. President Joe Biden has pledged to boost development of renewable energy as part of a sweeping plan to fight climate change and create jobs. (Absurdity) Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between power company Avangrid Inc, a unit of Spain’s Iberdrola, and Denmark’s Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners. >click to read< 07:40
Federal review of offshore wind projects raises concerns over delays
The Trump administration’s unexpected review of “potential impacts” of offshore wind-energy projects could be published early this year, but it remains unclear whether publication will clear a logjam that has stalled one of the country’s first large-scale projects, and the dozen to follow.,,, Last year, when the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced an analysis of offshore wind projects slated for construction in U.S. waters, Vineyard Wind, the first affected by it, was caught off guard. Vineyard Wind is proposing a project off the Massachusetts coast. >click to read< 07:31
RODA Calls for 4 Nautical Mile Transit Lanes in New England Offshore Wind Areas
Today, RODA submitted a proposal to the U.S. Coast Guard, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, and the National Marine Fisheries Service calling for the designation of 4 nm transit lanes through the New England wind energy lease areas. 4 nm transit lanes would preserve safe and efficient passage along the routes most often used by fishermen. >click to read< 08:30
Fishermen call for 4-nautical-mile lanes between offshore wind turbines – >click to read<
Vineyard Wind: delayed project reveals bluster in US’s offshore wind ambitions
The recent decision by the Interior Department to hit the pause button on plans to build the first major US offshore windfarm off the Massachusetts coast means the project now hangs in the balance. Amid federal agency infighting, does the country risk squandering a vital resource of clean energy? We investigate. The waiting game: could Vineyard Wind be the new Cape Wind? >click to read< 16:09
Wind turbines and radar mix poorly
Vineyard Wind’s 84-turbine wind farm, slated for an Atlantic lease area about 15 miles south of Martha’s Vineyard, effectively had the rug pulled out from underneath it August 9, when the Department of the Interior announced the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) would hold off signing a Final Environmental Impact Statement (FEIS) and re-examine potential impacts posed by the project. Radar was not specifically cited as something the feds would take a second look at. However, weather and aeronautical radar are all well-documented as being adversely affected by wind turbines, and a handful of studies show marine radar is also hampered by wind turbines. >click to read< 18:17
Vineyard Wind, welcome to our world…
Headline – Trump admin throws wrench into offshore wind plans – The Trump administration is ordering a sweeping environmental review of the burgeoning offshore wind industry, a move that threatens to derail the nation’s first major project and raises a host of questions for future developments. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, a division of the Interior Department, is ordering a study of the cumulative impact of a string of projects along the East Coast. The review comes in response to concerns from fishermen about the impact of offshore wind development on East Coast fisheries. Must watch video! >click to read< 17:15
Governor Charlie Baker eyeing ‘cure plan’ for Vineyard Wind project
After a “really productive and substantive” meeting with new U.S. Interior Secretary David Bernhardt in Washington, D.C., on Monday morning, Gov. Charlie Baker said his administration will be working with Vineyard Wind,,, On Monday, Reuters reported that the National Marine Fisheries Service “triggered the delays by declining to sign off on the project’s design, as proposed by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management” and that a regional director for the agency “said his agency could not support the environmental permit for Vineyard Wind because the project failed to fully address the concerns of the fishing industry.”,,, Pressed by a reporter as to why he would not say fishing was among the concerns, Baker responded: “Can you read the comments? They’re not that hard to find. Certainly, there were issues that were raised by fishing. There were issues that were raised by a number of other federal agencies as well.” >click to read< 19:44
