Tag Archives: California Legislature
Thomas Elias: Gov. Newsom committing to big wind power projects risky right now
There weren’t many causes Gov. Gavin Newsom pushed harder during the just-concluded state legislative session than offshore wind power, something that has been tried in only a few places around America. For some in the California Legislature, including state Senate President Mike McGuire, D-Healdsburg, this seems an easy way to modernize the state’s electric grid without risking much pollution, taking advantage of an inexhaustible natural resource — winds that often gust at 40 mph or more. However, now it’s time for Newsom to go slow before committing California electric customers (who always pay for new generating facilities via their monthly bills) to fund this largely untried renewable energy source. If adopted, a plan to build enough offshore windmills to fill about 6% of California’s electric needs would be America’s largest commitment to offshore wind power. There is not yet any offshore wind power along the Pacific Coast, but yes, there is offshore wind power on the Atlantic Coast. There’s a small (five-turbine) project off Block Island, Rhode Island. Also, there are a few windmills off Virginia and others off Massachusetts’ Nantucket Island. more, >>CLICK TO READ<< 12:22
Ringside View: Offshore Wind is a Financial and Environmental Catastrophe
It’s about time Californians of all ideological persuasions wake up and stop what is possibly the most economically wasteful and environmentally destructive project in American history: the utility scale adoption of offshore wind energy. The California Legislature intends to despoil our coastline and coastal waters with floating wind turbines, 20+ miles offshore, tethered to the sea floor 4,000 feet beneath the waves. Along with tethering cables, high voltage wires will descend from each of these noisy, 1,000 foot tall leviathans, but we’re to assume none of this will disrupt the migrations of our treasured Cetaceans and other marine and avian life, not the electric fields emanating from hundreds (thousands?) of 20+ mile long live power lines laid onto the ocean floor, nor from the construction, the maintenance, or the new ports, ships, and submersibles. >>click to reafd<< 10:57
Misguided AB 534 ‘Pop-Up Crab Gear’ Will Hurt Whales, Fishing Families, Coastal Communities
Data Show Whale Populations Soaring, Virtually No Interactions with Crab Gear! Recently, Assembly Member Bonta of the California Legislature introduced a bill, AB 534 that if passed, would require faulty and failure prone ropeless fishing gear, as determined by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife (CDFW), to be used when taking any species of fish for commercial or recreational purposes when using a trap. AB 534 promotes an unproven and unviable fishing method that presents significant operational and safety risks to West Coast fisheries and that will result in more harm to marine life. The bill is an end-run around existing state and federal regulatory >click to read< 13:32
Bill 534 could eliminate whale entanglements, hurt (destroy) the crab fishery – 03/4/2021, Authored by Rob Bonta-D California, in collaboration with Social Compassion in Legislation and the Center for Biological Diversity, Assembly Bill 534 argues that crabbers use antiquated trapping gear >click to read<
