Tag Archives: offshore wind farms
‘Still 1,700 EU vessels plundering British seas’ UK fishermen reveal TRUTH of ‘sell-out’ deal capitulating to France
The fishing community has been left fuming four years on from the UK’s departure from the EU after accusing the UK of signing up to a “sell-out” Brexit deal in capitulation to France. Former Brexit Party MEP June Mummery, who is also the managing director of the Lowestoft-based fish market auctioneers BFP Eastern, said: “We haven’t taken back control of our waters and the resource. “Fishing, coastal communities were stabbed in the back. The UK fishing is on its knees. ”There are still 1,700 EU vessels plundering, unmonitored, unregulated. “Eight of which are super trawlers. DEFRA wants the small fishermen gone to make way for wind mills.” more, >>click to read<< 07:27
Pallone, Environmentalists Want Shipping Speeding Rules Enforced
Is the sonar activity related to offshore wind farms leading to whale deaths? The debate rages on. The Long Branch-based environmental group Clean Ocean Action suspects a possible connection between a spate of at least nine whales being stranded on the beaches of New Jersey and New York in December 2022 and January 2023 and wind farm activity, with COA Executive Director Cindy Zipf saying a moratorium is necessary “until an investigation is completed into why whales and the dolphins have been dying and to make sure it’s nothing to do with the intense amount of offshore wind pre-construction activity. However, other environmental groups, such as the New Jersey League of Conservation Voters and the Sierra Club, which are supporters of the wind farms and government agencies such as the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, say they have found no evidence of whale deaths being linked to offshore wind activity. more, >>click to read<< 14:23
Commercial Fishers Say Biden Admin’s ‘Ocean Justice’ Initiative Totally Ignores Their Concerns
The Biden Administration announced the “ocean justice” strategy in December 2023 during the United Nations (UN) climate summit, known as COP28, in order “to advance environmental justice for communities that rely on the ocean and Great Lakes for economic, cultural, spiritual, recreational and food security purposes.” However, several stakeholders in the commercial fishing industry who depend on the fruits of America’s waters to make a living and are therefore interested in sustainable use of the oceans, say that the administration is overlooking their concerns about how the oceans are managed, especially with regard to the administration’s extensive efforts to fast track industrial scale offshore wind. more, >>click to read<< 10:19
BOEM Aims to Control Offshore Wind Developments’ Risk to Right Whales
In advance of future offshore wind development in the New York Bight, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is preparing a region-wide environmental impact statement, paving the way for faster federal permitting of each individual project down the road. If built out, the future projects would mean the installation of about 1,100 turbines, 22 offshore substations and 1,600 miles of subsea cable. Without mitigation, BOEM expects the development of six offshore wind farms would have a “major” impact on right whales because of the noise from pile driving, blasting of unexploded ordnance, entanglement in abandoned gear and vessel strikes. North Atlantic right whales are so endangered that each individual death has a substantial impact, and additional losses cannot be absorbed – so BOEM wants to control the risk. more, >>click to read<< 09:15
US Wind Requests Authorization to Cover Possible Harm, Disturbance to Marine Mammals
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries has announced a request from US Wind, Inc. for a Letter of Authorization that would cover potential negative impacts to small numbers of marine mammals during construction of US Wind’s offshore wind project.US Wind also requested Incidental Take Regulations that would establish how many of a certain marine mammal species’ incidental disruption and possible injury would be permissible during construction. “This regulatory action is part of NOAA’s ongoing work to ensure the nation’s deployment of offshore wind energy is done in a manner that avoids and minimizes impacts on protected resources and their habitats,” NOAA Fisheries said in a social media post Wednesday. more, >>click to read<< 06:38
We used AI and satellite imagery to map ocean activities that take place out of sight, including fishing, shipping and energy development
A newly published study in the journal Nature combines satellite images, vessel GPS data and artificial intelligence to reveal human industrial activities across the ocean over a five-year period. Researchers at Global Fishing Watch, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing ocean governance through increased transparency of human activity at sea, led this study, in collaboration with me and our colleagues at Duke University, University of California, Santa Barbara and Sky Truth. We found that a remarkable amount of activity occurs outside of public monitoring systems. Our new map and data provide the most comprehensive public picture available of industrial uses of the ocean. more, >>click to read<< 15:52
Ørsted pulled out of NJ. What comes next for wind power at the Jersey Shore?
After Ørsted, Danish energy company, announced in October that it would pull out of the billion-dollar project to build wind turbines off the New Jersey coast, there was discussion about what would come next for clean energy development in the Garden State. Gov. Phil Murphy announced that the state’s Board of Public Utilities would seek another wind energy company in early 2024 and engage in contracts in early 2025. Why did Ørsted drop its New Jersey projects? The company ended development of the Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects, which were supposed to be built off the coast of Atlantic City. Two other projects, one by Avangrid and another by SouthCoast, a joint venture of Shell and Ocean Winds North America, were also canceled earlier this year in Massachusetts, forcing the companies to pay penalties of $48 million and $60 million, respectively. >>click to read<<10:48
Lacking information, Oregon residents guess at future of offshore wind
The sun was peeking through the clouds during a short break in the rain as Nick Edwards was making his way along the Charleston Marina. Edwards fished along the Oregon Coast for more than 40 years and now owns an 80-foot trawler named the Carter Jon, which commercially fishes Dungeness crab and pink cocktail shrimp. Near the ramp’s entrance, Edwards ran into his captain, Jordan Murphy. The men exchanged keys, and the conversation quickly turned to floating offshore wind. “We don’t want that, that’s my perspective,” Murphy said. “It would be a lot of our [fishing] grounds.” “We don’t want the demise of our ecosystem to be the unintended consequences of offshore wind,” he said. photos. charts, more, >>click to read<< 08:53
NJ’s lucrative clam fishing industry is threatened by climate change – and the wind farms meant to fight it
The Atlantic surfclam fleet fishes year-round from Virginia to Massachusetts and out to the edge of the continental shelf. The fleet sold $27 million worth of surfclams to processors last year, federal data shows, and the sector is largely based out of New Jersey — three-fifths of last year’s haul was brought ashore in the Garden State. Surfclam meat is used for chowders, clam strips and other products, including tinned products. Muscles that the clams use to pull themselves around the seafloor, which are called tongues or feet, are the most highly valued parts. The product unloaded in Point Pleasant Beach was destined to be shucked at the processing plant and delivered to manufacturers like Campbell’s, Bumble Bee Foods and LaMonica Fine Foods. more, >>click to read<< 10″57
Looking back august 13, 2015 Fullabullard, By Jim Lovgren
Recently John Bullard was quoted as saying that fishermen are lying, and there is no proof that windmill factories are killing marine mammals. This reminded me of an article published in Fisherynation concerning Mr. Fullabullard from 2015. The article showed the cover of the New York Daily News reading, Fullabulard to fishermen, Drop Dead. Now eight years later Mr. Fullabullard is saying to the Whales, Drop Dead. Nothing has changed with Mr Fullabullard, he is, and always will be a lying politician/ bureaucrat, only too happy to say whatever the people paying him need him to say, since he has the credentials from his years spent destroying the fishing industry. Good job, John, I mean Alfred. Click to read The Harvey Haddock Report – Fullabullard to Fishermen, DROP DEAD! 18:04
Australia: Anti-offshore wind farm fishing group is chaired by a former Liberal MP
A fishing industry group that has become one of the most vocal critics of offshore wind farm plans is chaired by a former Liberal politician who claims that the turbines threaten Australia’s national security by providing places for foreign submarines to hide. Offshore wind farms proposed for near the Illawarra region andOffshore wind farms Port Stephens have become a hot-button issue with the emergence of anti-wind farm organising. One of the major existing groups that have come out in opposition to the plans is the Australian Fishing Trade Association (AFTA), Fishing groups have opposed the offshore wind farm plans out of fear that the projects would hurt both commercial and recreational fishers. But AFTA was not one of the groups that made submissions during the consultation process between February and April this year. more, >>click to read<< 08:29
Commentary: Offshore wind foes push false info about whale deaths
As the former former of New Bedford, regional administrator of NOAA Fisheries, and as president of the Board of the New Bedford Ocean Cluster, I know that commercial fishing and offshore wind can co-exist and thrive. But this requires honest communication about the real conflicts between wind and fishing that need science-based thinking, baseline and ongoing research, respectful listening, and collaborative problem solving. This is made so much more difficult when there is an ongoing disinformation campaign that distorts the facts, presents false information, and operates with motives that can’t be trusted and that are geared towards stopping projects rather than solving problems. more, >>click to read<< 07:14
The Dead Ocean Effect: NAS study raises concern over offshore wind harming endangered whales
The National Academy of Sciences (NAS) released a lengthy report on what is known as the “dead ocean” threat with a focus on the Nantucket region, specifically what are called the Nantucket shoals. This is a major feeding ground of the desperately endangered North Atlantic Right Whale. It is really a good case study for all major offshore wind installations. The report uncovers something strange but true. The physics is technical, but the basic idea is simple. Wind turbines take a lot of the energy out of the air, creating a lower energy wake behind the wind turbine facility. Lower energy wind causes lower energy waves so there is much less mixing in the ocean surface layer. This depletes the oxygen level in the water, which can reduce the amount of living food sources that whales eat, which can harm the whales on a population level. This is why it is called the dead ocean effect. more, >>click to read<< 09:48
Fishermen submit hundreds of comments on leasing Gulf of Maine for offshore wind
During the 33-day comment period, BOEM held six online meetings Nov. 1-3 to discuss the draft areas and three proposed secondary areas not included in the draft, and to answer questions and hear feedback from specific stakeholder groups, such as commercial and recreational fishermen, environmental nonprofits and the shipping and transportation sector. So, what did everyone have to say? When it comes to commercial fisheries, gaps in the data that inform where WEAs will least conflict with fishing remain a top concern, as do the cables running the power to shore. Also of concern are certain quadrants included in the draft WEAs, which some at the meetings said are spawning areas for haddock and redfish. more, >>click to read<< 08:27
Newport, Block Island preservation groups sue to stop offshore wind farms
Filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, two separate appeals against the approvals were also filed by the Southeast Lighthouse Foundation, based on Block Island. Both organizations are being represented by Washington D.C.-based law firm Cultural Heritage Partners PLLC. The four filings assert a case of regulatory capture that led the U.S. Department of Interior and Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to “shirking its responsibility to the public and allowing corporate energy developers to set the terms for permitting,” and asks the court to issue a construction injunction and find the developers violated federal laws and regulations governing energy development, including the National Environmental Policy Act and National Historic Preservation Act. >>click to read<< 09:52
Nova Scotia government retreats on plan to fast-track wind farms in coastal bays
“We’re pausing any consideration of waters within provincial jurisdiction until the framework for jointly managed offshore areas is in place,” Natural Resources and Renewables Minister Tory Rushton said in a statement issued Wednesday. The decision to focus first on jointly managed waters — in essence a go-slower approach — capped several months of lobbying by fisheries groups concerned that wind farms inside bays would displace already crowded fishing grounds. “I would say that the fishing industry is very, very pleased that the province has listened to the many, many voices both within our industry and other industries,” said Ginny Boudreau, executive director of the Guysborough County Inshore Fishermen’s Association. >>click to read<< 09:57
Fishing industry’s fight against offshore wind farms reaches far and wide
Off the coast of Montauk, New York is some of the most fertile fishing grounds in all of North America. It is an area that has been sustainably fished for over 400 years, feeding countless Americans along the way. It also happens to be an area where energy companies, some foreign-owned, are trying to install offshore wind farms. Political agendas and lobbyist pull strings have put that sustainable fishing at risk. As a result, the Vineyard Wind project has embroiled generational fishermen into a lawsuit, and a battle for their own profession. Roy Maynard of the Texas Public Policy Foundation says there has not even been proper checks and balances. >>click to read<< 07:26
Politicians Come Out Against Gulf of Maine Offshore Wind Proposal
U.S. Sens. Susan Collins and Angus King, Reps. Jared Golden and Chellie Pingree, and Maine Gov. Janet Mills have sent a letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), urging them to completely exclude Lobster Management Area 1 (LMA 1) from the Wind Energy Area (WEA) for potential wind power development in the Gulf of Maine. The lawmakers and governor assert that “clean energy can offer economic and environmental benefits for Maine that must be pursued prudently and responsibly with a commitment to minimizing to the greatest extent possible the impact on fishermen, recreation and other crucial ocean uses that are critical to Maine.” >>click o read<< 07:14
Fishermen threaten to ‘stop fishing’, take legal action over massive block of offshore wind farms
Fishing boat owners in the north are threatening to stop fishing, and file injunctions with Europe, over the proposed creation of a massive block of offshore wind farms, which they have claimed will turn rich fishing areas into comparative deserts. The situation is that six new windfarms are planned for the areas off Sines, Ericeira, Figueira da Foz, Leixões and Viana do Castelo, where a small offshore wind farm has been operating since 2020, with three turbines that have already produced clean energy to serve the equivalent of 60,000 people but have also shown fishermen how fish have effectively ‘vanished’ from the waters. Earlier this year, 15 associations went public with the warning that if two wind farms are sanctioned off Viana do Castelo (as is the plan), authorities may as well issue “a death certificate for fishing”, as all the fish – on which hundreds of boats/ families and local businesses depend will disappear. >>click to read<< 10:08
Stevenson: It’s time for public comments on offshore wind
Planned offshore wind projects are three to five times as expensive as alternative options to reduce emissions, such as onshore wind, solar, carbon capture and advanced nuclear power. Offshore wind is an environmental wrecking ball. These projects will probably edge the critically endangered North American right whale to extinction. No studies have been conducted on the impacts on horseshoe crabs, despite projects being built atop the horseshoe crab preserve and in the flyway for the endangered red knot bird that depends on horseshoe crab eggs to survive its 9,000-mile migration. Commercial fishing will abandon lease areas totaling an area on the East Coast equal to twice the size of New Jersey, if all planned projects are built. Vessel collisions will increase, while Coast Guard search-and-rescue operations will be hampered, possibly leading to human deaths. >>click to read<< 06:22
Fishermen in Maine lobbied to keep wind farms out of crucial fishing grounds. Will it happen in N.S.?
A no-compromise lobbying campaign by Maine lobster harvesters has helped keep wind farms out of a crucial lobster fishing area in the Gulf of Maine. And that has some fishermen in Nova Scotia casting an envious eye south of the border. “I’m pleased to see that happen in Maine. We’d like to see the same sort of diligence taken in Nova Scotia,” said Tommy Amirault, a fisherman from Pubnico and president of the Coldwater Lobster Association. “Maine obviously has concerns. It would be nice to 
see both provincial and federal governments take our concerns into practice,” Amirault said. “We didn’t mince words that we opposed offshore wind anywhere in the Gulf of Maine. It’s one of the most productive ecosystems in the world. And we really didn’t think that this is the place to solve the renewable energy crisis,” said McCarron. In Nova Scotia, the process has just begun. He said it’s no surprise fishermen have concerns about where it happens. >>click to read<< 06:57
Wood and colleagues visit East Coast offshore wind project
“We as state legislators have a critical and essential role in fostering the offshore wind market in California by developing policies that support procurement and development, investment in ports and supply chains, and strategies and policies for maximizing local economic development,” said Wood. “We wanted to visit Massachusetts and attend this conference to learn what needs to be done and how to do it successfully. California has a number of key stakeholders and we need to make sure we are all rowing in the same direction, with the wind behind us, so to speak, avoiding any headwinds.” >>click to read<< 07:57
Cape May County Declares Victory Against Wind Farms
Jubilant Cape May County officials Wednesday celebrated the decision by Danish energy giant Orsted to scrap plans for two wind energy farms off the South Jersey coast, but expressed caution about the possibility that the projects could be resurrected later. “You know, there were many people that said to us, ‘Don’t take on this company. Don’t take on Orsted. They have the White House. They have the Statehouse.’ But unfortunately, they didn’t know about the courthouse,” Cape May County Board of Commissioners Director Leonard Desiderio said. During a news conference, Desiderio and other Republican Cape May County officials repeatedly said the tiny county was able to overcome the political support of President Joe Biden’s Democratic administration and Gov. Phil Murphy in favor of Orsted and the wind farm industry. >>click to read<< 10:32
Developer cancels plans for 2 N.J. offshore wind farms. Outraged Murphy rips company
Danish company Ørsted announced Tuesday night it will “cease development” for what was slated to be New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm, as well as plans for its second project. It’s a blow to Gov. Phil Murphy’s ambitious clean energy goals and a stunning development for environmentalists supporting the energy alternative, once thought to be operational at the Jersey Shore between 2025 and 2026. Murphy said in his statement that Ørsted’s decision to “abandon its commitments to New Jersey is outrageous and calls into question the company’s credibility and competence.” “As recently as several weeks ago,” Murphy said, “the company made public statements regarding the viability and progress of the Ocean Wind 1 project.” >>click to read<< 07:08
Federal bailout coming for failing offshore wind companies?
Team Biden is preparing a bailout package for the offshore wind industry that it already heavily subsidizes, a report said. The Biden Administration’s plan is to have offshore wind provide enough power to meet the annual demand of 10 million American homes by 2030, according to the White House. Writing in his “Energy Absurdity” Substack, David Blackmon, an energy analyst with over 40 years of experience in the oil and gas industry, said that lobbying is likely to soon begin for Team Biden to dip into taxpayer coffers to pony up more billions in funding for failing wind farms. “Everyone should prepare themselves to see an effort in Washington, D.C. to allocate billions more dollars to bail out Big Offshore Wind developers soon,” Blackmon wrote. >>click to read<< 10:55
Australia: Coastal wind farms – This Sunday, the people say ‘no’ again
When the first coastal wind farms were announced by Energy Minister Chris Bowen, I thought I was dreaming. Australia has some of the best beaches in the world. People come to this country to see its unspoilt natural beauty. Despite a 42 per cent decline following the lockdowns, tourism remains Australia’s 14th-largest export industry. Along with education, it is one of the most sustainable industries that contributes to our standard of living. Nobody wants to come to Australia to see rotting wind turbines at our beaches. They can visit their own failed renewable energy white elephants at home. To make matters worse, our energy minister is pitching his vibe to elite activists while refusing to listen to ordinary Australians. Today they will gather in the surf near Port Stephens. The protest is called Paddle Out. >>click to read<< 10:21
An Opportunity for Neighbors in Ocean City to Voice Opinions on Offshore Wind?
On Tuesday night, the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management held a public meeting at Ocean City Elementary. However, many thought it was a public hearing, which caused some confusion and frustration. By 5:00 p.m., hundreds of people had funneled into Ocean City Elementary, eager to voice any complaints or compliments. Ocean City’s Mayor, Rick Meehan, said the lack of opportunity to speak out loud did not allow the meeting to start off on the right foot. “They were mad and a lot of people left,” said Meehan. “They were very discouraged by the opportunity that was presented to them to speak on something that is very important to this area.” Commercial fishermen like Jimmy Hahn are worried about the future. “I’m scared to death that the windmills are going to kill our fishing industry,” said Hahn. Hahn said the lease area is the primary fishing spot out of Ocean City and is also used by fisherman from Delaware and New Jersey. >>click to read<< 15:54
Biden admin’s new rule could put pinch on lobster fishermen while letting others off the hook: critics say
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration is planning to enact a new federal rule under the Marine Mammal Protection Act – which would expand an existing restricted area off the coast of Maine where lobster fishing is already banned for three months each year. The move would cut the lobstermen’s’ business by at least 25% of the already declining industry, critics say. The plans come as an attempt to protect the endangered North Atlantic Right Whale, but a group of fishermen say the agency have no data to support the tightening restrictions. They also claim the federal agency is playing favorites by greenlighting offshore wind developments even though recent studies show can be harmful to marine life. “The federal government treats foreign offshore wind developers much better than lobstermen. The corporations have official authorization to disturb and displace marine life. Working lobstermen aren’t as lucky as our friends,” Video, >>click to read<< 07:55
Offshore Wind Is A Dangerous Pipe Dream Costing Taxpayers Billions
How many times have we heard that wind power, coupled with the sun’s energy, is going to save us from our fossil-fuel-burning ways? Maybe one day it will. But at no time soon will it happen. And by soon, we mean in most of our lifetimes. How can we say this? Look around at what’s happening with wind energy [emphasis, “California’s Central Coast residents work to stop — or at least slow down — offshore wind.”,,, “Orsted Threatens To Abandon U.S. Offshore Wind Projects.” Biden administration guarantees more support.,, “Electricity from wind isn’t cheap and it never will be.” The list above is no more than a start. There are many more stories we could have cited, and there are many more to come. Wind energy is unreliable, and its costs are not competitive at scale. Lots of links! >>click to read<< 18:22
Reader Commentary: NOAA cares about whales — until wind farms are involved
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