Tag Archives: U.S. Department of Interior

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

NC fishermen concerned about uncertain impacts of offshore wind farms

Recreational and commercial fishermen alike have a lot of questions about these projects. The main ones: how much access will fishermen have to wind farms, and how will the wind farms impact the fish? Unfortunately, information is limited because offshore wind is still new in the United States. There are currently two offshore wind farms in various planning stages off North Carolina’s coast. One is off Kitty Hawk along the Outer Banks; the other, called Wilmington East, is off Wilmington. Avangrid Renewables is developing the wind farm off Kitty Hawk. Construction there is expected to start in 2026. >click to read< 11:17

New Jersey – Coastal towns go to court seeking more input on offshore wind

The suit alleges that the Biden administration’s plans to lease 480,000 acres off the coasts of New Jersey and New York for offshore wind development violate two key environmental protection laws, the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act and the U.S. Endangered Species Act by essentially bypassing them. As a result, the projects are moving forward without consideration for their impact on endangered species living in the area of the proposed turbines, as well as the state’s commercial fishing industry and local tourism along the Jersey Shore, according to the suit. >click to read< 10:30

South Carolina: Local organization speaks out against seismic testing

Friday, seismic testing was given the go-ahead by the National Marine Fisheries Services, which is a part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. Last year, the U.S. Department of Interior denied the seismic permits. They said the damage caused to marine animals and the fishing industry was not worth it.It is now a go, and Lowcountry organizations are upset because seismic testing is the first step to potentially allowing offshore drilling. “We are extremely against seismic air gun blasts,” Peg Howell, spokesperson for Stop Offshore Drilling in the Atlantic, said. >click to read<20:50