I've become increasingly concerned about some of the under- and unresearched potential impacts of offshore wind development, primarily with behavioral and genetic effects of electromagnetic fields generated when the supposedly free electricity that is generated is piped ashore, and secondarily with the turbidity generated downcurrent from the "windfarms" (marvelous bit of marketing by whatever PR agency came up with that term). See https://docs.wind-watch.org/Wind-turbines-and-offshore-energy-development.pdf. I'm afraid that so far we only have a preliminary grasp of the damage that could be caused by the tip of the Biden Administration's 30 megawatt offshore wind iceberg. It might well be that there are impacts in the pipeline that will make a dozen dead whales pale into insignificance.
If these turbines were a matter of base-load primary energy that made up 80% of US electricity generation then it would be a reasonable tradeoff. But they (and wind) won't.
Note that the endangered Indiana bat is a reason not to allow nat gas pipelines from Appalachia and the Marcellus. But the same protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) don't seem to be a problem for the wind energy industry. To us, if a species is endangered, all forms of energy get treated the same. That they don't is telling.
Thank you for your update regarding this important issue. Wind projects causing adverse impacts on protected whale populations are a problem off California's coast as well. The attitude regarding wildlife harms caused by offshore wind developers is cynical. I recall talking a few years back to a wind developer at a BOEM conference in Sacramento, California. He told me that sea birds are smarter than land birds. They know to avoid offshore wind turbines. The reality is that these massive machines will kill sea birds. On land, the bird carcasses remain near the wind turbine to be tallied. On the ocean, the wildlife carcasses float away or sink. The sea bird is still dead, just not counted.
ah the industrialists coming to rescue the whales. how nice.
Robert, good job!
I've become increasingly concerned about some of the under- and unresearched potential impacts of offshore wind development, primarily with behavioral and genetic effects of electromagnetic fields generated when the supposedly free electricity that is generated is piped ashore, and secondarily with the turbidity generated downcurrent from the "windfarms" (marvelous bit of marketing by whatever PR agency came up with that term). See https://docs.wind-watch.org/Wind-turbines-and-offshore-energy-development.pdf. I'm afraid that so far we only have a preliminary grasp of the damage that could be caused by the tip of the Biden Administration's 30 megawatt offshore wind iceberg. It might well be that there are impacts in the pipeline that will make a dozen dead whales pale into insignificance.
If these turbines were a matter of base-load primary energy that made up 80% of US electricity generation then it would be a reasonable tradeoff. But they (and wind) won't.
Note that the endangered Indiana bat is a reason not to allow nat gas pipelines from Appalachia and the Marcellus. But the same protections under the Migratory Bird Treaty Act (MBTA) don't seem to be a problem for the wind energy industry. To us, if a species is endangered, all forms of energy get treated the same. That they don't is telling.
Can you provide a link to more info about this double standard in MBTA application and enforcement? Thanks
Thank you for your update regarding this important issue. Wind projects causing adverse impacts on protected whale populations are a problem off California's coast as well. The attitude regarding wildlife harms caused by offshore wind developers is cynical. I recall talking a few years back to a wind developer at a BOEM conference in Sacramento, California. He told me that sea birds are smarter than land birds. They know to avoid offshore wind turbines. The reality is that these massive machines will kill sea birds. On land, the bird carcasses remain near the wind turbine to be tallied. On the ocean, the wildlife carcasses float away or sink. The sea bird is still dead, just not counted.
The Administration would be more concerned if they were Left Whales.