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The U.S. Ocean Service report says wind turbine construction and offshore fishing can harm whales, dolphins, birds and bats.
Joe Rogan's interview with President Donald Trump certainly covered a wide range of topics.
While my colleague Mike LaChance was discussing this interview, I thought I'd chime in here since the podcast touches on the topic of whale deaths related to offshore wind farm construction.
I noticed the large number of whale deaths recorded along the East Coast. New Jersey Republicans at one point called for a 60-day moratorium on planned offshore wind farms to see if they could reduce the number of whales washing ashore.
The moratorium did not pass. In fact, in July of this year, federal authorities approved the construction of up to 195 wind turbines along the New Jersey coast.
With that in mind, let’s focus on “Donald Trump, the Whale Psychiatrist.”
Specifically, Trump said this in an interview.
“They say the wind drives them crazy. It's a vibration issue because these buildings are 50 stories high…The wind is howling and objects are moving, creating vibrations and noise. You know what I want to be? A whale psychiatrist.
The noise drives the whale completely crazy. They wash up on beaches, but environmentalists are strangely silent about it.
Trump has always advocated keeping America clean and healthy. He does not advocate the anti-carbon push based on pseudoscience and the green energy plans proposed by environmentalists.
Throughout the interview, Trump attacked environmental measures that he said were hurting the U.S. economy. Claiming that a “cottage industry of environmentalists and lawyers” thrives on fighting companies like fracking, he believes the environmental lobby hinders economic progress.
When Rogan asked him how to balance environmental impact with economic development, Trump said, “Clean air and water are important, but America's economic vitality is being compromised.”
True. Officials with the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) said they found no evidence that offshore wind turbines were involved in the whale deaths. Additionally, Benjamin Rouse of NOAA's Office of Fisheries Conservation Resources said, “There is no evidence that any equipment used in offshore wind projects may have directly contributed to whale deaths.”
However, a new report just released by the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) states that whales, dolphins, birds, etc. may be “inevitably adversely affected” by the construction of offshore wind farms. BOEM requires impact assessments for six previously approved wind farm sites near New Jersey/Long Island.
Specifically, as far as the whales are concerned, the 620-page report lists “potential unavoidable hazards” during construction:
- Increased risk of injury (TTS [Temporary Threshold Shifts] or PTS [Permanent Threshold Shifts]) Personal impact on underwater noise generated by piling activities during construction
- Disturbances (behavioral effects) and sound masking caused by underwater noise from piling, ship traffic, aircraft, wind turbines [Wind Turbine Generation] Operations and dredging during construction and operations
- The presence of structures creates hydrodynamic effects that affect primary and secondary productivity and the availability of prey and feed resources.
- There is an increased risk of personal injury and death from vessel strikes.
- There is an increased risk of personal injury and death associated with fishing gear.
“Potential adverse impacts” also include impacts on bats, birds, sea turtles and commercial and recreational fishing. However, “experts” assure everyone that this impact is only temporary and everything will return to normal after the construction is completed.
A BOEM spokesman said the federal agency must list all “potential, unavoidable adverse effects” associated with wind farms near New Jersey. He also said the risks can be mitigated through the measures they outline here.
“Full recovery is expected when the stressor is removed,” BOEM wrote. BOEM also said that acoustic damage from underwater pile driving would be reduced if wind turbine construction was spaced out and not carried out at all six sites simultaneously. .
I just want to point out that when a whale dies, its effects are not temporary. For an administration that should be worried about the environment and endangered species, the Biden team appears eager to ignore serious consequences for the environment and endangered species if it serves its interests.
If offshore wind farms are the only energy solution this country needs for security, then perhaps some environmental trade-offs are justified. However, as we have seen with the Vineyard wind farm scheme, the technology is imperfect and we risk permanent damage to our coastlines without making real progress towards affordable or reliable energy.
It turns out that whale psychiatrist Donald J. Trump’s diagnosis was at least directionally correct.
If he wins the election, I hope that the pseudoscience used to create destructive policies will be replaced by real science, and that the ecological activist bureaucrats will be replaced by real scientists and honest researchers.
I fear it will take decades for the country to recover from the unchecked green energy push.
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