Let the Fish and Chips Fall Where They May

Here’s the money quote in Robert Henneke’s op-ed at Washington Examiner:

When the liberal environmental group Natural Resources Defense Council, a coalition of U.S. senators led by Sen. Elizabeth Warren, and a conservative Texas institute like mine come together to question an ocean-based wind farm project, something must be fishy.

The issue on which those two unlikely parties agree is the construction of a 1,400-square miles wind farm, Vineyard Wind I. Here’s where it’s under construction:

The objections being raised are both procedural:

As we point out, in its urgency to get offshore wind projects approved, the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management failed to conduct the proper environmental impact studies, he states jumping on board with this project failed to get input from the fishing industry regarding environmental and economic impacts, and reasonable alternatives to the sites chosen for the turbines were not considered.

and material:

Critically endangered North Atlantic right whales (fewer than 350 remain) live and travel through the areas where Vineyard I and other projects are planned. In fact, NOAA has listed the waters off New England as critical habitat.

But at every stage of wind farm development, as NRDC points out, these majestic creatures are threatened. It starts with the sonar surveys used to map the seabed.

“Some of the soundwaves used in geophysical surveys overlap with frequencies for marine mammal hearing, meaning they can be detected by these animals,” the NRDC points out.

This can damage their hearing — their main sensory mechanism. The noise can drive them from their feeding grounds, their breeding areas, and their familiar migration routes. And the fast-moving research vessels also pose a risk of collisions, which are often fatal to the whales.

That’s why Sens. Angus King and Susan Collins of Maine and Warren have asked that more research be done before offshore wind turbines start going up. They’re also asking about economic impacts — particularly to the fisheries that sustain their state economies and literally put food on their tables.

Fishermen say trawling near and around those turbines would be dangerous, if not impossible. It’s not just the turbine towers and the massive concrete bases they require — it’s also the miles and miles of transmission lines, which have to be buried and covered over. The federal government itself admits that “due to the placement of the turbines, it is likely that the entire 75,614-acre area will be abandoned by commercial fisheries due to difficulties with navigation.”

The Biden Administration fast-tracked the approval.

It does make one wonder the reason for the rush. There’s an old proverb, “more haste, less speed” which seems to cover the situation. Did the incoming Biden Administration want to be able to show progress? Or is there something more going on?