Whatever happened to ‘following the science,’ Save Jerseyans?
Legislators, activists, and average citizens are justifiably angry over the Murphy Administration’s refusal to suspend offshore wind turbine exploration following a spate of unexplained whale deaths. Far-Left environmental group are providing cover for Murphy and his corporate allies by insisting there’s no connection.
“Blaming offshore wind projects on whale mortality without evidence is not only irresponsible but overshadows the very real threats of climate change, plastic pollution, and unsustainable fishery management practices to these animals,” New Jersey Sierra Club Director Anjuli Ramos-Busot insisted last week. “There have been many mitigation techniques identified for reducing the threat of offshore wind development to whales and other wildlife. We should focus on implementing these while continuing to push for clean energy. These include specific turbine configurations and entanglement deterrents.”
Sadly, that’s easily disprovable.
Here’s one example:
Shortly before the New Year, Bloomberg reported that “US government scientists warned federal regulators the South Fork offshore wind farm near the Rhode Island coast threatened the Southern New England Cod, a species so ingrained in regional lore that a wooden carving of it hangs in the Massachusetts state house…”
“…[m]arine scientists have warned that projects along the New England coast could imperil endangered North Atlantic right whales. And in August, the New England Fishery Management Council identified Atlantic waters already leased for offshore wind development as a “habitat area of particular concern,” a designation that encourages the government take a more stringent and cautious approach to permitting.
Concerns about South Fork, the 132-megawatt project being developed by Orsted AS and Eversource Energy, focused on its overlap with Cox Ledge, a major spawning ground for cod and “sensitive ecological area that provides valuable habitat for a number of federally managed fish species,” a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration assistant regional administrator said in an October 2021 letter to Interior Department officials. Based on in-house expertise and peer-reviewed science, the agency said “this project has a high risk of population-level impacts on Southern New England Atlantic cod.”
Some steps were reportedly taken, but “[National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration] faulted the Interior Department for shrugging off other recommendations to protect cod, saying the bureau had based some decisions on flawed assumptions not supported by science. That includes a decision to not block pile driving at the very start of the spawning season in November, even though NOAA said the noise could deter the activity and force some cod to abandon the area.”
Sound familiar?
Here we go again!
“Following the science” is a Leftist priority until we’re discussing gender, masking, experimental vaccines, and a laundry list of other Democrat coalition priorities including turbines that may be contributing to the deaths of nature’s most majestic creatures.
