Our hardworking East Coast fishermen are under siege, their livelihoods and precious ocean resources being strangled by the reckless offshore wind industry. This past Sunday, they took a stand, rallying on the waves to protest this green energy nightmare that’s poisoning our Atlantic waters. Jerry Leeman, the battle-hardened CEO of the New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association and captain of the Teresa Marie, roared out his frustration: “We’ve been steamrolled. America as a whole has been steamrolled.” Barret, a Massachusetts fisherman who’s weathered storms for over 45 years, echoed this sentiment, bellowing, “We are small businessmen… We’ve been steamrolled.”

The catastrophe caused by the Vineyard Wind turbine failure in Massachusetts on July 13th is a chilling testament to the destructive potential of offshore wind on our marine life and hardworking fishermen. A shattered blade spewed styrofoam, fiberglass, and other toxic debris into the ocean, tainting Nantucket’s once pristine beaches. This disaster has sparked a wildfire of concern among our fishermen about the safety and sustainability of these reckless wind projects.

Leeman fired back at the government’s lack of transparency and accountability, thundering, “Now the government is squandering billions of taxpayer dollars on an experimental, floating offshore wind facility in Maine while shamelessly admitting they have barely any data on the devastation it’ll wreak on sustainability.”

In a mind-boggling move, the federal government recently handed over a lease to Maine to develop America’s first floating offshore wind farm. This was following a 2023 bill signed off by Democratic Gov. Janet Mills in a blatant disregard for the livelihoods of our fishermen.

This ill-conceived bill naively aims to generate half of Maine’s electricity using offshore wind by 2040. But our resilient fishermen, hailing from all corners of the East Coast – Maine, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Connecticut, and Massachusetts – are united in their outrage over these wind monstrosities threatening their livelihoods and safety. Nantucket lobsterman Dan Pronk voiced his fears about the impact of the turbine debris on his business, stating, “I fish 800 lobster traps right where you’re dropping these tombstones, spelling the death knell for my business… If you breathe those fumes… you’ll get higher than a rat.”

Beyond the immediate disaster caused by the broken turbine, there are grim forecasts about the long-term effects of offshore wind on fish reproduction and food sources. Studies reveal that wind turbine noise can disrupt vital fish communication during spawning.

Furthermore, reduced wind speeds from these wind farms can severely impact the distribution of nutrients in the ocean, leading to a sharp decline in primary production and potentially decimating fish populations. Our fishermen are sounding the alarm about the sustainability and health of marine life in the wake of this rampant offshore wind development.

The fishermen’s fury is further stoked by the foreign origin of key players in the offshore wind industry, such as Danish integrated energy company Ørsted, Norwegian petroleum and renewables company Equinor, and Vineyard Wind co-owner Avangrid, majority owned by Spanish utility company Iberdrola.

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This raises serious questions about the legality of these projects. The 1976 Magnuson-Stevens Fishery Conservation and Management Act grants the U.S. exclusive rights over the use of marine resources up to 200 nautical miles from its coast. Leeman voiced his disbelief at the lack of local control over these projects, stating, “None of us remember ever voting for foreign companies to come in and wreak havoc on our natural resources… The Magnuson-Stevens Act was designed to kick foreign invaders out of our waters to keep our marine resources sustainable.”

Despite receiving billions in subsidies from the Biden administration and aggressive state goals for offshore wind development, project cancellations and delays have become a regular spectacle. The recent scrapping of two of New York’s offshore wind contracts due to refusal to increase ratepayer-funded subsidies is a prime example.

As Americans wake up to the environmental devastation and skyrocketing costs associated with offshore wind, there’s a growing resistance against these developments. The fishermen’s protests against Vineyard Wind serve as a clarion call that America needs to prioritize sustainable and responsible energy solutions that protect our invaluable marine resources and the livelihoods of our fishermen.

Source: SilverCircular