Joe Rogan’s interview with President Donald Trump certainly covered a wide-range of topics.
While my colleague Mike LaChance discussed the interview, as the podcast touched upon the subject of whale deaths associated with offshore wind farm construction, I thought I would chime in here.
I have noted the spate of whale deaths recorded along the East Coast. At one point, New Jersey Republicans demanded that construction on offshore wind farm projects be halted for up to 60 days to see if it reduced the number of whales washing up dead.
The moratorium did not go through. In fact, Federal authorities approved the construction of up to 195 wind turbines off New Jersey’s coast in July of this year.
With this in mind, let’s focus on “Donald Trump, Whale Psychiatrist”.
Specifically, here is what Trump said during the interview.
“They say the wind drives them mad. It’s a vibration issue because those structures are as tall as 50-story buildings… The wind is howling, objects are moving, creating vibrations and noise. You know what I want to be? A whale psychiatrist.The noise drives the whales absolutely nuts. They are being washed up on the beaches, but oddly, the environmentalists remain silent on this.”
Trump has been an advocate for keeping America clean and healthy. He has not advocated for the anti-carbon push based on pseudoscience and the rush into green energy projects put forth by environmentalists.
Trump attacked environmental measures that he says harm the U.S. economy throughout the interview. By claiming that “a cottage industry of environmentalists and lawyers” thrives on fighting enterprises like fracking, he contended that environmental lobbying impedes economic progress.Trump said, “Clean air and water are important, but U.S. economic vitality is suffering,” when Rogan questioned him about striking a balance between environmental effect and economic development.
Admittedly. the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has officials saying they have found no evidence linking offshore wind turbines to whale deaths. Furthermore, Benjamin Laws from NOAA Fisheries Office of Protected Resources stated, “There is no evidence indicating that any equipment utilized for offshore wind projects could directly cause whale deaths.”
However, a new report from the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) has just released a new report that said whales, dolphins, birds and more can be exposed to “unavoidable adverse impacts” by the construction of offshore wind farms. The BOEM was required to conduct an impact assessment for six wind farm sites that were previously approved off New Jersey/Long Island.
Specifically, in regards to whales, this is what the 620 page report listed as “potential unavoidable harms” during construction:
- Increased risk of injury (TTS [Temporary Threshold Shifts] or PTS [Permanent Threshold Shifts]) to individuals due to underwater noise from pile-driving activities during construction
- Disturbance (behavioral effects) and acoustic masking due to underwater noise from pile-driving, vessel traffic, aircraft, WTG [Wind Turbine Generation] operation, and dredging during construction and operations
- Presence of structures resulting in hydrodynamic effects that influence primary and secondary productivity and availability of prey and forage resources.
- Increased risk of individual injury and mortality due to vessel strikes.
- Increased risk of individual injury and mortality associated with fisheries gear.
The “potential adverse impacts” also include those on bats, birds, sea turtles, as well as commercial and recreational fishing. However, “experts” assure everyone that this effects are only temporary and everything will go back to normal when construction ends.
A BOEM spokesman said the federal agency is required to list all the “potential unavoidable adverse impacts” associated with wind farms off New Jersey. He also said the risks can be mitigated through the measures they listed here.”Populations are expected to recover completely when stressors are removed,” BOEM wrote. BOEM also said if wind turbine construction is spaced out, and does not happen at all six sites at once, the sound damage from underwater pile driving will be reduced.
I will simply point out that when a whale dies, its impact is not temporary. For an administration that is supposed to be worried about the environment and endangered species, it appears that Team Biden is eager to overlook serious consequences for both if it suits its interests.
If offshore windfarms were the sole energy solution necessary for the safety and security of this country, perhaps certain environmental trade-offs could be justified. However, as we have seen with the Vineyard Wind Farms project, the technology is not perfected, and we are in jeopardy of permanently harming the coastline without substantial gains in either affordable or reliable energy.
It turns out Donald J. Trump, Whale Psychiatrist, is at least directionally correct in his diagnosis.
If he prevails in the election, I hope that pseudoscience used to generate destructive policies will be replaced by real science and eco-activist bureaucrats will be replaced with real scientists and honest researchers.
I fear it is going to take the country decades to recover from the green energy push that has been allowed to go unchecked.
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