The crescendo against offshore wind development amid what appears to be spiking whale deaths across the East Coast just got louder with Ocean City joining the call for a moratorium on its development.
On Tuesday, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan and the Town Council again urged state and federal officials to halt offshore wind farm development in the region until further investigation into possible impacts on sea life such as humpback whales.
“Since 2017, the Town of Ocean City has worked diligently to ensure the proposed construction of wind turbines off our shoreline is done responsibly,” said a statement released by the seaside town. “(It concerns) the unknown effects on whales, other species, such as the Atlantic Horseshoe Crab and migratory birds, that could be affected. The town remains concerned about the impact these projects may already be having on the environment.”
The statement added as Maryland’s only coastal community, Ocean City continues to support clean and renewable energy.
“Like many other officials along the coast, we believe that development of any energy type within our fragile coastal ecosystem must be done in a responsible manner,” Meehan said. “Ocean City insists that all approvals and construction of wind farms off our coast be delayed until all environmental issues, economic concerns, and view shed options be fully explored, and these projects are relocated to more suitable lease areas further offshore.”
More on questions raised by whale deathsAs dead whales continue to wash ashore on Delmarva, elsewhere, questions are also mounting
The industry was also the topic of a recent meeting Meehan had with mayors and representatives from several East Coast beach towns.
Ocean City is just the latest location to call for a review of offshore wind developments after Reps. Andy Harris, R-Md-1st, and Chris Smith, R-NJ, called for such a moratorium. Whales have washed ashore along the coast in Maryland, New Jersey, New York, and most recently, Virginia. In addition, 12 New Jersey mayors have also passed a resolution calling for a moratorium on all offshore wind activity.
Maryland continues to back offshore wind energy projects
During a stop in Easton on Tuesday to discuss environmental issues with local leaders, Gov. Wes Moore noted the state would continue efforts to fight climate change issues using renewable energy options.
“We have to make sure that everybody’s voice is heard on the issue, but we also know that wind energy will play an important part in terms of our long-term future. How we think about solar and wind are all things that must work in concert to achieve the very aggressive goals our administration has. We also need to have economic growth,” Moore said.
He added that watermen whose livelihoods are impacted by environmental policies need to be consulted at every phase of their implementation.
The source of the frustration of many within that community, Moore noted, was that regulations are “done to them” rather than for conservation as a whole. Along with political leaders, Moore met with watermen.
“There are many communities in our state that feel that way, that these policies are happening, and these bills are being passed and they were never part of the conversation. That is not going to be the way things work on our administration,” Moore said.
More on feds and whale deathsFeds: Offshore wind not to blame for whale deaths, but environmental groups disagree
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration maintains there are no documented cases of whale deaths linked to offshore wind projects and no evidence of whales being injured due to the seafloor probing developers have been doing to identify cable corridors or other wind energy activity.
“We don’t believe those planned construction activities would exacerbate or compound these ongoing unusual mortality events. In proposals for those projects, we have included the mitigation measures that NOAA fisheries believes is enough to minimize the impact on marine mammal species under the Marine Mammal Protection Act,” said Benjamin Laws, deputy chief for NOAA’s Permits and Conservation Division, Fisheries Office of Protected Resources during a January press conference.
