Experts are warning that the Democrats’ green agenda could jeopardize the U.S.’s national security.
On Thursday, a panel of experts testified to members of Congress at an in-district hearing in Wildwood, New Jersey, warning that the Dems’ offshore wind projects could interfere with radar and navigation in the Atlantic Ocean.
The panel included environmental and fishing industry specialists, along with individuals who had previously worked for the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE). The general consensus of the experts seemed to be that this “offshore wind industrialization” could be problematic for the national security of the country
“NASA has said that these areas interfere with all their missions out of Wallops Island; the Navy has said there is not an area in that whole lease block that does not interfere with DOD [Department of Defense] missions, but BOEM [the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management] is continuing ahead,” Meghan Lapp, the fisheries liaison for the Rhode Island commercial fishing company Seafreeze, told the lawmakers.
“When I’ve asked them on webinars, like – the Navy said that this is a problem how can you still be leasing it?” Lapp continued. “‘Well, we’re just going to be continuing the discussions.’”
The hearing was chaired by Republican New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who has introduced legislation in Congress to demand further scientific research into the impact of offshore wind farms on ocean ecosystems.
“Vessel navigation including U.S. Navy ships, merchant ships, and search and rescue operations … their radars will be compromised,” he said, citing a study published last year by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine.
Smith highlighted that the study found “that wind turbine generators obfuscate the marine vessel radar for both magnetron-based and solid-state radar.”
Locals have long opposed such projects out of concern that placing large wind turbines offshore will destroy the marine ecosystem, eliminate the fishing industry, and pollute the shore.
However, opposition to the projects reignited by the bizarre phenomenon of an alarming rise in the number of dead whales washing ashore on New Jersey beaches in recent months.
In the last three months, nine dead whales have been reported by New Jersey officials; on average, the shore sees seven dead whales per year. The entire East Coast has recorded 29 dead whales as of this week, dating back to December.
