Following a request from a group of Republican congressmen, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) — an independent watchdog — has agreed to conduct an investigation into the environmental effects of offshore wind turbines, construction of which the Biden administration has increasingly supported.
The effort was spearheaded by Representative Chris Smith (R., N.J.), who sent a letter to the GAO’s comptroller requesting information about the effects in the North Atlantic Planning Area, which extends from Maine to New Jersey. Of particular interest is whether wind turbines will cause economic and marine-life problems affecting commercial fishing.
“This aggressive, independent investigation into the ocean-altering impacts of the 3,400 offshore wind turbines slated for the Jersey Shore will help address the wide-ranging questions and concerns that the Biden Administration and Governor Murphy continue to dismiss as they plow full steam ahead with this unprecedented offshore wind industrialization of our shore,” Smith said in a press release Thursday. “It is absolutely critical that New Jersey residents understand all the impacts of these offshore wind projects, which will permanently transform our marine environment and seascape and could put our tourism-driven economy at grave risk, before it’s too late.”
Several studies have examined the high-voltage direct-current sub-sea cables that transfer power from the turbines and have concluded that fish larvae and lobsters are negatively affected. A ProPublica report from January explained that while the Trump administration stalled permits for offshore wind, the Biden administration is moving ahead despite concerns from scientists and industry regulators. Fisheries scientists have warned that offshore wind-farm construction also disrupts the ability of fish to feed or spawn.
Smith was joined in his request by Representatives Jeff Van Drew (R., N.J.), Andy Harris (R., Md.), and Bruce Westerman (R., Ark.), the last of whom is chairman of the House Committee on Natural Resources.
An adjacent issue that has become particularly prominent is whale deaths, and Smith has requested that the issue be investigated by the GAO. From December to March, 30 whale deaths were documented off the eastern coast of the United States, a notable increase. A number of federal agencies have denied the link between whale deaths and offshore wind projects, instead pointing to gear entanglements and vessel strikes.
However, longtime commercial fisherman Jerry Leeman told National Review that “fishermen are tired of being baselessly scapegoated for the recent surge of whale deaths.”
“Our techniques have not changed. Industrial-scale wind farm surveys and construction work are the newest and biggest component of the marine ecosystem,” Leeman said.
Senator Susan Collins (R., Maine) has similarly defended lobstermen from the charge that their gear is at fault.
While Republicans from both chambers have pushed hardest to investigate the issue, a group of Democratic senators have also asked for greater “transparency and timeliness.” They include both of New Jersey’s senators as well as Senators Richard Blumenthal (D., Conn.), Jeff Merkley (D., Ore.), and Sheldon Whitehouse (D., R.I.).
Smith decided to engage the GAO after he was not able to require the investigation through legislation. The New Jersey congressman requested an amendment to the Lower Energy Costs Act to this effect. While both the amendment and the bill as a whole passed the House in March, Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D., N.Y.) declared the bill “dead on arrival.”
“With so much at stake and out of an abundance of caution and concern, these offshore wind projects must be at a minimum paused until the Government Accountability Office concludes its study,” Smith added in his release.