FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT: SaveRightWhales@protonmail.com
4/26/22
REPORT: CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
Environmental Organizations Take Offshore Wind Industry Money
As Right Whales Face Extinction, Wind Power Gives Millions to Environmental Groups from Maryland to Massachusetts
NANTUCKET, MA – From Maryland to Massachusetts, Wind Power corporations (some of them foreign) gave more than $4.2M to conservation groups since 2018, according to a new report released today by the Save Right Whales Coalition. The coalition is a group of long-time environmental activists, scientists and community leaders from the Northeast dedicated to protecting the critically endangered North Atlantic Right Whale.
The report, "Conflicts of Interest", is among the first to trace financial contributions from the Wind Power industry to environmental organizations in the Northeast. It comes as the Biden administration continues its push for offshore wind-generated electricity to combat climate change. However, controversy surrounds several projects including one that would erect multiple giant wind turbines right in the heart of biologically important habitat for the endangered North Atlantic right whale in waters south of Massachusetts and Rhode Island – a cause one would expect local conservation groups to be fighting. Not only do these turbines decimate local bird populations, but most scientists believe the cumulative effects on Right Whale habitat is threatening to their survival.
The coalition also released an open letter sent to the environmental organizations that took the Wind Power money.
The groups include: Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, New England Aquarium, Environmental League of Massachusetts, Mystic Aquarium, Center for Coastal Studies, National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, Delaware Center for the Inland Bays, National Audubon Society, several local Audubon Societies throughout the Northeast, Nature Conservancy, World Wildlife Fund, International Fund for Animal Welfare, Lobster Foundation of Massachusetts, Assateague Coastal Trust, Wetlands Institute, Project Oceanology, Consortium for Ocean Leadership, Maryland Coastal Bays, Blue Planet Strategies, and the Massachusetts Division of Marine Fisheries.
Many of the recipients of the corporate money have either issued statements in support of wind power or remained silent.
Ørsted, the Danish offshore wind developer, seeks to erect hundreds of wind turbines in coastal waters off the US east coast. The first US-sited offshore wind project, Block Island offshore wind energy facility, is owned and operated by Ørsted. The five-turbine facility was placed in service in December 2016. Just four years later, the Block Island project was taken offline for six months after technicians identified "stress lines" in the GE Haliade 6-MW turbines.
The findings take on suspended belief when one considers Ørsted’s involvement with the New Jersey Audubon Society. The Danish offshore wind developer is the official sponsor of the New Jersey Audubon Society’s fundraiser, the World Series of Birding, where funds are raised to support bird conservation.
The full report can be found here.
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