Files amicus brief arguing government violated Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act in granting offshore wind construction permits

Asks Court to grant Writ of Certiorari by Responsible Offshore Development Alliance and Seafreeze Shoreside, Inc.

The U.S. government could face costs of up to $429.915billion[1] in tax credits if current offshore wind leases are developed. These credits will primarily benefit foreign-based companies. Projects already permitted and likely to come due during the next four to five years could cost $141 billion[2].  

[1] See Appendix A.

[2] See Appendix B.

Offshore Wind threatens the fishing grounds and marine habitats that so many of us cherish. While recent political shifts signal a potential slowdown of offshore wind projects, the fight is far from over. Green Oceans remains steadfast in its mission to protect our waters, ensuring that commercial and recreational fishing communities are not sacrificed for large-scale industrial wind turbine development.

Seafood feeds 3 billion people a year with low carbon footprint animal protein. Fishing in Massachusetts and Rhode Island sustains a thriving economy. Commercial and recreational fishing support over 8000 jobs in RI and over 130,000 jobs in MA and contribute $16 billion to their economies.

“Accumulated high tissue concentrations in oysters, mussels and kelp during co-location culture would contribute significantly to or greatly exceed (e.g. oyster zinc accumulation) an adult’s Tolerable Weekly Intake.”

“The Swedish armed forces judge it would bring unacceptable risks and the government also has that view," Jonson told reporters.”

“A study has found that power outages have increased by 93 percent across the United States over the last 5 years—a time when solar and wind power have increased by 60 percent. Texas, who leads the nation in wind generation, and California, who leads the nation in solar generation, have had the largest number of power outages in the nation over those 5 years.”

“Wind turbines within the line of sight of Early Warning Radar (EWR) disrupt these systems used for early threat detection and military surveillance. As depicted in Figure 1, all three of the projects under construction (Revolution, SouthFork, and Vineyard Wind) will significantly interfere with the EWR system. Interference can hinder ballistic missile airspace surveillance, confound target detection, and prolong response time to attacks.”

“The data acquired during the survey and subsequent review of the IHA application raise concerns of sufficient NOAA review and mitigation distances to protect the critically endangered NARW and other marine species from behavioral harassment and temporary threshold shift (TTS) impacts.”