A Free-Market Energy Blog

Marine Mammal Deaths and Wind Power Development: Evidence Aplenty

By Sherri Lange -- May 15, 2023

“As of mid-March 2023, NOAA Fisheries has handed out 15 marine mammal Incidental Take Authorizations (ITAs) to offshore wind projects from NC to MA. These will allow companies to ‘take’ 111,817 whales, dolphins and seals. The harassment, injury, and killing of marine mammals are referred to as ‘takes’.”

Let the debate continue on the cause of the recent surge of whale deaths in the vicinity of several wind farms off the northeastern coast. But note the case of such a causal relationship, which appears to be growing, not receding.

Consider this letter from a local citizen in the local newspaper, EastBayRI (May 10, 2023), ‘Take’ authorizations prove NOAA is lying about whale deaths:

The marine science community knows this much for certain: The high-resolution geophysical (HRG) surveys used to site offshore wind turbines and transmission cabling causes harm and mortality to marine mammals.…

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Electricity Policy: An Exchange with Lynne Kiesling (more evasion, statism from a “classical liberal”)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 11, 2023

“… the economist is looking for the why-behind-the-why. And that is where negative pricing for wind and low margins in general from the regulatory setup ruined the economics of the [natural gas] industry, resulting in premature retirements, a lack of new capacity, and cost avoidance. Are you saying that there was a ‘market failure’ with natural gas in [the Texas blackout of February 2021]?” (Bradley to Kiesling, below)

She engages and then disappears. She is the “classical liberal” who refuses to question the climate alarm and favors the government-forced energy transformation to wind, solar, and batteries–and demand control from the political center. And she is all-in with the centrally planned wholesale power markets, better known as Independent System Operators and Regional Transmission Organizations (ISOs and RTOs).

She trumpeted the Texas ISO as the national model until it imploded in February 2021–and now blames natural gas, not wind and solar or central government planning.…

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SI KINSELLA vs. SOUTH FORK WIND, BOEM, et al.

By Sherri Lange -- May 10, 2023

Ed. Note: Si Kinsella is a resident of Suffolk County New York, a seaside community that is a staging area for South Fork Wind, a 132 MW, 15-turbine project located 35 miles offshore. He is representing himself on behalf of his neighbors. While not asking for damages, Kinsella is suing to ensure that the ecological protocols are met and that the project’s economics are fairly represented. Kinsella is asking Injunctive Relief: Disclose, Dismantle, Remove, and Restore.

“Mr. Kinsella repeats that the case is not about the construction methods of South West Wind, but rather is about the failure of BOEM (Bureau of Ocean Energy Management), to uphold legal principles of environmental review and oversight, water quality assurance, due process, and compliance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) and Freedom of Information Act (FOIA).

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A 10 Percent ‘Community Solar’ Discount? Think Again!

By Joseph Toomey -- May 9, 2023
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Energy and Environmental Review: May 8, 2023

By -- May 8, 2023
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Electricity Statism and Misdirection: Introducing Doug Lewin’s “Texas Energy and Power Newsletter” (well-funded propaganda)

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 5, 2023
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Electrified Compressors and the Great Texas Blackout (a threat to grid reliability everywhere)

By Ed Ireland -- May 4, 2023
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A Try at Electric Vehicles: Samuel Insull a Century Ago

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 3, 2023
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The Practical Impossibility of Large-Scale Carbon Capture and Storage

By Steve Goreham -- May 2, 2023
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Wind-financed Exposé against Kevon Martis Backfires

By Robert Bradley Jr. -- May 1, 2023
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