Protecting the Ocean from Industrial Development
A proposal from the federal government to industrialize the ocean along the Central Coast and Humboldt coastline with hundreds of 700-foot-tall, floating wind turbines would set a precedent that ocean industrialization is acceptable, destroy the character of the Central Coast, and kill ocean wildlife.
The Pacific Ocean is home to mammals, birds, and countless varieties of unique sea life. Humans are land mammals. We can create our own energy on our homes and buildings on the land. Let the whales, sea birds, and other marine life keep their ocean home.
We’ve already seen the consequences of ocean industrialization with oil and gas developments in the Santa Barbara Channel. We should have learned our lessons by now.
Offshore wind is one of the most expensive ways to generate electricity and is not cost-effective. Offshore wind energy costs 4-5 times more per kilowatt hour than residential solar. Our utility bills from PG&E and SCE are already too high. Offshore wind is too far from our homes and each year wind turbines degrade and produce less and less. Increased maintenance costs and eventual decommissioning costs will be left to the taxpayers.
Clean energy is our future, and the most economical and efficient way to accomplish this transition is to let the public produce and own it locally, near the sources where electricity is used. Rather than giving multi-national oil, gas, and wind energy corporations like Equinor tax breaks, and financial incentives, that ultimately are paid for by electricity ratepayers and taxpayers, give better financial incentives to millions of California home owners and commercial building owners. The rebate program to promote electric vehicles was a success. Do the same for residential solar installations and battery storage systems that capture wasted electricity for future use. Only 20 percent of homes and buildings have some sort of solar system in California.
Do we really want to put hundreds of 700-foot-tall rotating turbines in the middle of the Pacific Flyway where millions of birds migrate each year, mostly at night? Industrial offshore wind development has killed whales on the East Coast when high decibel noise pollution from mapping surveys separates mothers from their children. Calves rely on their mother’s milk and when communication is lost, because of the noise pollution, they become separated, stressed, and die. This has been documented in the film Thrown to the Wind, which is on YouTube.
Ocean industrialization will cause permanent damage to our coastal wildlife, coastal tourist economy, and be an economic burden to residents. Let’s stop this environmental and economic boondoggle before it gets started.