Perhaps someday all the issues associated with wind projects on land and offshore – economic, environmental, health, and safety – will be resolved. In the meantime, some world leaders have given up on them as have climate groups and American developers. American lawmakers are also introducing legislation which now includes passing an amendment that requires more accountability from President Biden. That seems reasonable for aviation as well as weather Doppler radar systems which are apparently also being affected by wind farms.
The House of Representatives today passed an amendment authored by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) that would require President Biden or his designee to certify that offshore wind projects “will not weaken, degrade, interfere with, or nullify the capability of radar relied upon the Federal Aviation Administration or the Armed Forces.”
Smith’s amendment, cosponsored by Reps. Jeff Van Drew (R-NJ) and Andy Harris (R-MD), comes in response to the Biden Administration’s rush to install thousands of offshore wind turbines in some of the busiest airspace in the country—including areas near Newark, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington DC—despite numerous studies that find offshore wind turbines disrupt radar systems.
Smith—who noted these areas contain major international airports, dozens of smaller airports and several military and coast guard aviation facilities—said the studies raise concerns that such interference will “create a dangerous and potentially catastrophic impact on both military and commercial aviation activities” and cited various reports including one by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the government agency overseeing the offshore wind projects.
