Local fishing boat parades through Morro Bay Harbor last March during the kick-off fundraiser and protest march by ‘Responsible Energy Adaptation for California’s Transition’ or the REACT Alliance.
As the Federal Government has marched inexorably into the world of offshore wind energy, potential wind farm sites have been identified and are in various stages of review, approval and even construction on the Atlantic Coast, the Gulf Coast and here in the Pacific.
And everywhere the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), the agency in charge of overseeing energy projects in the ocean, is working on wind projects, adversarial groups of citizen activists and scientists have sprung up to oppose the very idea of industrialization of the oceans.
And now, some of those groups are coalescing under one umbrella, nationwide alliance to fight these projects, and the origins started right here on the Central Coast.
This protest sign pretty much sums up the feelings of
offshore wind opponents.
Called, the “National Offshore-wind Opposition Alliance,” or NOOA, the newly formed alliance is forming out of the REACT Alliance, a group of local citizens that have opposed the offshore floating wind energy projects being proposed for a patch of ocean 20-30 miles off San Simeon for over a year now.
REACT Alliance, and NOOA President, Mandy Davis along with others from REACT, have been instrumental in bringing the opposition groups together.
Davis laughs that the name is a play on the acronym of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration or NOAA, the federal agency charged with protecting the oceans.
“It is a bit of a dig,” she said. “But it also has a functional aspect.” She said when someone Googles offshore wind, the NOOA link will appear right below NOAA’s link.
The marketing-savvy Davis is familiar with such tools and along with Saro Rizzo, an attorney and founding member of REACT Alliance, and his knowledge of the law, plus others who are web designers, the Alliance’s membership is smaller than the impact potential they have.
She and a handful of others started REACT Alliance, “with the intentions of taking it national.”
REACT Alliance members march down Beach Street to the Embarcadero and down to the South T-pier last March in the kick-off protest against offshore wind energy development.
She compares their fight to a David vs. Goliath match. “But this is a much bigger David, so we need a helluva lot bigger slingshot.”
Opposition groups, including commercial fishing interests, have been working from the start to stop offshore wind projects, which first sprang up in shallow waters off New England.
In 2016, the idea was brought to the Pacific Coast and Morro Bay quickly became the focal point because of the closed power plant and the easy access to the state power grid it provides.
But the idea has morphed quite a bit here off the left coast, as they moved farther and farther offshore to avoid protected areas like the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary.
And here, unlike the East Coast where turbines are imbedded into the seafloor, the plan is to install the 800-foot-tall turbines on floating platforms, moored to the seafloor over 4,200 feet deep, at the deepest point.
Davis is a veteran environmental activist for the oceans and is shocked at the government’s complete acquiescence to industry.
“Never in my life,” Davis said, “have I seen such industry and government spin. It’s mind blowing.” She added that NOAA is not doing its job; BOEM’s process is insufficient; and the Coastal Commission, all the agencies, “have bit the dust and are not doing their jobs.”
Volunteers with REACT Alliance have been doggedly following the issue wherever it springs up, most recently at the Coastal Commission where the Commissioners approved a permit to allow underwater sound testing and mapping along the route potentially hundreds of high voltage power cables will take from the wind farm to shore. The tests will come within a half mile of the beach.
She said they presented loads of evidence regarding the harm such sound waves cause, in particular harm to marine mammals like whales and dolphins which was the gist of a study off the English Coast. Large wind farms are being installed offshore in the North Sea.
“There’s been a huge surge in cetacean [whale] mortality,” Davis said, “but there’s been no press coverage.” From what she’s seen of the data in that English study, “The correlation is unmistakable,” between OSW and whale deaths.
And yet, the Coastal Commission’s staff biologist said, “Correlation does not necessarily mean causation,” Davis said. After that, it was time to get organized on a larger scale.
“Saro and I talked about it,” Davis said. She started contacting other groups and interested people, scientists, and it’s moved forward rather quickly.
They recently had their first big media exposure, an article in Reuters. “After the Reuters article came out,” Davis said of the response, “it’s proof positive this is going to make a difference.”
“There are several organizations,” she added, “foundations and research organizations. So, it made total sense to form a national alliance.”
They immediately got four other opposition groups to sign on and have already picked a 9-member board, with Davis as president, and Rizzo is on the board too. Next up will be a website and fundraising, they’ll need a lot of that to keep up with the wind companies, which are getting funded by organizations like Canada’s national retirement system.
At this point on the West Coast most of the companies who won lease auctions are or are subsidiaries of foreign companies.
She stressed that NOOA is “a single-issue alliance,” something that she said is spelled out in their Mission Statement and bylaws.
The new group is non-political, non-religious and will not allow supporters of, or fossil fuel companies, to become members.
She said their motto is, “No projects. No mitigation, period.”
On the West Coast the support for these projects is huge, and encompasses big environmental groups, local and state politicos all apparently pulling in the same direction. And with environmentalists like Davis now taking up arms on the other side, it’s creating an interesting conflict between groups that would otherwise be in lock step with each other on an issue like this.
Opposition out here has also largely been ignored, as with the recent Coastal Commission decision, but on the East Coast it’s a different story.
The East Coast’s issues apply to the left coast as well. “It’s the same issues,” Davis said, “with slightly different technical aspects. That’s why a national alliance is being formed.”
She claims that things like fast-tracking permits and sound mapping before an environmental review is done are not good things.
“It does not bode well,” Davis said. “They’re ignoring their own mandate to protect the ocean environment.”
She added that there are a lot of lawsuits being filed on the East Coast “citing these violations.”
Davis said NOOA is working now on launching a website but until then, if readers want to know more about OSW, they can see the REACT Alliance website at: www.reactalliance.org; go to BOEM’s official site at: www.boem.gov; or email Davis at: mandy@reactalliance.org.
