New York seas waters are on the verge of man -made disaster, one that threatens marine life, coastal economies and even national security.
The Empire Wind wind wind project this week began the construction in the New York Bight, a critical marine ecosystem and one of the most busy maritime areas on the east coast.
The damage can be irreversible, and the New Yorkers will be paying the invoice.
This week, Empire began throwing thousands of tons of rock in the ocean to prepare to build huge monopiles, the foundations on which the giant wind turbines will sit.
THE ROCKS – 3.2 One billion Libras of them, in this first phase of a planned installation of the installation of two parts, destroys the habitat, burying the vital sand banks that serve as spawning and gardens for fish species such as Fleed, Squid and Seiira.
Fisheries and fishing communities from Massachusetts will be damaged to North Carolina.
The next months, Empire will begin to lead the mass monopoles of 180 feet in the seabed.
The tremendous noise and vibration will damage all marine life, special extinction species such as the whale of the North Atlantic.
Already at the edge of extinction, thesis whales migrate directly through the construction zone.
The Empire Wind permit of the Oceanic and Atmospheric National Administration allows harassment of these marine mammals, which is expected to include a temporary drain or around 300 whales in their first year of construction.
More than 150 whales in danger of extinction, End and Sei are damaged in this way, paralyzing their submarine navigation and communication skills.
Up to eight can be permanent deaf.
A deaf whale is a dead whale.
The risks extend beyond the endangered whales: Empire Wind endangers the coastal economy of the Atlantic Ocean.
The Middle Atlantic Bight supports a multimillion -dollar commercial and recreational fishing industry and thousands of jobs throughout the coast.
Minimum thesis endangers our food security, along with our maritime and cultural heritage.
Even our national defense and aviation security are at risk.
Under his permission, Empire Wind must close the operations when the Department of Defense requests it, and the FAA warned that turbines could interfere with the radar at JFK, Islip and Westchester airports.
If this project is so harmful to the defense and safety of flights that it must be ready to stop at any time, why have we light it green?
Consider the global precedent: Sweden canceled 13 wind projects on the high seas in November after realizing that they would seriously prevent their military response to an enemy attack, as well as its detection of submarines of the adversaries.
However, the United States presses forward, despite the reports of unidentified drones on our growing global coasts and tensions.
The visual impact of the project is also impossible to ignore.
Mass turbines will appear on our horizon, visible from Long Beach, New York. A Long Branch, NJ, threatening coastal tourist economies that are defended in sea views.
Do you remember the turbine blade that broke near Nantucket last year, dispersing 55 tons or fiberglass debris in four states?
That accident closed the Nantucket beaches for a week in July, a devastating blow for local businesses.
Imagine that happens in the cities of the beach of Long Island and New Jersey.
What do New Yorkers get in exchange for thesis risks?
A false source of high -cost energy.
The offshore wind is four times more extent than the average wholesale electricity price of New York.
Nor is it reliable: wind generation requires a 24/7 backup of fossil fuels or nuclear centrals.
That means we will pay twice: once for the so -called “green energy”, and again to maintain real power.
The high -cost offshore wind, which also requires billions of dollars in new transmission lines to bring land to land, means greater electrical invoices and more economic difficulties for consumers and business already besieged in New York.
However, all project profits will flow abroad.
Empire Wind is financed by fiscal credits from the United States, but is operated by Equinor, a foreign state oil company.
We carry the cost; Norway reap the rewards.
Empire Wind is not about progress.
It is the industrialization of our ocean, stamped by federal agencies and delivered by a foreign property corporation under the appearance of climate action.
It is corporate well -being disguised as environmentalism, and costs are too high.
This year, President Trump issued an executive order aimed at protecting US fishing and guaranteeing that the high seas wind does not undermine national interests.
It must act in that order now, before the wind of the Empire irreply damages the Bight of New York.
Bonnie Brady is Executive Director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association.