demise

Europe has 37 gigawatts of offshore wind capacity. China is catching up rapidly. Across the globe, offshore wind is an increasingly important source of clean, renewable power. The United States had previously set ambitious goals to join the international effort. But in the aftermath of the 2024 election, offshore wind in the US is basically dead in the water, pun intended.

The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management announced at the end of July that it is rescinding all designated Wind Energy Areas on the U.S. Outer Continental Shelf, effectively ending all offshore wind development across the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of Maine, the New York Bight, California, Oregon, and the Central Atlantic. Additional policy measures announced by the Department of the Interior ended special treatment for what it called “unreliable energy sources, such as wind.”

The two significant offshore wind projects underway in the US are both under serious attack by the administration and by newly emboldened special interests. Vineyard Wind in Massachusetts, with 17 turbines already in operation, is under assault by tourist town forces and fishing groups. Empire Wind, in New York, which resumed construction after efforts by Governor Kathy Hochul, is under pressure by various special interest groups that are urging President Trump to halt the project.

The current administration has very public and very pronounced antipathy towards wind power in general and towards offshore wind in particular. And this has brought to a rapid halt billions of dollars in investments and will eliminate tens of thousands of jobs.

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US offshore wind, long ‘dead,’ now really dead

Photo, posted September 15, 2016, courtesy of Lars Plougmann via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio

The ivory-billed woodpecker was the largest woodpecker in the US. They were once relatively common, stretching from the Carolinas through the southeast and across to Texas. Their numbers started to drop sharply in the 19th century because of habitat loss and overhunting. Many were taken as valuable specimens; some were even eaten by poverty-stricken people.

The last widely accepted sighting was way back in 1944. For years, the birds were listed as critically endangered with only infrequent and entirely anecdotal reports of sightings. Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service finally declared the species extinct.

A multiyear field study by avian researchers from multiple institutions has recently reported that the ivory-billed woodpecker may in fact still exist in a remote swampy region of Louisiana.

The three-year effort to find the woodpecker involved scientists trudging through the remote site to observe birds and take audio recordings. Unmanned trail cameras taking time-lapse photos and a drone were used to capture images. Several members of the team report that they observed the birds. Some photographic images and videos appear to show ivory bills. Based on characteristic markings visible in some of the photos, the birds do appear to be the ivory bill and not, for example, the fairly common but similar looking pileated woodpecker.

The birds are scarce, live in a tough, swampy habitat, and actively avoid getting near people. They live high in trees and are very difficult to spot, much less get clear photographs of. From all indications, however, reports of the demise of the ivory-billed woodpecker may have been premature.

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Back from the dead? Elusive ivory-billed woodpecker not extinct, researchers say

Photo, posted May 3, 2008, courtesy of Michael McCarthy via Flickr.

Earth Wise is a production of WAMC Northeast Public Radio.

The demise of American offshore wind

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The Ivory-Billed Woodpecker | Earth Wise

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