FIRST ON FOX: A group of House Republicans introduced a Congressional resolution on Tuesday expressing concern about the potential impact of offshore wind and calling for an immediate moratorium.
The resolution – introduced by Rep. Jeff Van Drew, RN.J., and co-sponsored by Reps. Chris Smith, RN.J., Andy Harris, R-Md., Scott Perry, R-Pa., and Anthony D’Esposito, RN.Y. — would leave Congress feeling that the full environmental and economic impact of offshore wind development needs further study. Until such an investigation is conducted, the resolution would call on the federal government to halt all such projects.
“While this administration continues to ignore the adverse consequences that may arise from the development of offshore wind energy, my colleagues and I will not,” Van Drew said in a statement to Fox News Digital. “It is imperative that the range of unanswered concerns is addressed, from maritime travel and safety to the environment and national security.”
“Until all of these concerns are investigated and presented to Congress and the public, I call for a moratorium on all projects,” the New Jersey lawmaker continued. “This government can’t just pick cherries if the environment is important to them, and they shouldn’t threaten their livelihoods and hide behind the justification of stopping climate change.”
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Rep. Jeff Van Drew, RN.J., is pictured at the Capitol in 2019. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)
Since the beginning of the year, 14 humpback whales and six endangered North Atlantic right whales have been found dead along the East Coast, most stranded in New Jersey, New York and Virginia, according to federal records. The increase in deaths has led to calls from lawmakers, local officials and conservation organizations for a federal moratorium on wind development in the Atlantic.
While government officials and some environmental groups have said there is no evidence that wind turbine construction is killing whales and that the deaths are part of an “unusual mortality event” for both whale species that date back years, the region is on track to far surpass deaths figures since the deaths were reported.
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Van Drew’s resolution noted on Tuesday that building wind turbines in the ocean could not only harm marine life, but also disrupt the country’s multibillion-dollar fishing and shipping industries. Overall, the resolution stated that wind rent represents a “transformative industrialization of vital environmental and marine resources.”
Wind turbine construction is pictured near Wainscott, New York, on December 1, 2022. (Johnny Milano/Bloomberg via Getty Images)
“These are real issues that can have real consequences, and now is the time to find out what those are, not when it’s way too late,” Van Drew told Fox News Digital.
The resolution would additionally call on Congress to determine the actual effects of offshore wind projects and craft legislation to mitigate those effects.
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In total, the Department of the Interior has leased more than 1.7 million acres of federal waters for wind development as part of the Biden administration’s aggressive climate agenda. President Biden announced in 2021 that his administration planned to approve as much as 30 gigawatts of offshore wind power by 2030 in an effort to lower the country’s carbon emissions.
Thomas Catenacci is a political writer for Fox News Digital.
