Shutdown blocks RFK Jr’s reported offshore wind probe, agency says

Health and Human Services Secretary (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy Jr. reportedly directed staff to investigate potential harms from offshore wind farms, but an HHS spokesperson told the Daily Caller News Foundation that the “Democrat-led government shutdown” has stalled the effort.

RFK Jr. reportedly directed Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) staff in late summer to research how offshore wind farms might harm fishing businesses, Bloomberg reported Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The Trump administration is cracking down on the offshore wind industry that the Biden administration favored, flagging the sector for reliability and national security concerns.

“Like other important HHS initiatives, work on this report has been halted solely due to the Democrat-led government shutdown,” an HHS spokesperson told the DCNF.

The government shutdown has stretched into its 29th day. A banner atop the CDC website states that “mission-critical activities of HHS will continue during the Democrat-led government shutdown. Please use this site as a resource as the Trump Administration works to reopen the government for the American people.”

While the Biden administration favored offshore wind and other intermittent green energy sources, President Donald Trump has boosted more conventional sources like coal and has championed innovation for other reliable resources like nuclear.

Notably, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) previously confirmed to the DCNF that the Biden administration did not adequately review the environmental impacts of some offshore wind projects before approval. Some fishermen and environmentalists have protested and criticized offshore wind as they believe wind farms pose dangers to and disturb marine life.

Several energy sector experts and a representative of New England Fishermen’s Stewardship Association (NEFSA) told the DCNF that they celebrate the CDC’s reported probe into the potential harm of offshore wind farms.

“NEFSA welcomes the administration’s decision to study the potential harm of offshore wind. Our offshore wind research summary shows clear evidence that electromagnetic fields from undersea power cables stunt lobster larvae and compromise swimming abilities,” Dustin Delano, Chairman and Chief Strategist of NEFSA, told the DCNF. “These effects could have devastating consequences for lobster populations and the lobster fisheries that sustain coastal communities across New England. It’s deeply concerning that offshore wind proponents continue to claim these cables are harmless when science suggests otherwise. Ignoring these impacts risks long-term damage to the ocean ecosystem and the livelihoods that depend on it.”

President of Truth in Energy and Climate Frank Lassee told the DCNF that it is “high time for an honest assessment of offshore wind’s harms, ignored in the Biden green ideology above all else, rush to build. Evidence shows that undersea cables’ EMF and heat damage fishing, lobster, and crustacean populations. They create submarine hideouts, endangering national security near sensitive sites, and mega towers interfere with Air Force bases. Dead whales have surged ashore since construction began. With less than 50% electricity production, these turbines replace no coal, gas, or nuclear plants. They are just colossal wastes of taxpayer money.”

“I applaud Secretary Kennedy for directing the CDC to check out the real harms offshore wind farms are dishing out to our whales, fishermen, and coastal communities,” President of the Committee For A Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT) Craig Rucker told the DCNF. “This gutsy move puts science ahead of radical green agendas that threaten American jobs and wildlife, and it will save ratepayers from having to dole out boatloads of dollars for expensive, unreliable energy.”

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