Too usually, the controversy over local weather options facilities on perceived trade-offs between habitat conservation and the clear vitality transition, preserving group and permitting growth, or decreasing air pollution and sustaining profitability. However accountable clear vitality deployment will be balanced with the wants of communities and wildlife, representing a win-win that doesn’t give rise to insurmountable trade-offs. Audubon’s new report, Offshore Wind and Birds: Developing the Offshore Wind that Birds Need, confirms that offshore wind can have immense advantages for birds, individuals, and the financial system. This report advocates for the fast adoption of offshore wind to fight the local weather disaster whereas defending birds, supporting coastal communities, and addressing the rising demand from superior manufacturing and rising applied sciences.
The report was printed as wildfires rage in California, communities within the Southeastern U.S. proceed to take care of extreme harm from Hurricanes Helene and Milton, and NASA confirmed that 2024 was the warmest year on record. NASA additionally discovered that the world has exceeded the 1.5 levels Celsius local weather threshold—a degree of warming that local weather scientists warn might result in irreversible penalties if sustained. Audubon’s Survival by Degrees report signifies that over two-thirds of North American hen species might face extinction attributable to unchecked local weather change—a loss that might have dire implications for ecosystems, agriculture, and communities throughout the nation.
The urgency for motion on local weather change has by no means been higher. Fortunately, the event of offshore wind can present a swift and actionable answer to this disaster.
Realizing Offshore Wind’s Potential
The potential capability of offshore wind vitality off the continental U.S. is outstanding. Based on the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, the entire possible offshore wind capability alongside U.S. coasts is greater than thrice the entire electrical energy generated nationwide in 2023. By harnessing solely 10-13% of this capability, studies show the U.S. might obtain net-zero greenhouse fuel emissions economy-wide whereas creating as many as 390,000 jobs by 2050, fostering new funding and employment alternatives nationwide.
Offshore wind can be advantageous as a result of it may be generated conveniently near massive inhabitants facilities. As well as, constant and powerful wind speeds assist offshore wind present a gentle stream of fresh vitality again to the grid. By producing offshore wind alongside the coast, we will make the most of clear vitality sources whereas decreasing transmission burdens and rising our capability to fulfill rising vitality demand.
Advancing Offshore Wind Growth with Fowl and Marine Wildlife Conservation
Audubon produced the Birds and Offshore Wind report to look at the most effective obtainable science concerning the dangers to birds. Whereas persistent myths declare widespread and devastating results of offshore wind generators on wildlife, the science tells a distinct story. Our findings clearly point out that we will responsibly deploy offshore wind in a way that also protects birds and their habitats. That mentioned, you will need to acknowledge that offshore wind generators, like all infrastructure, can pose a danger to birds. These dangers embrace turbine collisions, habitat displacement, and avoidance conduct. Fortuitously, our analysis exhibits builders can successfully handle these dangers with out considerably rising mission prices.
To deal with the present dangers, Audubon requires a four-step planning course of:
- Establish and take away critically vital areas for birds from consideration for leasing.
- Implement confirmed methods to attenuate the potential for generators to impression birds.
- Offset unavoidable impacts, when essential, via investments in conservation.
- Monitor hen actions and inhabitants traits to make sure options are working.
The impression of offshore wind on wildlife is neither disproportionate nor insurmountable. Confirmed methods, comparable to decreasing seen lights on generators and utilizing perching deterrents on generators, have been efficient in addressing hen impacts.
Using Coverage to Assist Offshore Wind Meet Its Potential
Efficient coverage can be essential in serving to the U.S. totally capitalize on offshore wind alternatives and guarantee growth occurs shortly and responsibly. Measures federal legislators and companies can take embrace:
- Offering certainty by safeguarding current investments and helps just like the tax credit included within the Inflation Discount Act.
- Taking measures that enhance outcomes for birds, like requiring builders to embrace new applied sciences and finest administration practices that scale back hen collisions.
- Bolstering investments in analysis and expertise to assist builders higher perceive wildlife interactions with generators and enhance turbine effectivity.
- Collaborating with builders on Neighborhood Profit Agreements (CBAs) to assist guarantee coastal communities profit from close by offshore wind tasks, with Congress taking steps to formally incentivize CBAs through the leasing course of.
- Enhancing mission siting and federal allowing to hurry the deployment of accountable offshore wind tasks. Congress can facilitate well timed allowing by rising investments within the allowing workforce at related companies.
State and native governments additionally play a key position in offshore wind growth. States like New York and Massachusetts present worthwhile fashions for working with native communities, Tribes, business pursuits, and the federal authorities to deploy offshore wind responsibly and quickly. States are additionally instrumental within the siting, allowing, and infrastructure growth that connects offshore wind vitality to the grid, in addition to conducting regionally particular environmental research to assist inform the federal allowing course of.
Particular coverage suggestions will be present in our Abstract and Suggestions for Policymakers companion doc here.
Persevering with Audubon’s Dedication to Accountable Clear Vitality Growth
To guard birds from local weather impacts and “bend the hen curve” — halting and in the end reversing hen inhabitants declines — Audubon stays dedicated to accountable clear vitality growth. As a part of that aim, the Audubon community engages with builders on the bottom, federal companies allowing generators, and policymakers to construct offshore wind tasks that scale back emissions whereas safeguarding birds and communities.
Audubon workers will host a webinar overview of the content material within the report on Wednesday, February 12. Register here. For extra info, go to Audubon’s Birds and Clean Energy page or take the clean energy pledge to enroll in updates.
