In response to an inquiry on the story from KSBY, Equinor, one of the three offshore wind lease holders, was quoted as saying, “We look forward to meeting community members and to gathering more feedback, exchanging ideas and addressing concerns over the coming years as we build Atlas Wind with an emphasis on safety, community input, and bringing significant benefits to our host communities.
Let’s be incredibly clear on this point; the proposed project is precisely that. It is not a “done deal” as they and many of our local politicians including John Laird, Salud Carbajal, Dawn Addis, and Bruce Gibson would have you believe and have mistakenly stated in public. The permitting process is just beginning and would take years for this ill-conceived project to successfully pass through the regulatory and public opinion gauntlet.
For the last couple of years, the public has been treated to numerous “dog and pony” shows in an effort to convince the public that offshore wind would have no negative impacts to our environment, our lifestyles and our economy. Public participation was not encouraged and on several occasions was disallowed.
There will be no long-term benefits to our communities as they claim. There will be no real interest in public feedback. Finally, the claims of concern for safety are disingenuous and are clearly displayed in communities where the wind industry has already taken hold and is negatively impacting the local marine environment and related economies.