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Wind farms off of Morro Bay approved by Biden Administration

May 26, 2021

By JOSH FRIEDMAN

The Biden Administration announced Tuesday it has launched an effort to advance two wind energy projects off the coast of California, one of which is located near Morro Bay.

Currently, California does not have any offshore wind farms. A new agreement, though, between the federal government, state officials and the offshore wind industry is expected to change that.

The federal Department of the Interior, in coordination with the Department of Defense, identified a 399-square-mile area northwest of Morro Bay as a location that will support three gigawatts of offshore wind, according to a White House statement. The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management plans to offer a lease sale within a 399-square-mile zone as soon as early 2022, according to Gov. Gavin Newsom’s office.

In addition to the proposed Morro Bay wind farm, the Biden Administration and Newsom’s office announced they are advancing a wind energy project located offshore of Humboldt County.

Castle Wind, which is a joint venture between Trident Winds and EnBW North America, is developing a proposed 1,000 megawatt, or one gigawatt, floating wind farm in the Central Coast offshore zone, which officials have dubbed the “Morro Bay 399 Area.” The Castle Wind project would consist of approximately 100 floating turbines.

The wind energy company has been working for more than five years with commercial fishermen and other stakeholders in Morro Bay in order to advance the project. The company has already reached a mutual benefits agreement with commercial fishermen.

Following the Biden Administration’s announcement, Castle Wind released a statement applauding the efforts of the White House and the governor’s administration.

“Castle Wind stands alongside our industry partners in applauding the Biden-Harris Administration and Newsom Administration for advancing a landmark agreement to support the development of offshore wind projects in the Pacific,” Castle Wind CEO Alla Weinstein. “This historic agreement will bolster Castle Wind’s specific mission of providing lasting economic, energy and environmental benefits for California’s communities by developing a commercial scale floating offshore wind farm off the coast of Morro Bay in Central California.”

Likewise, Central Coast Congressman Salud Carbajal also applauded the agreement.

“It’s official: offshore wind is coming to CA!” Carbajal wrote in a tweet. “I’ve spent years working with my Offshore Wind Working Group to bring offshore wind to the Central Coast and today’s announcement is the result of those efforts. We can tackle climate change and create good-paying jobs at the same time.”


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No one ever wants to talk about the kill rate of seabirds. Also, that power has to make it’s way to land – have any idea how? At least it will reduce the bird turds on Morro Rock, plus the glowing fish will be easy to see.


0

Maybe it’s because cats, oil pits, poison, vehicles, electrical lines, and cell-phone towers all kill more birds than wind turbines. After cats, buildings with glass windows are the deadliest human-related cause of bird death. Nearly 600 million US birds die colliding into them each year.


And by the way, the glowing fish? Those are thanks to Diablo, not wind farms!


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This is yet another way that Biden is attempting to compete with the Chinese, something Trump never did, other than destroying our farmers with haphazard tariffs and naming the COVID-19 virus on them. Biden is proposing concrete ways to make America better and a destination for increased capital. China produces more than twice the wind energy as the U.S. and one-third of all the wind energy used in the world. This project will create upwards of 75,000 jobs, many of those right here on the central coast. The navy had originally objected to this project because they use some of this area for training, but those problems appear to be solved.


-7

Compete? Are you kidding. He and his family have been in bed with them for years. He’s not known as Joe “China” Biden for nothing.


4

It’s ugly, stupid, inefficient, costly, subject to salt air corrosion, made in china, rare metal from china, shore bird killer, short life, dump pollutant…. but besides that Mrs. Kennedy…. How was the parade?


3

The commenters on this site are always hilariously predictable. Had this been a strictly Republican project, ya’ll would have been giddy over the jobs creation and the “much needed energy source” and how this project would affect our tax base or whatnot all. But mention a Democrat and whooooo boy! The whole idea is nothing but stupid!!!


I prefer solar, but am interested in something that is not dangerously radioactive and does not leak oil or methane. Last I heard, Biden was interested in having our wind equipment manufactured in the US. So, jobs. Then there is the installation. So, more jobs. And finally operation and maintenance. Permanent jobs. All good paying. Good money coming directly into SLO County. I thought ya’ll were so into that it dwarfed all environmental concerns, Apparently only if it was oil or nukes, that is.


I just get a bit worn out on all the hypocrisy and fake concerns and the conjured fits of ire.


For once it would just be nice to see us entering the 21st Century in some form the way so many European countries have done, with large amounts (sometimes exceeding their daily requirements) of energy generated from clean sources and infrastructure that is not completely collapsing and education and health care and such that is up to par with the other developed countries. Why would you not want that?


-14

“Who would not want that?”: The Kennedy family who killed the “Cape Wind Project” wind turbines off of Hyannis Port, Mass.


2

Well of course he did. Typical NIMBY response of elitist Senator John Kennedy.


-1

“Republicans” would not have proposed this project. We would have looked into relicensing Diablo. You know, so one power plant on a couple hundred hidden acres, can supply 10% of the state needs for energy….even during mass Tesla plug ins!


6

Isn’t this a learned behavior? To be against something after being for it? Isn’t that straight from ya’ll Progressive playbook?


5

You can’t have you’re cake and eat it too. Energy has to come from somewhere. Next time you so much as turn on a light. Be grateful.


These things won’t even be hardly visible. Personally I find the gargantuan cruise ships offshore far more of an eyesore.


-10

Can’t see Diablo Canyon at all, and we got 10% of all needed energy from there.


Nuclear cake is delicious.


4

It would be great if Carbajal would haul is butt out of here!


6

He’s too busy answering to his commander in chief, Nancy, and fundraising.


3

Warm water…permanent artificial paddies….pelagics? As long as there is no exclusion/setback zone I’m thinking possibilities.


-9

A person who owns property on the coast can’t build on it even if you can’t see it because of coastal commission rules but wind turbines in ocean is OK. You have to run some type of power line back to the land to use the power and whether you can see it from land or not this type of obstruction in the ocean is not cost effective and waste of money


30

The power line back to land is underwater, so you don’t have to see that part either. The ocean is vast, Cruise ships legally dump all their trash and oily bilge into the ocean and apparently no one cares about that.


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