Source: American Progress
A complex network of interest groups funded by the oil and gas industry is spreading anti-offshore wind misinformation.
Source: For a complete list of sources, please see https://www.americanprogress.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/2/2023/12/Offshore-Wind-Misinformation-Sources.pdf
On November 6, 2023, an op-ed was published in a local Delaware paper that described offshore wind as an “environmental wrecking ball.” Yet the author, David Stevenson, is the director of the Center for Energy and Environmental Policy at the Caesar Rodney Institute, a Delaware-based think tank that as recently as 2019 received thousands of dollars from both American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Energy Alliance—two groups with a stake in fossil fuels. This fact may explain why the op-ed is riddled with misinformation.
The fossil fuel industry has long funded misinformation about renewable energy—for example, California is currently suing five major oil companies for decades of deception about the risks of fossil fuel use. Offshore wind appears to be the industry’s latest target. Beginning in at least 2019, there has been a growing nationwide campaign against offshore wind using misinformation and obstruction. As a result, offshore wind misinformation has become increasingly common in the Northeast, where the wind energy economy is ramping up and wind turbines are actively being installed off the coast. Local communities may have questions or concerns about offshore wind infrastructure being built nearby. Unfortunately, these concerns—whether valid or not—are being stoked by fossil fuel-serving networks in an effort to keep people reliant on fossil fuels.
Offshore wind is not actually bad for people or the planet; it’s simply bad for the fossil fuel industry’s bottom line.
Read more: The Oil and Gas Industry Is Behind Offshore Wind Misinformation
