Urgent Resolution 1034 – Calling on the Legislature to Order and Fund a Study of Offshore Wind Project Effects
Calling on the Legislature to Order and Fund a Study of Offshore Wind Project Effects Before Permitting Them
WHEREAS the Washington State Legislature is currently in session until March 7, 2024 and is considering HB2341 (2024), and this resolution is relevant to the ideas contained therein, and
WHEREAS Washington state, along with much of the United States and many parts of the world, is experiencing an extraordinary transformation as it reduces the amount of electricity generated by fossil fuels and increases the amount of electricity generated by low-carbon sources, and
WHEREAS Washington’s past experience with large-scale energy development includes significant environmental degradation such as the loss of thousands of miles of salmon habitat, with the result that ten population groups of salmon are now listed as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act despite billions of dollars spent on salmon recovery efforts, and
WHEREAS The eastern Pacific Ocean is one of the richest, most productive marine ecosystems in the world, and as-yet unrecognized marine impacts affect salmon life cycles contributing to the decline of salmon, it would be a grave mistake to sacrifice the health and productivity of the Pacific Ocean marine ecosystem on the altar of carbon-free generated electrons, and
WHEREAS so many questions remain concerning the effect of offshore wind turbines on oceanographic and marine biological processes that it is prudent to ask whether the development of offshore wind generating facilities along the Pacific Coasts of Washington, Oregon, and California will have adverse effects on salmon, on other species, or on ecosystems generally.
THEREFORE the Washington State Democratic Central Committee (WSDCC) asks that the legislature direct the University of Washington, home of one of the premiere oceanographic and environmental science programs in the world, to conduct a comprehensive study of the cumulative effects of offshore wind generation on the oceanographic processes of the Pacific Ocean, and
THEREFORE BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the WSDCC asks that the study conducted by the University of Washington must include, but not be limited to: the impacts that offshore wind generation along the western coast of the United States may have on ocean upwelling, the capacity for offshore wind turbines to both attract and repel fish and marine life, and the physical, biogeochemical, and environmental effects associated with wind turbine construction, operation, and maintenance and
THEREFORE BE IT FINALLY RESOLVED that the WSDCC (Washington State Democratic Central Committee) send a copy of this resolution to the Washington State Governor, the Democratic members of the state House and Senate, and to the House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources.
References
HB2341, Sponsored by Springer (D), Chapman (D), Morgan (D), Stokesbary (R), Timmons (D), Ramel (D).
Litzow, MA, et al., (2020) The changing physical and ecological meanings of the North Pacific Ocean climate indices. PNAS, 117(14):7665-7671. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.192126611
Maxwell, SD, et al., (2022) Potential impacts of floating wind turbine technology for marine species and habitats. Journal of Environmental Management. 307 (1 Apr. 2022) 114577. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.114577