Thread by @NECEC

Let's start by calling this lawsuit out as astroturfing in it's purest form. This a faux concern that contradicts the actual science about threats to whale populations in our oceans. Get ready for a 🧵. We're coming in hot. #energytwitter 1/

wcvb.com/article/nantuc…

Thanks to outstanding reporting from @curious_founder we know this Nantucket group is being backed by professional fossil-fuel-funded astroturfer David Stevenson. It's a cynical attempt to stop the 1st commercial #offshorewind project in the U.S. 2/

distilled.earth/p/the-man-tryi…

Whale advocates from the New England Aquarium & the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life responded with a giant "who dey?" when this Nantucket group appeared on the scene. And, YES, they have even more ties to fossil & nuclear power backers. 3/

energycentral.com/news/nuclear-a…

Yet, let's talk about whales. Blaming whale deaths on #offshorewind has come in vogue, but @NOAA & @BOEM both say that's false. "In no case, authorities said, has a whale been proven to have been killed by offshore wind activity." 4/

apnews.com/article/animal…

What is the top threat to whale populations? Climate change. We're burning fossil fuels, it's heating up the planet (the ocean fastest of all) and it's destroying their habitat. It's climate change, exactly what #cleanenergy is designed to stop. 5/

fisheries.noaa.gov/national/clima…

For instance, there's 65% less phytoplankton in the Gulf of Maine over the past two decades as that area has become "has emerged as one of the fastest warming sections of the world’s oceans." 6/

apnews.com/article/scienc…

And the other major threat is commercial fishing. The astroturfers talk about vessel strikes, but it's really the fishing lines. NOAA found more than 80% of Atlantic right whales carry scars that indicate that they have been entangled in fishing lines. 7/

fisheries.noaa.gov/feature-story/…

If you want to learn more about how the fiction of whale deaths keeps getting falsely attributed to offshore wind, we suggest you listed to this 5-minute report from @WNYC. 8/

wnyc.org/story/why-wind…

Meanwhile, #offshorewind developers like @OrstedUS & @EversourceCorp have signed whale protection agreements w/ @NWF, @NRDC & @CLF. Vessel slow-down rules and avoiding whale superhighways are a regular part of offshore wind development. 9/

wbur.org/news/2022/06/2…

For anyone truly interested, NOAA has a comprehensive FAQ on whale populations, the threat they face from climate change and the regulations around #offshorewind development designed to protect whales. 10/

fisheries.noaa.gov/new-england-mi…