Yes, it is semantics and spin, and the fossil fuel industry and groups like the Charles Koch Foundation must be delighted to have people like Mandy Davis and the REACT Alliance parroting the propaganda they have been feeding them (“Semantics and spin,” May 30).
A recent piece in [the Sun’s sister paper] New Times (“Environmental justice,” April 11) also described how two local fishermen groups sued over offshore wind projects on the baseless claim that a connection exists between sonar surveys and whale morbidity. There is zero evidence that offshore wind activity is harming whales as do ship strikes and fishing gear entanglements. A similar claim used by fishermen’s groups on the East Coast has undermined wind projects in New York.
Mandy makes the claim that “the wind industry is heavily funded by oil companies” as does the REACT Alliance, which claims, “Oil keeps wind afloat.” This is ludicrous. Although public opinion shows that renewable energy remains popular with a majority of Americans, local NIMBY anti-wind groups like REACT are sowing misinformation about wind power, which is becoming an effective tactic in stalling or derailing renewable energy projects.
And for fossil fuel idealogues and the climate denial machine assembled from the likes of ExxonMobil, twisting public opinion against renewable energy in would-be host communities is part of their larger mission.
Bill Collins
Grover Beach
This article appears in Jun 6-16, 2024.