Trump says Massachusetts wind farms are 'driving whales crazy'

Lance Reynolds, Boston Herald on Jan 7, 2025

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President-elect Donald Trump says wind farms off the Massachusetts coast are “driving the whales crazy,” and his administration will look to enact a policy that halts the development of the “garbage” energy source.

“They are dangerous,” Trump said of wind farms during a lengthy news conference Tuesday, touching on his central priorities. “You see what’s happening up in the Massachusetts area with the whales … The windmills are driving the whales crazy, obviously.”

Throughout his campaign and since winning reelection in November, Trump vowed that his administration would cut down on wind farms. He doubled down on that stance Tuesday, saying no windmills will be built when he regains office on Jan. 20.

The comments came after President Joe Biden’s announcement Monday of a ban on new offshore oil and gas drilling in most U.S. coastal waters, a move looked at as a last-minute effort to block a potential expansion under the incoming administration.

Trump highlighted an increase in whales that have washed ashore over the years, blaming wind farms for the jump. Last year proved “unprecedented” for strandings in Massachusetts, but experts say the development of energy sources isn’t the leading cause.

Whale and Dolphin Conservation, a Plymouth-based animal protection organization, responded to six strandings of large whales between last July and December in its response area which covers over 200 miles of South Shore coastline.

The latest came on the day after Christmas when a team responded to a stranded humpback whale on Rexhame Beach in Marshfield. WDC in the second half of 2024 also received reports of a humpback whale carcass and three minke whale carcasses.

As it tries to understand the reason for the increased strandings, basing its findings on the “best available science,” WDC highlighted how federal data indicate fishing gear entanglements, vessel strikes, and infectious diseases are the primary drivers.

Since 2016, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has declared several unusual mortality events for large whales along the East Coast.

“We are well aware of social media campaigns which attribute these mortalities to offshore wind development, but, at least in our response area, there are no wind surveys or construction activities taking place,” WDC Executive Director Regina Asmutis-Silvia said in a statement.

“Our goal is to use the outcomes of these cases to help save other whales,” she added. “It is beyond frustrating to have the integrity of our team challenged if our findings don’t coincide with someone’s political agenda.”

The National Marine Fisheries Service in an updated biological opinion on Vineyard Wind last September stated that the 62-turbine, 806-megawatt wind farm off the coast of Nantucket is “not likely to jeopardize the continued existence” of endangered whales, including the North Atlantic right whale. Pile driving and other associated activity still pose an adverse effect.

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