July 18, 2023 — Rhode Island fishermen warned for years that offshore wind farms will hurt their livelihoods. In the case of one project planned off Rhode Island’s coast, they might be right.
Indeed, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management concluded in a report published Monday that the Revolution Wind Farm will have a “major adverse impact” on some commercial and for-hire recreational fishing activities.
The caveat: The same consequences are likely even if the wind farm planned off Rhode Island Sound never gets built, thanks to climate change and other offshore wind projects that are already causing major disruptions to species’ survival, boat traffic and more.
Any major environmental impacts resulting from the Revolution Wind Farm would have happened anyway, according to the 2,800-page environmental assessment. For project partners and advocates, the assessment was cause for celebration, marking what many consider to be the clearance of a major hurdle in the long and complicated federal approval process for ocean development.
“Revolution Wind is now one huge step closer to delivering renewable energy and significant economic benefits to Rhode Island and Connecticut,” David Hardy, group executive vice president and CEO of Orsted Americas, said in a statement. “This major milestone keeps Revolution Wind on-track to complete environmental review and obtain approval by later this summer, with construction activities ramping up soon after. We’re ready to get to work to help Rhode Island and Connecticut expand their blue economies and meet their ambitious clean energy goals.”
Gov. Dan McKee also touted the significance of the report in the context of the state’s aggressive decarbonization mandates, which rely heavily on wind-powered energy to achieve.