
(UnitedVoice.com) – In order to protect the United States, the US military needs a great deal of access to the land and sea. President Joe Biden’s plans for a greener America, specifically his plans for wind farms, could make that very difficult. The Pentagon issued a warning about it last year and how it could affect military operations.
On April 17, Bloomberg News reported it had obtained maps with areas marked off that the Pentagon has determined are “highly problematic” if a wind farm is put there. The report was issued in October 2022, but the news organization only recently got ahold of the maps. The areas are located off of the coasts of Virginia, Delaware, North Carolina, and Maryland. The Interior Department previously earmarked these regions as places to lease to green energy companies for the development of wind farms.
Pentagon Sounds Alarm Over Biden Plan for Offshore Wind Sites
The Defense Department has raised concerns about East Coast areas earmarked for new wind farms in a setback for the fledgling industry #OffshoreWindhttps://t.co/JBzJ9AtGup— Ocean & Coastal Futures (@CF_Conf) April 17, 2023
The concern is that the military needs access to those areas in order to properly protect the country. The locations include areas that are used to train fighter jet crews, the bombing range in North Carolina’s Dare County, and a Virginia weapons station.
A senior official at the Department of Defense said the Pentagon believes it can find a way forward that satisfies all parties. Interior’s Bureau of Ocean Energy Management issued a statement saying the country is “well positioned” to meet the wind goals set up by states and the federal government. The agency isn’t concerned about the areas brought up by the Defense Department, pointing out that they have worked together in the past and that “resulted in 27 leases along the Atlantic coast, covering over 2.1 million acres.”
JC Sandberg, the chief advocacy officer for the American Clean Power Association, claimed that wind farms should be okay. “Offshore wind can enhance national security.” President Joe Biden has yet to comment on the report.
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