A plan by private corporations to float up to eight wind power generators less than three miles offshore has run headlong into efforts to designate a vast area of ocean off the Central Coast as a Chumash Heritage National Marine Sanctuary.
Along the wind-blasted shores of the Gaviota Coast, near the rocket gantries of Vandenberg Space Force Base, lazy breakers claw at the base of sandy bluffs and dunes, while farther out to sea, great white sharks cruise beneath churning whitecaps.
Jessie Altstatt, right, a marine biologist and co-chair of conservation for the Santa Barbara Audubon Society, and Kristen Hislop, senior director of the Environmental Defense Center’s marine program, walk at Surf Beach.“I have been working to create this tribal sanctuary day and night for 10 years,” said Tribal Council Chairwoman Violet Sage Walker. “There’s no way that windmills there will ever swing their blades out there.
Cierco’s proposal, which is called the CADEMO project, would consist of four 330-foot-tall wind turbines capable of supplying 60 megawatts of renewable energy by 2026 — enough power to supply 21,500 homes, according to documents filed with the lands commission. The federal proposals, which are supported by Gov. Gavin Newsom and the Biden administration, include floating 380 wind turbines across a nearly 400-square-mile patch of sea northwest of Morro Bay. If all goes according to plan, it would operational by 2032.
That worries tribal leaders, regulatory agencies and environmental groups. The proposed marine sanctuary would encompass a delicate transition zone where nutrient-rich upwellings sustain a remarkably diverse aquatic food chain that includes whales, dolphins, sea otters, lobsters and commercial fisheries.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Will the mega-popular Santa Clara BMX track shutter over a financial squabble?“Nobody is stealing anything,” said Nick Valencia, who has been overseeing the track’s maintenance and operations for about six years
Read more »
Members And Allies Of Tigrayan Community March In Santa MonicaAt one point, the line of marchers appeared to takeover the California Incline, the slanted road that connects Ocean Avenue with the Pacific Coast Highway.
Read more »
The 203 ft wind turbine blade GE built is the world's largestWind energy adoption has potential waste management problems. GE's prototype paves the way to reduce this and set it on a path of the circular economy.
Read more »
Oakland Athletics Ballpark Plan May Be Headed to November BallotThe Oakland A's may face another curveball in their quest to build a new waterfront ballpark.
Read more »
A’s fans feel recent trades, ticket prices ‘might be the last straw’“Part of it is, you want to be attached, but then you don’t, because you’re going to lose the players.”
Read more »