At Southwestern Oregon Community College in Coos Bay earlier this month, about two dozen people met for a new conference all about the offshore wind industry.
They came to learn about the science behind offshore wind, the burgeoning industry on the West Coast and how organizations are advocating for their interests.
“Everyone felt they were lacking information, which wasn’t just a feeling, we are severely lacking information and ways to even learn how we feel about this project,” said Rachael Smith from the climate-focused organization Redwood CORE Hub.
Smith was talking about the other major topic at the conference: disinformation.
Take one look at the debate around offshore wind, and you’ll find a deluge of information, some of it fact-based, and some of it not. It’s spread far and wide by influential figures.
Incoming President Donald Trump has talked about several theories around wind turbines, including that they "are driving the whales crazy" or that they cause cancer.
Those are exactly the kinds of theories people like Sara Swett are trying to counter.
“This focus on a potential issue that hasn't been proven like the impact to whales from offshore wind surveying is actually drawing attention and resources away from the real documented threats, which have been vessel strikes and entanglement in fishing gear or marine debris,” Swett said.
Swett works for Oregon Sea Grant, a federally funded program at Oregon State University that uses research and public education to address the needs of coastal communities.
Swett said there are new concerns that come up with the development of floating offshore wind. But it’s important that accurate information is available.
Sometimes a big challenge can be getting people to trust where the information is coming from. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management is the federal agency responsible for leasing areas of ocean for offshore wind development. Swett said the way that agency has engaged with the public has sown distrust in other agencies.
“People have a bad taste in their mouth from engaging with BOEM so they're less trusting of these other federal agencies like NOAA (National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration), who don't have any regulatory say in the offshore wind process,” said Swett.
that the recent high level of whale strandings on the East Coast are caused by activities related to offshore wind. Swett said that NOAA has an obligation to protect these species, and offer mitigation measures to BOEM. But despite this, she said that people don’t trust the agency because they lump all the federal government together.
Providing accurate information is a goal for many people at this conference. Some are part of a new group, called the Coalition for Common Ground. Michelle Carrillo, Executive Director of the consultancy firm ThinkPlace US and one of the founding members of the group, said this media frenzy about whale deaths was a big motivator for her.
“For me, that was one of those moments where I was like, ‘This is frustrating to see this continue to get picked up and perpetuated,” she said.
"People have a bad taste in their mouth from engaging with BOEM so they're less trusting of these other federal agencies like NOAA."
Carrillo and her partners are trying to fight this disinformation with facts.
But it’s important to note, they don’t agree on whether offshore wind is worth it.
One person is a council member of the Tolowa Dee-ni’ nation, a tribe that’s formally opposed to offshore wind.
“None of us come at it from the same place,” Carillo said. “And so I think that was also something that brought us together, was the discussion of, ‘how do we find common ground?’”
A lot of this disinformation has blown in from the East Coast, where wind turbine development has been going on for much longer.
looked into the sources of all this disinformation. The results were not surprising. Much of the funding behind the opposition groups came from those with close ties to the oil and gas industry, including billionaire Charles Koch and fossil fuel lobbyists.
David Petrie from the coastal advocacy group OCEAN Winds said he noticed a shift in the conversation around offshore wind around 19 months ago. He said his initial conversations with fishers were very productive.
“Initially, their comments were, ‘it's a big ocean,’ and, ‘there's space for the offshore wind industry.’ But after the narrative was streamed into the press and the consistency of that message, and then engaging the tribes who joined in that messaging, it just obviously resulted in too much risk for developers to invest in Oregon.”
Two leases for offshore wind energy areas off the coast of Southern Oregon were scheduled for last year. But BOEM paused the auction after too many developers pulled out.
Rachael Smith from Redwood CORE Hub said it’s not that people are necessarily opposed to offshore wind, it’s that sometimes their reasons aren’t based in truth.
“I think that people have a lot of well founded fears, and that there is information out there to assuage some of those fears that isn't necessarily being helpfully promoted and spread and widely understood,” she said.
Smith said there are some very real and valid reasons to be wary of offshore wind, especially in this region. She said her community in Humboldt County has been the victim of extractive industries again and again, from the gold rush to timber to cannabis. Many people are worried that the offshore wind industry could again swoop into the region, damaging the local environment as these turbines are constructed and shipped out to sea to meet the energy demands of large population centers hundreds of miles away.
Getting the science and the facts out there is the best way to combat this misinformation. Sara Swett said getting off social media and holding more events in-person is a great way to provide a space for people to ask questions and learn the reality about offshore wind development.
“They could be simple, or they could be complex, but people really just need a space to be able to ask questions on the topics that they're concerned about,” she said.
The Oregon Sea Grant plans to work with the state as they continue to for offshore wind development. That process will continue through this year, offering opportunities for the public to learn more, in-person, about this new industry that may soon appear on the horizon along the west coast.
