Statement from Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan: By Approving Permits, Maryland Department of Environment Is Willfully Ignoring Every Shred of Feedback From Those Who Will Be Directly and Most Significantly Impacted By the ill-conceived US Wind Project
Ocean City, MD
After the Maryland Department of the Environment announced that it would move forward with issuing permits and approvals for construction of the offshore wind project off the coast of Ocean City, Maryland, Ocean City Mayor Rick Meehan issued the following statement:
“It is unconscionable to believe that the Maryland Department of Environment is ignoring pre-established permitting deadlines and fundamentally ignoring every shred of feedback offered by those who will be directly involved if this poorly conceived and potentially disastrous offshore wind project is allowed to move forward. The entire economy of our coastal resort town is dependent on tourism, our eco system, and commercial fishing, all of which will be significantly impacted if hundreds of these giant eyesores are constructed 10 miles from our beaches. And please stop the ridiculous comparison between the Block Island Project, which consists of 5 turbines, with US Wind’s plans to build 114 turbines almost twice the size!
During the comment process, dozens of local business leaders and residents outlined how this project would drastically harm their quality of life. The state has chosen to ignore their voices, instead siding with a foreign company masquerading as representing US interests. It is abundantly clear that the state will stop at no end to politically approve a project that is destined to be unreliable, cost prohibitive, unsustainable and ultimately an environmental disaster.
Our city, our county, and our residents do not want this project to move forward, yet the state seems resolute on forcing it upon us. We will continue fighting this project forcefully in court and with those policymakers who have the power to stop it. It is time to put an end to subsidizing this cash cow for US Wind and for the state to invest time and energy on more realistic forms of alternative energy before we end up with a wind turbine graveyard off of our coast and the multi-generational nightmare of repairing our environment and economy.”
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