December 17, 2021 — Members of the U.S. commercial fishing industry are teaming up with an oil industry-backed lobbying group to fight offshore wind energy development on the East Coast, according to documents reviewed by Reuters and interviews with people involved.
The unusual alliance reflects the breadth of opposition President Joe Biden faces as his administration pushes to expand offshore wind power and other clean energy sources dramatically to combat climate change.
The fishing industry believes offshore wind farms will interfere with vessel navigation and hurt crucial stocks like squid and scallops, while some in the oil industry see renewable energy projects as unwanted competition to fossil fuels.
Several fishing businesses, including a seafood dealer in Rhode Island and fishing groups in New York and Massachusetts, sued the administration this week in federal court in Washington, D.C. to block its approval of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind project off the Massachusetts coast.
Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison for Rhode Island-based Seafreeze Shoreside Inc, a seafood dealer and plaintiff in the lawsuit, told Reuters she had approached TPPF several months ago to see if it would be willing to represent the group.
She expressed no concern about the group’s ties to the oil and gas industry, saying: “If your entire economic future was at stake, and somebody offered to help you, would you care?”