“Today, I’m thankful to live a high-carbon lifestyle and wish the rest of the world could too. Energy poverty = poverty. #decarbonization is dangerous and deadly.”—Tweet from Jason Issac, Texas Public Policy Foundation executive and director of the Life:Powered Initiative, Thanksgiving Day, 2022
By Kevin Policarpo
Helping Fishermen Oppose Offshore Wind
Some fishing industry opponents of offshore wind projects are supported by the Texas Public Policy Foundation which is, in turn, backed by oil and gas interests and is accused of lobbying for its supporters and donors and against clean energy initiatives.
On its website, The Texas Public Policy Foundation states that it is a non-profit, nonpartisan research organization that works “… to promote and defend liberty, personal responsibility, and free enterprise in Texas and the nation by educating and affecting policymakers and the Texas public policy debate with academically sound research and outreach. Funded by thousands of individuals, foundations, and corporations, the Foundation does not accept government funds or contributions to influence the outcomes of its research.”[1]
A report in the publication National Fisherman stated the following:
“The federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management has so prioritized offshore wind energy development that it is bypassing real environmental review and failing to consider alternative sites that won’t harm the commercial fishing industry, charges a lawsuit brought by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.”[2]
“The lead plaintiff, Seafreeze Shoreside Inc. of North Kingston, R.I., is a homeport and major processor for the Northeast squid fleet. Captains there are adamant they will not be able to fish if Vineyard Wind and other planned turbine arrays are erected in those waters.
Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison at Seafreeze and a vocal advocate for its fishermen, said she had heard mention of the Texas Public Policy Foundation in conversation, ‘kind of along the lines of Pacific Legal Foundation which litigated for the fishing industry on the Northeast marine monument’ fishing restrictions recently reinstated by the Biden administration.
Lapp said she looked at the group’s website and read about their involvement on economic issues, healthcare including a case now before the Supreme Court, education and local government.
‘It looked promising, so I contacted them through their website,’ several months ago, she said.”[3]
Based in Austin, Texas, the TPPF “…calls itself guided by ‘free enterprise, liberty, personal responsibility’ and promotes a range of conservative and pro-business causes.”[4]
In December 2021, the Texas Public Policy Foundation filed a lawsuit against the proposed Biden administration’s approval of the Vineyard Wind offshore wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts, Rhode Island and New York.
In a press release, TPPF explained the Vineyard Wind lawsuit:
“Today, the Texas Public Policy Foundation’s Center for the American Future filed a federal lawsuit against the Biden administration challenging the approval of the Vineyard Wind Project off the coasts of Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and New York. The project would severely harm the commercial fishing industry in the area and destroy the lives of countless families, as well as create irreparable harm to the environment and ocean wildlife.”[5]
New York Times Cites Misinformation By Texas Public Policy Foundation
However, a New York Times report on the Texas Public Policy Foundation tells a different story.
Last December, the New York Times published a report in which it quoted Jason Isaac, director of the Life:Powered initiative of the Texas Public Policy Foundation stating: “Today, I’m thankful to live a high-carbon lifestyle and wish the rest of the world could too…”[6]
The Times report went on to discuss the lawsuit, how the situation evolved from a clash between the fishing organizations in New England and New York and the builders of Vineyard Wind, to TPPF’s involvement:
“When a lawsuit was filed to block the nation’s first major offshore wind farm off the Massachusetts coast, it appeared to be a straightforward clash between those who earn their living from the sea and others who would install turbines and underwater cables that could interfere with the harvesting of squid, fluke and other fish…
But the financial muscle behind the fight originated thousands of miles from the Atlantic Ocean, in dusty oil country. The group bankrolling the lawsuit filed last year was the Texas Public Policy Foundation, an Austin-based nonprofit organization backed by oil and gas companies and Republican donors.
With influence campaigns, legal action and model legislation, the group is promoting fossil fuels and trying to stall the American economy’s transition toward renewable energy. It is upfront about its opposition to Vineyard Wind and other renewable energy projects, making no apologies for its advocacy work.”[7]
The TPPF was founded in 1989 by James Leininger to promote charter schools. Over the years, “… the organization embraced other causes including criminal justice, immigration, border security, taxes, and energy.”[8]
In 2000, Leininger would bankroll Rick Perry’s successful Texas gubernatorial campaign. In return, Perry donated the earnings from the sales of his book, ‘Fed Up! Our Fight to Save America from Washington,’ to the TPPF.[9]
In 2017, when President Donald Trump requested Perry join his cabinet, TPPF members followed Perry to Washington.
According to the newspaper, these members included Foundation Fellow Kathleen Hartnett White, who was in the running to head the Council on Environmental Quality though she did not succeed due to her stumbling at her confirmation hearing causing the White House to withdraw her nomination.
Another TPPF member that rose through the ranks in Washington D.C. was Bernard McNamee, “… a onetime policy adviser to Senator Ted Cruz, the Texas Republican, joined the Department of Energy under Mr. Perry, then left for the Texas Public Policy Foundation, only to return to the Trump administration after a few months. Mr. McNamee is now a lawyer who advises fossil fuel companies.”[10]
The Foundation said much of its funding comes from individuals:
“Due to the Foundation being a nonprofit, they are not required to disclose its donors. However, publicly available tax filings show that the TPPF has received donations from fossil fuel companies including Peabody Energy, Exxon Mobil and Chevron.”[11]
The Foundation “… has also received at least $4 million from conservative donors including Charles G. Koch and David H. Koch, according to public filings. Koch Industries owns oil refineries, petrochemical plants and thousands of miles of oil and gas pipelines, and the brothers have a long history of funding efforts to block climate action. Many of the foundation’s executives and board members have worked for the oil and gas industry…”[12]
Offshore Wind Harming Whales Or a Whale of a Tale?
A Bloomberg report reproduced by the maritime news service GCaptain, noted that since December of 2022, almost two dozen large whales were found washed up and dead on beaches along the U.S. Atlantic coast. These deaths brought about debates between supporters and opponents of offshore wind over whether offshore wind development was the cause. This development has caused projects such as New Jersey’s Ocean Wind 1 to come under scrutiny, according to Bloomberg:
“The offshore wind industry has a 40-ton problem on its hands.
Since early December, close to two dozen large whales have washed up on or near beaches on the US Atlantic coast, and about a third of the so-called strandings have occurred on the shores of New Jersey. It’s unclear what exactly is fueling the deaths, but an unlikely coalition of wind opponents, local environmental groups and conservative talk show hosts have zeroed in on offshore wind as the culprit. They argue that projects in development are disrupting marine life and contributing to the unusually high number of deceased whales.
Government officials and the companies behind those wind projects remain firm: There is no evidence linking the whale mortalities to ongoing offshore wind development. They say New Jersey’s offshore wind ambitions are continuing as planned.
“Groups opposed to clean energy development are spreading misinformation,” said JC Sandberg, chief advocacy officer at American Clean Power Association, an industry organization. “They’ve seized on an opportunity to try and stop clean energy deployment along the East Coast.”
In January, a group of conservation organizations, led by Clean Ocean Action, and a coalition of a dozen New Jersey mayors penned two separate letters calling on Washington officials to halt offshore development activities near the state. In the weeks since, the issue has gained national attention. Climate-conscious news outlets are fact-checking the campaigns against offshore wind, while conservative talk show hosts such as Tucker Carlson claim outright that wind projects are killing whales. Some of those blaming offshore wind also have ties to conservative groups that have long opposed clean energy.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) reported that humpback whales have been dying mysteriously since 2016: “We have not been able to retrieve many of the stranded carcasses because they were in states of advanced decomposition or were floating, but we have conducted partial or full necropsy examinations on approximately half of the 42 cases that occurred through April 2017. Of the 20 cases examined through April, 10 cases had evidence of blunt force trauma or pre-mortem propeller wounds indicative of vessel strike, which is over six times more than the 16-year average of 1.5 whales showing signs of vessel strike in this region. During this UME, vessel strikes have been documented in Virginia (3), New York (3), Delaware (2), Massachusetts (1), and New Hampshire (1).”[14]
National Fisherman quoted a NOAA report stating:“‘
Right whales are closely tracked by NOAA and whale researchers during their movements offshore, and have frequently been noted in waters near East Coast wind leases.
“We do not expect any right whales to be exposed to increased sound levels that would result in injury; all effects to right whales will be limited to temporary behavioral disturbance,” the agency stated. “Additionally, no effects to the features of right whale critical habitat are anticipated.”
NOAA and BOEM have come under intense pressure from offshore wind critics since December, with a series of humpback whale strandings on Mid-Atlantic beaches. Wind project opponents contend the whales could have been affected by survey vessels working on wind power sites.
The federal agencies have rejected that claim, but the conflict has drawn intense interest from Republican members of Congress who are promising to hold hearings on the offshore wind permitting process. [15][16] [17]
The National Fisherman report explained that: “Work on Ocean Wind 1 and other projects off the East Coast is progressing under NOAA ‘incidental take’ permits, recognizing that survey and construction activities can affect protected species. The permits allow unintentional effects that NOAA classifies as ‘level B harassment’ that can disrupt animals’ behavior, but not cause injuries.”[18]
Environmental Groups Pressure Offshore Wind for Additional Wildlife Protection
A March 7, 2022 report in National Fisherman stated that environmental groups were arguing for more protections for whales in regards to offshore wind development:
“It is estimated that nearly 30 geophysical surveys now authorized by NMFS for East Coast offshore wind projects could result in as many as 109,000 harassment events for marine mammals, including a projected 243 incidents that could affect the critically endangered north (sic) Atlantic right whale.
That shows the need to ‘avoid, minimize, and mitigate threats that offshore wind development also poses to vulnerable ocean life,’ according to the Natural Resources Defense Council, long an advocate for developing renewable energy sources including offshore wind.
The NRDC recently signed on to a 10-page statement with other environmental groups – including the Conservation Law Foundation, Defenders of Wildlife, National Wildlife Federation, NY4WHALES, the Southern Environmental Law Center and Whale and Dolphin Conservation.
The document is titled “Strong Mitigation Measures Are Essential to Protect the North Atlantic Right Whale During All Phases of Offshore Wind Energy Development.” It distills growing concerns among environmental groups, always supportive of renewable energy, that offshore wind development carries risk too.
‘The seriously imperiled status of the North Atlantic right whale demands the implementation of the most stringent measures to safeguard this species during site assessment, construction, operations, and decommissioning of offshore wind energy projects,’ the paper declares. ‘Risks from vessel collision and direct and indirect noise impacts on right whales, including potential habitat displacement that may exacerbate existing threats, need to be fully addressed from the start.’”[19]
National Fisherman explained that: “On the East Coast, the first two fully permitted projects in federal waters, Vineyard Wind and South Fork Wind off southern New England, and BOEM’s record-setting $4.37 billion sale of wind leases in the New York Bight, lie in waters frequented by a right whale population estimated at less than 340 animals.”[20]
‘Save the Whales Coalition’ Opposes Dominion Offshore Wind
The efforts to link offshore wind to harming whales is supported by “The Save the Whales Coalition – consisting of The Heartland Institute, the Committee for a Constructive Tomorrow (CFACT), and the American Committee for Ocean Protection (ACOP).”[21]
On May 2, 2023, the groups sent a letter to the National Marine Fisheries Service, a division of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), warning them not to authorize the harassment of whales requested by Dominion Energy of Virginia.
In May, The Heartland Institute praised the decision by Florida Governor Ron DeSantis to prevent the application of environment, social governance (ESG) in Florida investments:
“Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) today signed a bill (HB 3) that prevents the application of environment, social, and governance (ESG) when the state government makes investments. The bill also bans the application of a “social credit score” when financial institutions offer services to customers, and prohibits financial services discrimination because of one’s political opinions, affiliations, or speech.
The Heartland Institute recently released a report titled “Environmental Social, and Governance (ESG) Scores: a Threat to Individual Liberty, Free Markets, and the U.S. Economy.” That report contained several policy recommendations to counter ESG, including what was in the bill that Gov. DeSantis signed.[22]
The Heartland Institute is one of the leaders of the ‘Save the Whales Coalition’ opposing Dominion’s offshore wind project in Virginia, but is also a prominent climate change denier that has equated climate change warnings with terrorism.
According to a 2012 Washington Post report:
“The Heartland Institute, a think-tank based in Chicago which has promoted climate skepticism, wants you to know you’re in some sinister company.
It has launched a campaign contending that, in its words: “the most prominent advocates of global warming aren’t scientists. They are murderers, tyrants, and madmen.”
The campaign features billboards, … featuring una-bomber Ted Kaczynski (the first to appear, put up today along the inbound Eisenhower Expressway in Chicago), as well as Charles Manson and Fidel Castro.
The report quotes Heartland as stating:
“Other global warming alarmists who may appear on future billboards include Osama bin Laden and James J. Lee (who took hostages inside the headquarters of the Discovery Channel in 2010).
These rogues and villains were chosen because they made public statements about how man-made global warming is a crisis and how mankind must take immediate and drastic actions to stop it.”[23]
Background: Meeting of Texas Wind Critics and Fishing Supporters at Austin Forum
On January 25, 2022, National Fisherman reported on a meeting between wind power critics and East Coast fishing advocates at a forum in Austin, Texas, hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation.[24]
“Hosted by the Texas Public Policy Foundation, the discussion featured Meghan Lapp, fisheries liaison for Seafreeze Ltd. and Seafreeze Shoreside in Narragansett, R.I., and Bonnie Brady, executive director of the Long Island Commercial Fishing Association.
‘There’s basically been wholesale sellout by the federal government of our fishing grounds,’ said Lapp. ‘We’re talking about the whole East Coast…and the obliteration of fishing on the East Coast.’
Lapp put her legal background to use in years of reading government documents and putting formal comments into the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management and other federal agencies involved in offshore wind planning.
‘I write every single comment letter like we’re going to sue, to establish that on the record, and I knew that’s where we were going to get with these projects,’ said Lapp.
She knew then it could go all the way to the Supreme Court, but that the fishing industry could not do that on its own without more legal firepower, Lapp recalled. That led her to the Texas Public Policy Foundation, after reading how the group had brough (sic) a case on the Affordable Care Act to the high court.
Lapp sent an email to the foundation asking if they would be interested in taking on an offshore wind challenge. The group came back with an offer to represent fishermen pro bono, and filed a lawsuit in Washington D.C. Dec. 15 challenging BOEM and other agencies on the approval for the 800-megawatt Vineyard Wind project off southern New England.
‘It’s been a lifesaver,’ said Lapp. ‘We don’t have the resources to do that.’[25]
Conclusion
The TPPF opposes government action on climate change, renewable energy and makes common cause with legacy energy and fossil fuel companies among its donors. TPPF insists that its backing of fishing interests’ opposition to offshore wind is merely a public education campaign, but following the trail of who funds TPPF tells a different story.
FOOTNOTES
[1] About TPPF, https://www.texaspolicy.com/about/
[2] Kirk Moore, Texas Public Policy Foundation brings fishermen’s lawsuit against Vineyard Wind, Published December 21, 2021, nationalfisherman.com, https://www.nationalfisherman.com/northeast/texas-public-policy-foundation-brings-fishermen-s-lawsuit-against-vineyard-wind
[3] Ibid.
[4] Ibid.
[5] TPPF: Vineyard Wind Project Violates Federal Law, Published December 15, 2021, texaspolicy.com, https://www.texaspolicy.com/press/tppf-vineyard-wind-project-violates-federal-law
[6] David Gelles, The Texas Group Waging a National Crusade Against Climate Action, Published December 4, 2022, nytimes.com, https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/04/climate/texas-public-policy-foundation-climate-change.html
[7] Ibid.
[8] Ibid.
[9] Ibid.
[10] Ibid.
[11] Ibid.
[12] Ibid.
[13] Carly Wanna, Jennifer A Dlouhy and Josh Saul, The $100 Billion Offshore Wind Industry Has A Whale Problem, Published February 18, 2023, in https://gcaptain.com/the-100-billion-offshore-wind-industry-has-a-whale-problem/
[14] https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/national/marine-life-distress/frequent-questions-2016-2023-humpback-whale-atlantic-coast-unusual; Kirk Moore, New Jersey offshore wind project won’t threaten whales’ survival, NOAA says, Published April 4,2023, nationalfisherman.com, https://www.nationalfisherman.com/mid-atlantic/new-jersey-offshore-wind-project-won-t-threaten-whales-survival-noaa-says
[15] Ibid.
[16] Ibid.
[17] Ibid.
[18] Ibid.
[19] Kirk Moore, Environment advocates call for more whale safeguards in offshore wind surveys, Published March 7, 2022, nationalfisherman.com, https://www.nationalfisherman.com/national-international/environment-advocates-call-for-more-whale-safeguards-in-offshore-wind-surveys
[20] Ibid.
[21] H. Sterling Burnett, David T. Stevenson, Craig Rucker, PRESS RELEASE: Save The Whales Coalition Warns NOAA: Don’t Allow More Harassment from Wind Power, Published May 2, 2023, heartland.org, https://heartland.org/opinion/press-release-save-the-whales-coalition-warns-noaa-dont-allow-more-harassment-from-wind-power/
[22] https://heartland.org/opinion/press-release-heartland-institute-experts-praise-new-anti-esg-law-in-florida/
[23] Jason Samenow, Heartland Institute launches campaign linking terrorism, murder, and global warming belief, Published May 4, 2012, washingtonpost.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/capital-weather-gang/post/heartland-institute-launches-campaign-linking-terrorism-murder-and-global-warming-belief/2012/05/04/gIQAJJ3Q1T_blog.html
[24] Kirk Moore, Texas wind power critics, Northeast fishing advocates meet at Austin forum, Published January 25, 2022, nationalfisherman.com, https://www.nationalfisherman.com/national-international/texas-wind-power-critics-northeast-fishing-advocates-meet-at-austin-forum
[25] Ibid.
[1] https://twitter.com/ISAACforEnergy/status/1595998748651720704?lang=en