Gone With the Wind

The Trump administration just delivered an early Christmas present to the American people, especially those located on the Eastern Seaboard and whale lovers.

According to the Department of the Interior, “effective immediately—the leases for all large-scale offshore wind projects under construction in the United States” will be stopped “due to national security risks identified by the Department of War in recently completed classified reports.”

“Today’s action addresses emerging national security risks, including the rapid evolution of the relevant adversary technologies, and the vulnerabilities created by large-scale offshore wind projects with proximity near our east coast population centers,” said Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum.

“The Trump administration will always prioritize the security of the American people,” he added.

Although the latest findings by the Department of War remain classified, the U.S. government has long known that “the movement of massive turbine blades and the highly reflective towers create radar interference called ‘clutter.’ The clutter caused by offshore wind projects obscures legitimate moving targets and generates false targets in the vicinity of the wind projects.”

Even under President Joe Biden, a big proponent of offshore wind, the Energy Department warned that, “As wind turbines continue to expand in both size and number, they can interfere with radar systems. The clutter created by wind turbines typically increases the false alarm detection rate of a radar. To suppress this, the radar system will raise the threshold for what is considered a detection and, as a result, may miss actual targets.”

Aside from the “clutter” problem, which should not be minimized given the rise of hypersonic missiles, military drones, and other emerging weapons threats, there is a much larger national security threat posed by the United States going all-in on offshore wind and other so-called green energy sources.

Did you know that the Communist Party of China has created a monopoly when it comes to the manufacturing of wind turbine components? As BloombergNEF wind associate Cristian Dinca succinctly put it, “Chinese turbine makers increasingly dominate the global wind energy business.”

Is it wise to spend billions of dollars on wind turbines built in China, our primary adversary that seeks to unseat the United States as the world hegemon? I think not.

Neither is it moral. Did you know that the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is complicit in the use of slavery in places like the Democratic Republic of Congo, where children as young as five are forced to mine for cobalt in absolutely deplorable conditions?

Actually, the entire wind turbine production process under the CCP is rife with blatant human rights abuses and environmental degradation. No wonder the CCP dominates the market; it uses modern-day slavery to keep costs extraordinarily low.

Even worse, the entire idea of America “going green” carries significant national security threats. We cannot sustain our modern way of life with power provided by intermittent wind and solar.

We cannot remain the world’s military superpower if we depend on windmills, solar panels, and electric vehicles. And we will assuredly lose the race for AI supremacy to China if we abandon fossil fuels in favor of CCP-made windmills and solar panels.

As of today, wind and solar power cannot compete with conventional sources like coal and natural gas in terms of affordability and reliability.

Thankfully, the current commander in chief, unlike his predecessor, understands that “unleashing American energy” is vital to national security.

Instead of playing politics and virtue signaling, President Trump is focused on ensuring that Americans have access to abundant, affordable, reliable, and clean energy. That is a gift that will keep on giving.

Chris Talgo ([email protected]) is editorial director at The Heartland Institute.

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