The project is supported by the Bertha Foundation.

Author: Liubov Velychko

“It’ll be over on day one,” said Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump in May 2024 to loud applause from a crowd of thousands. He was commenting on his plans to shut down large-scale offshore wind farm projects that had begun to be launched near Wildwood, New Jersey, a resort town on the Atlantic coast.

This was not the first time that Trump's supporters learned about his antipathy to wind projects at this rally. Since 2019, the politician has regularly made scandalous statements denigrating the idea of green energy.  These statements often contained distortions and were seasoned with emotional exaggerations, such as “ windmill noise causes cancer” and “ wind power doesn’t work, it is the most expensive form of energy”.

But residents of oceanfront towns reacted with the most emotion to Trump's claim that wind turbines are the cause of the deaths of baleen whales, which have been increasingly found dead on local beaches in recent years.

Videos of Trump's allegations that wind turbines used to generate electricity “drive whales crazy” and that dead whales are washed ashore “on a eweekly basis” have attracted substantial attention on social media and have had tens of millions of views.

Although it was Donald Trump who became the face of climate disinformation, the myth of whale-killing windmills acquired a realistic shape as it was spread by a huge number of people. Mind found out why, by whom and for whose money.

First scares

The first scares over the impact of offshore wind energy on marine mammals were publicly aired by activists from Ocean Frontiers, an environmental organisation. They published a video in June 2018, saying that whales' communication was being threatened by the noise generated by ships and offshore construction. Along with this, the activists mentioned that they support the development of offshore energy in the US and understand that any energy sources have an impact on nature. They emphasised that all decisions should be based on science and reliable data.

This video did not attract the attention of journalists and received just under 800 views.

The next video on the effect of wind farms on whales appeared five months later under the auspices of the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM), an organisation responsible for the safe and environmentally conscious use of natural resources in the United States and for granting licences for oil and gas production.

The organisation released a visualisation of how whales could potentially collide with the mooring ropes and electrical cables of a floating offshore wind farm. The video captured a female humpback whale and her calf trying to swim around the windmill, bumping into the electric cables. This sentimental video was posted on the official BOEM YouTube page two years after it had been first published on the organisation's website in December 2020. It has been viewed 11,000 times.

Although both videos contained warnings about wind farms, they did not contain lies. The active phase of the “whale killers” disinformation media campaign began in October 2021, with the film Blown Away: The People Vs Wind Power by the famous American TV presenter Tucker Carlson. The documentary was released on the Fox News website, a platform that regularly posts disinformation about the dangers of the green economy.

The film's synopsis sounds very emotional: “Carlson and his production team reveal the true human cost of wind energy. They discover that wind turbines have the potential to devastate wildlife and, consequently, people's livelihoods.”

The film is permeated with the narrative that wind energy projects have “terrible environmental consequences”. And then it mentions how “wind farms have been blamed for the deaths of beached whales in the UK”.

But it was known that this was disinformation as early as 2017. It was then that offshore wind farm projects similar to those in the US were beginning to be deployed in the UK. The British government communicated effectively with the public and did not succumb to the pressure of the disinformation campaign, continuing to support the “green” policy. As a result, seven years later, onshore and offshore wind farms in the UK provide electricity to about 12 million households – more than a third of the total.

However, Tucker's film does not refute the disinformation, and presents the story of the whales' deaths “due to wind turbines” as a fait accompli. Other media did not pick up on this wave right away. Two months later, the video was released only on the YouTube channel Wind Concerns NL, which has only 177 subscribers. Nevertheless, the film received more than 19,000 views there.

It took the US government 109 days to respond to the disinformation campaign about the impact of wind farms on whales: “As of now, there is no evidence to support speculation that noise resulting from wind development-related site characterization surveys could potentially cause mortality of whales, and no specific links between recent large whale mortalities and currently ongoing surveys.”

And while government officials were dragging their feet, a wave of lies washed over America.

And it took another 565 days to conduct and publish a study to support this statement.

Friendlies versus friendlies

Three months after Tucker Carlson's film was released, Clean Ocean Action, one of the largest environmental organisations, held a joint press conference on the Atlantic coast in New Jersey with several civic groups opposed to the construction of offshore wind farms. Together, they called on US President Joe Biden to investigate the deaths of six whales that have been found on the beach by worried locals in recent months.

The activists said that until the answer to the question of the impact of offshore wind projects on marine life is found, work on the preparation of an offshore wind farm should be temporarily suspended.

This requirement has jeopardised New Jersey's ambitious goal of obtaining 100% clean energy by 2035, including through offshore wind projects. But it also met the interests of companies that do not want to reduce oil and gas production, and pollute the environment.

That the organisation was not opposed to the idea of offshore wind energy was publicly stated by its director during a public hearing only two years later, after an active media campaign, lawsuits, and attempts to block wind projects.

But it was too late. Despite having opposed the expansion of fossil fuel infrastructure for many years, the organisation's initial public stance on wind farms (see examples of its activities here, here, here) became a powerful argument for further spreading disinformation about wind farm-caused whale deaths.

At the time, critics were not reassured by a statement by wind energy company Orsted (which was to build two of the three offshore wind farms in New Jersey) that its research vessels had not hit any whales and that its sampling methods did not disturb whales or other marine mammals.

Word about the “deadly windmills” spread rapidly in the media and on social networking sites (as seen here, here and here). And four days after the Clean Ocean Action press conference, Tucker Carlson revisited the issue of wind turbines. He invited Megan Lapp, a representative of the Seafreeze Fisheries Department, which has been fighting the construction of offshore wind turbines for many years, to go live on Fox News.

The TV presenter then emotionally told the audience that the whales that had washed ashore off New Jersey over the past month had been found during intensive geotechnical research on wind farm sites. In doing this, he used manipulative claims containing misinformation: “surveys for offshore wind farms are carpet bombing of the ocean floor with intense sound”, “the government’s offshore wind projects to enrich their donors are killing a huge number of whales”.

“Opinion balance”

A mix of disinformation and activist pleas has agitated residents of coastal New Jersey. The number of people who started coming to Clean Ocean Action protests grew by leaps and bounds – from a few dozen participants in January 2023 to about a thousand in just a month.

Negative sentiments towards offshore wind farms have also begun to spread online, in news articles and social media posts. For example, a short news story on Insider New Jersey, a regional website, calling on Jeff Van Drew and Congressman Andrew Harris to immediately halt all wind power activity pending investigations did not contain any false claims. But a flood of disinformation was spewed in numerous comments below it.

The website says that the news only received about 900 views. But users posted 41 comments under the text, 37 of them supporting the Republican initiative and harshly criticising the windmills. And almost all of the critical comments contained misinformation.

Having analysed hundreds of comments, one can see that they are very much alike in terms of both style and content – they repeat the thesis that windmills are harmful to marine life (although there is no scientific evidence for this), that windmills are unaesthetic (although they are built at such a distance that they are not visible from the shore), and generally deny the benefits of wind farms in overcoming the climate crisis. It resembles a coordinated bot attack to balance out even “neutral” publications with negativity.

“The wind farm construction and ongoing sounds will impact the endangered whale’s ability to safely migrate”, wrote user Diane Snelson in a comment under the news. “In addition, there are thousands of other sea creatures and birds that will be negatively impacted. Tourism, businesses, home values etc will suffer and the island will be changed forever. We DO NOT WANT THESE WIND TURBINES OFF OUR COAST! They are not the answer to climate change!”

“I say no to Turbines off our South New Jersey Coast!” added user Victor Gano, noting that he has lived at the Jersey Shore for 53 years. “They are unhealthy for the Ocean and unhealthy for humans! . They will not lower our electrical bill. The low frequency sound that comes from the turbines is toxic to humans. They are not wind turbines, they are turbines driven by fossil fuels, it is all a sea of lies! They are a eye sore!”

Another example illustrates the scale of online debates. A month and a half after the start of the disinformation campaign, an article headlined “Claims that offshore wind farms kill whales are unsubstantiated, scientists say” resulted in more than 3,500 comments from readers. Once again, many of them contain misinformation, destroying the “green” image of wind farms.

“This article is a rehash of the previous statement that wind turbines are safe for whales. The focus is misdirected,” writes a user nicknamed Thomas in the comments. “It's not the wind turbines, it's their design that kills whales. Noise from blasting holes in the rock to mount the turbines affects the whales' ability to communicate, navigate and feed. Then they are hit by ships.”

“I drive past a huge wind farm twice a week. Rough guesses are that less than 1/3 are operating in a very windy area, wind-solar etc has a very short lifespan and is a very expensive source of electricity and land and water resources,” said user Aberdeen Billy.

“The ‘scientists’ also ignore the dead animals and birds that surround these turbines for miles. They ignore residents' reports of headaches and high blood pressure. The so-called scientists are really politicians,” wrote a user with the nickname Sandra.

But the real purpose of the disinformation wave became clearer when “real” politicians got involved.

Deep concerns – for oil and gas money

On the same day that Tucker Carson told his audience about deadly wind turbines, Congressman Jeff Van Drew (Rep.) demanded that wind activity “be halted until it is properly determined what the effects of these activities are having on our marine life”. In other words, he replicated Clean Ocean Action's demand. 

But he added to his declaration the disinformation that “ocean life is being put at risk as our Governor and President force through their Green New Deal policies, without giving full consideration to their real-world impacts.”.

Other Republicans also supported him. This is not surprising, as the vast majority of GOP congressmen are paid lobbyists for the oil and gas sector. So their words were soon followed by actions.

Clean Ocean Action's press conference took place just a few weeks before the Congress was to consider the Bill to lower energy costs, which was crucial for Republicans. The bill was intended to reduce regulations for oil and gas operators and allow them to implement their projects at a faster pace. At the same time, it proposed to eliminate some subsidies for renewable energy.

The activists' concern for whales and the significant media coverage of this topic helped Republican Van Drew to push another amendment into this deadly-to-mitigating-global warming-bil, requiring the government to publish a report on all potential adverse effects of wind farms in the North Atlantic planning area.

In doing so, fulfilling the demand of Clean Ocean Action activists. And helping to delay the process of building new offshore wind farms.

In the midst of the political debate, Republican opponents, the Democrats, pointed out that the whale story was disinformation, which was needed to favour the interests of fossil fuel producers. And it was funded by oil and gas companies. But is it really true?

72 million “arguments”

After analysing Jeff Van Drew's public activities, we found one of the reasons why his actions are in line with the interests of the oil and gas sector.

Van Drew spoke at a fundraiser for the Caesar Rodney Institute, an organisation funded by the American Petroleum and Chemical Manufacturers Association. Its board includes fossil fuel players, including ExxonMobil and Chevron. No wonder the Caesars Rodney Institute calls solar and wind power “unreliable” and publicly opposes offshore wind farms.

Among the main initiators of the bill to reduce energy costs was Bruce Westerman, Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee. He publicly ridiculed the idea that oil money was behind the misinformation about the impact of wind on whales.

“I find that amazing,” he said. “It doesn't change the fact that there are dead whales washing up on the shore. The Green New Deal is on the backs of marine life. It’s something that, in this rush to renewables, Democrats frankly ignore.”

Westerman has good financial reasons for saying this. Year after year, he has helped to create specialised laws on climate change and energy security. At the same time, he earns money by lobbying for the oil and gas sector. In 2023 and 2024 alone (between January and September), Westerman received $306,000 from oil and gas companies for lobbying services, according to the Federal Election Commission.

Some Democrats have also contributed to the goal of oil and gas operators in the Wind Kills Whales disinformation campaign. In their letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, five senators expressed concern about the whale deaths. And four of them were paid by the oil and gas industry for lobbying.

The large-scale network of offshore wind farm opponents includes 18 local groups and companies, 14 climate-denying think tanks, 8 coalitions, 11 other prominent organisations, and 16 key individuals, according to Brown University's Climate and Development Lab. All of them have received donations from organisations that lobby and promote interests in the oil and chemical industries.

The main donors are the Charles Koch Foundation, the Charles Koch Institute, Donorstrust, the State Policy Network (SPN), and the American Petroleum Chemists Association. Together, they donated more than $72 million to the Wind Network between 2017 and 2021.

Opponents of offshore wind energy usually try to carefully conceal the fact that they receive funds from the oil and gas sector. Therefore, organisations get money through other network members. For example, contributions to Save Our Beach View, another offshore wind farm opponent, were channeled to the Caesars Rodney Institute.

An alliance of environmental NGOs called Save the Right Whales is one of the most active disseminators of disinformation about offshore wind farms. The homepage of this organisation's website reads “Stop offshore wind energy to save the North Atlantic right whale”.

The organisation labels as disinformation that wind farms do not kill whales. And as a counter-argument, it refers to its “detailed investigation”, which found that “the pattern of whale deaths in the Atlantic positively correlates with the increase in preconstruction offshore wind activities in lands leased for wind development”.

At the same time, Save the Right Whales assures that they do not take money from fossil fuels. But they do.

In 2022, the Mercatus Center, a think tank founded by the Koch brothers, funded Environmental Progress, whose salaried staff supports Save Right Whales. And the following year, Save Right Whales invited its supporters to support Environmental Progress financially.

And this is just one of the many examples that show the real reasons why environmental organizations interact with the oil and gas sector. In previous investigations, Mind wrote that the number of organizations involved in the projects of the world's largest players – Shell, BP, Total Energies, and others – is measured in thousands.