On January 20, 2025, President Donald Trump issued a Presidential Memorandum to prevent future leasing of offshore wind energy on the outer continental shelf.

Offshore wind would help retire local fossil-fuel power plants that emit air pollution and greenhouse gases.

The North Coast’s offshore wind resources are world-class, both in their strength and consistency, such that offshore wind turbines located off of our coast could consistently produce an exceptional amount of energy.

The Humboldt Wind Energy Area (WEA) is located 20–29 miles off the coast of Wigi/Humboldt Bay, and comprises 132,352 acres, or 206.8 square miles. Exactly how many turbines would be placed in this space has not yet been decided by the developers and regulators, partially due to the region’s uncertain future electrical transmission capacity.

The U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) is the lead agency for environmental review of offshore wind. BOEM has developed an environmental review process that takes nearly a decade.

Wigi/Humboldt Bay is home to a thriving aquaculture industry. Oysters and seaweed are farmed in the bay, and the oyster seed industry has exploded in the past decade or so, with many of the "seeds" (tiny oyster) grown on floating docks within or near the proposed Heavy Lift Terminal. The proposed Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Heavy Lift Marine Terminal Project would likely displace or impact some of these businesses.

In May 2023, local environmental activists started a campaign to ask for the Humboldt Bay Offshore Wind Multipurpose Heavy Lift Terminal to be a zero-emission or “green” port. The Humboldt Bay Harbor, Recreation, and Conservation District adopted Resolution 2024-01, committing to the development and adoption of a Green Terminal Strategy for its Heavy Lift Multipurpose Terminal.

The benthic zone is the bottom or lowest ecological zone in the ocean. Benthic habitats are complex, consisting of a combination of physical, chemical, and biological conditions that are home to a variety of invertebrates and make up the largest single ecosystem on earth. Furthermore, many species of fish rely on the benthic for their food sources.

Compared to traditional fossil fuel-powered forms of energy production, offshore wind produces far fewer carbon emissions and air pollution; however, there are still other potential environmental impacts at different stages of construction and operation.

Lifecycle emissions analysis (1) of wind turbines typically measures the climate impacts in terms of grams of carbon emitted per kilowatt hour of electricity generated. This allows comparison between the carbon emitted to manufacture a wind turbine with that emitted during fossil fuel-powered electricity generation. Importantly, however, all research agrees that offshore wind power produces considerably less carbon dioxide than almost all other forms of electricity generation

The main concerns regarding impacts to fish are related to electromagnetic fields (EMFs) and impacts to the upwelling system. There are also potential benefits to fish from the offshore wind farms. On the East Coast, offshore wind turbine platforms are acting as artificial reefs that enhance fish habitat. Some researchers have also theorized that, by reducing fishing, offshore wind farms can also benefit fish species in ways similar to a marine protected area.

Early research by the U.S. Offshore Wind Synthesis of Environmental Effects Research (SEER) project indicates that such effects are minimal: “to date, no impacts interpreted as substantially negative have been observed on electrosensitive or magnetosensitive species after exposure to EMFs from a subsea cable.”

Producing the materials required to build an offshore wind turbine does require resources and produce environmental impacts — particularly from steel mining and smelting. However, offshore wind has considerably fewer environmental and climate impacts per watt of energy produced compared to other forms of energy production—fossil fuels in particular.

Previously, wind turbine components have been difficult to make sustainable due to the composite materials and resin systems that they require. However, efforts are being made to make the construction and management of wind turbines more sustainable.

Our coastal marine ecosystems are dependent upon a phenomenon known as coastal upwelling, which occurs when strong, consistent northwesterly winds constantly push surface level coastal water offshore that is then replaced by much cooler and more nutrient-dense deep water. Offshore wind turbines work by converting kinetic wind energy into electricity. There is, therefore, an inherent loss of kinetic wind energy from the ecosystem due to the operation of wind turbines.

While floating offshore wind turbines are generally better suited to seismically active locations compared to fixed-bottom offshore wind turbines because of generally greater resilience against the effects of ground shaking, floating offshore infrastructure, let alone its onshore companions, are not at all immune to potential adverse impacts from earthquakes and other geological hazards.

Potential impacts of offshore wind energy development and operation on whales, seals, and other marine mammals include injury due to physical interactions with associated vessel traffic, entanglement, response to increased underwater noise, displacement from foraging or migratory habitat, and impacts associated with port development and expansion. The potential impacts on different species will vary depending on the location and operation status of OSW development and operat

Major dredging, light, noise, and air pollution, aquaculture and recreation threats, and a heavy increase in traffic are all risks that threaten Humboldt Bay/Wigi during the construction and operation of the offshore wind farm and terminal.

All forms of energy production have associated environmental impacts, and offshore wind energy is no different. For all environmental impacts, our goal is to avoid, minimize, and mitigate (AMM) them to the extent possible: first by fully understanding them, and then by advocating for avoiding project impacts, minimizing impacts that may occur, and mitigating impacts that do occur — in that order.

Wind energy is particularly helpful for reducing greenhouse gas emissions because it complements solar energy.