No, wind farms are not 'whale crazy'

According to the International Energy Agency, two-thirds of global battery cell production currently takes place in China. The United States accounts for only 10 percent. China also dominates the processing of minerals needed for electric vehicle batteries. The Biden administration says this will change over time as battery production with a domestic supply chain in the United States comes to fruition thanks to federal incentives.

WHAT WAS SAID:

“The wind turbines are not working, the most expensive form of energy ever.”

– Donald J. Trump at the event in North Charleston, SC

This is wrong. Mr. Trump has never hidden his hostility toward windmills. He has claimed that they cause cancer (which they don't), that they “drive whales crazy” (no evidence for that) and that they emit “huge fumes” when they are built. (That's not right either. According to the Energy Departmentthe carbon footprint of coal energy is almost 90 percent greater than that of wind energy.)

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration, wind and solar energy can generate electricity more cheaply than any other type of power plant, even without subsidies. However, the agency and other energy experts note that these estimates do not take into account other costs, such as the need for transmission or backup power.

It is not clear where the claim that wind turbines “don't work” comes from. They work. According to the Department of Energy, wind is the largest source of renewable electricity generation in the United States, accounting for about 10 percent of electricity.

And in South Carolina, where Mr. Trump made these comments, nearly 2,000 people are employed in the wind industry. More than 120,000 Americans work in wind energy nationwide, according to the Department of Energy, and the sector saw 4.4 percent job growth last year compared to 2022.

On the other hand, it has been a bad few months for offshore wind energy. Developers have canceled several major projects on the East Coast, and some major developers like Orsted are cutting jobs. This is largely due to supply chain issues, inflation and rising interest rates.