Emhoff hobnobs on Nantucket while fishermen reel from wind turbine 'disaster'
A New England fishermen's association is calling attention to second gentleman Doug Emhoff's fundraising trip to Nantucket as the Massachusetts island wades through the aftermath of a wind turbine disaster.
Emhoff stepped in to headline fundraisers this week originally set for first lady Jill Biden before President Biden dropped out of the presidential race just over a week ago and endorsed Vice President Harris.
One such fundraiser took place Tuesday on the island roughly 30 miles off the Massachusetts mainland. Emhoff was a special guest at "an island reception hosted by Laura DeBonis, a business and nonprofit technical consultant who previously worked for Google, and Ken Jarin, partner in a Washington, D.C., law firm, at an unspecified location on the island," a local outlet reported.
His visit comes two weeks after an offshore wind turbine blade the length of a football field snapped off into the ocean, which sent shards of fiberglass ashore, temporarily closing six of the island's beaches and creating an ongoing safety hazard for fishermen.
"The Vineyard Wind blade disaster has confirmed fishermen’s worst fears about offshore wind. Massive fiberglass shards remain a huge navigational hazard for our members," Jerry Leeman, CEO of the New England Fishermen's Stewardship Association, told Fox News Digital.
"We remain gravely concerned that micro-particles from fiberglass debris could poison local marine life. Worse still, we are still awaiting answers from the developer."
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"We hope Mr. Emhoff learns about the effects this disaster has brought to coastal communities during his visit to Nantucket," he said.
Vineyard Wind is a joint venture between foreign entities Avangrid and Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners, which built wind farms off the coast of Massachusetts. The company is a beneficiary of the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), the signature domestic policy achievement of the Biden-Harris administration.
In October, Vineyard Wind boasted of a $1.2 billion "first-of-its-kind tax equity package" for commercial scale offshore wind with three U.S.-based banks, calling it "the largest single asset tax equity financing and the first for a commercial scale offshore wind project."
Rep. Bill Keating, D-Mass., praised the announcement at the time, tying it directly to the "impact" of the IRA.
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Vineyard Wind 1 began on-site construction in late 2021 and completed the nation’s first offshore substation in July 2023. It is an 800 MW project located 15 miles off the coast of Martha’s Vineyard and is the first commercial scale offshore wind project in the United States.
When the blade fell last month, Leeman said, "the scariest thing" about it is that "it could happen again."
"As a fisherman, I know how powerful and volatile the North Atlantic is. If this blade fell off on a beautiful summer day, what would happen during a winter squall or a hurricane?" he told Fox News Digital.
The Harris campaign and the White House did not immediately return Fox News Digital's request for comment.