President Trump’s Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy: Biden-Buttigieg Ignored the Dangers of Wind Turbines Near Railroads & Highways, Put Climate Religion Ahead of Safety
USDOT calls on Congress to investigate why safety recommendations were dropped, the depth of the Biden-Buttigieg scheme
WASHINGTON, D.C. — U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy today announced that the Department of Transportation (USDOT) will restore safety recommendations previously overruled by the Biden-Buttigieg administration for wind turbines built near highways and railroads.
Secretary Duffy and his team recently discovered that Biden-Buttigieg overruled a safety recommendation for dozens of wind energy projects despite concerns that turbines can interfere with radio spectrum frequencies critical to safety.
“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg put climate religion ahead of safety – blatantly ignoring engineers who warned of the danger of constructing wind turbines near railroads and highways. That’s why I’m immediately implementing a higher standard of safety. What the past administration did is a shame, but it’s a pattern for Biden and Buttigieg. They invested over $80 billion on DEI and the Green New Deal while safety was ignored,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Sean P. Duffy.
The information USDOT has compiled raises serious questions. In addition to conducting a department-wide review, Secretary Duffy is calling on Congress to investigate.
Secretary Duffy’s USDOT will now recommend a minimum 1.2-mile setback for turbines built near highways and railroads following a recent report:
“wind farm deployment could potentially obstruct radio communication links and/or degrades radio RF signal reception by means of lowering signal to noise ratio through several mechanisms and factors such as diffraction, scattering, wind farm density, distance, speed, etc.”
Additional Information:
In 2023, the Biden-Buttigieg USDOT found one wind farm proposal close to high-speed passenger and freight rail infrastructure that fell within “one-to-three-mile boundary... may be problematic for train communications in this area and present an undue risk.”
In 2024, the Biden-Buttigieg USDOT subsequently “withdraws its previous recommendation of a setback for this project.” No explanation was provided for this change.
In total, 33 projects have been uncovered where the original safety recommendation was rescinded.
Secretary Duffy’s USDOT is launching a study to collect additional data to inform safety guidelines for wind turbines built near critical transportation infrastructure that use radio frequency dependent safety systems. Further, the Federal Aviation Administration will thoroughly evaluate proposed wind turbines to ensure they do not pose a danger to aviation, including new market entrants like Advanced Air Mobility.
USDOT will provide feedback on windmill siting through the National Telecommunications and Information Administration (NTIA) Interdepartment Radio Advisory Committee (IRAC) Frequency Assignment Subcommittee.
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