US offshore wind opponents seek to form national group to fight projects

By Nichola Groom

(Reuters) - U.S. activists opposed to offshore wind development are forming a national coalition aimed at fighting projects from California to New England, according to the effort's founder and two other organizations.

The National Offshore-wind Opposition Alliance, or NOOA, aims to bring a national profile to what is currently a fractured movement of dozens of local groups, according to its president, Mandy Davis.

Offshore wind is a nascent industry in the United States and a key pillar of U.S. President Joe Biden's plan to combat climate change. His administration's push to install turbines along every U.S. coastline has attracted pushback, including multiple lawsuits, from residents concerned about the industry's impact on tourism, property values, fishing and marine habitats.

"Sometimes the little guy just doesn't get noticed," said Davis, who is also the founder of a Morro Bay, California-based offshore wind opposition group called REACT Alliance.

Davis said representatives from about 20 local groups from both U.S. coasts attended NOOA's first official meeting, held virtually this week. She did not say how many groups had yet formally signed on to the coalition, saying the list should become clear in the coming days and weeks.

Green Oceans, a group that has sued to stop projects being built off the coast of Rhode Island, is among those that has already signed on, according to Green Oceans co-founder Bill Thompson. He said he hoped the coalition would lead to better information and strategy sharing.

She said NOOA will maintain political neutrality and will not accept donations from fossil fuel interests.

The group's acronym, NOOA, is intentionally a riff on that of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the U.S. agency that oversees federal ocean conservation policies and assists in permitting offshore wind facilities.

"It's a little bit of a dig," Davis said.

(Reporting by Nichola Groom; editing by Diane Craft)