Texas Land Commissioner Dawn Buckingham has expressed her opposition to the proposed federal auction of offshore lands for wind turbine construction in a letter addressed to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM). The letter, dated April 29, highlighted several recent failures of offshore wind projects in U.S. waters.

The BOEM's auction encompasses 410,060 acres in the Gulf of Mexico. This marks the second such attempt by the federal government within a span of two years. According to Buckingham, "BOEM auctioned approximately 200,000 acres for wind leases off the coast of Texas and received zero bids."

Buckingham drew parallels between the current offshore auction and a rule set to be finalized by the Biden administration on March 20, 2024. This rule would require nearly all passenger cars sold in the US to be electric by 2032. She pointed out that "consumer demand for electronic vehicles is waning, American automakers are scaling back EV manufacturing plans, and EV start-ups are failing." Buckingham further noted that similar setbacks are being experienced in the offshore wind industry. For instance, renewable energy company Orsted recently cancelled two offshore projects off the New Jersey coast at a cost of $4 billion.

Buckingham went on to argue that "Even if a lessee were to actually see a path to eking out a profit, introducing hundreds of wind turbines across 410,060 acres of ecologically-sensitive ocean is reckless and directly contradicts the Biden administration's recent position when leasing federal land in the Gulf of Mexico for oil and gas development."

One potential issue associated with offshore wind turbines pertains to their impact on fish populations. As Buckingham explained, "the impact of wind turbines on fish species and local fishing communities as a whole are deeply troubling. BOEM itself was a co-participant in a study released just last month detailing numerous impacts that offshore wind power projects have on fish and marine mammals, including noise, vibration, electromagnetic fields, and heat transfer that could damage the marine environment."

Dawn Buckingham has served as the Texas Land Commissioner since 2023. Prior to this role, she represented central Texas in Senate District 24 as a state senator.