Comments made by President-elect Donald Trump regarding whale safety in Massachusetts are drawing criticism from some animal experts.
Trump made serious claims that Mass. is responsible for killing several of the mammals in recent months during a Mar-a-Lago news conference in which he appeared to attack renewable energy. He called it "garbage" and made clear that he wants to ban wind turbines, blaming them for killing whales.
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There has been an uptick in whale deaths along the East Coast. According to the Herald, last year was unprecedented for whale strandings in the Bay State, but they also cite experts who confirm the development of energy isn't the leading cause.
Plymouth-based animal protection group "Whale and Dolphin Conservation" points to federal data showing that instead, the whales are dying from fishing gear entanglements, vessel strikes and infectious disease.
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Trump sees it differently, though, saying at the press conference, "We're gonna try and have a policy where no windmills are being built. You know off the coast of New Jersey they want to build like 200 windmills. The people are going crazy. Nobody wants them. They're dangerous. You see what's happening up in the Massachusetts area with the whales."
The National Marine Fisheries Service said in September that the 62-turbine, 806-megawatt wind farm off the coast of Nantucket is "not likely to jeopardize the continued existence" of endangered whales, including the North Atlantic Right Whale.
Trump, however, doubled down Tuesday on his comment to do away with wind farms once he is sworn in.
