New Gig, Wind Industry in Free Fall, & GT Thompson Interview
Here's the latest dispatch.
Good evening,
For you newbies out there, welcome to Outsider on the Inside. I hope this dispatch from in and around the nation’s capital on underreported topics finds you well.
If you’re just discovering my musings, here’s a backgrounder and make sure we’re connected on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and YouTube.
ICYMI: My New Gig
I got a promotion at Independent Women’s Forum. Read all about it below:
Wind Industry in Free-Fall
Ørsted—a Danish multinational energy company specializing in offshore wind development—announced on Halloween it’s scrapping two planned offshore wind farms in New Jersey, Ocean Wind 1 and 2, due to supply chain issues and rising interest rates. The cancellation will reportedly cost the company over $1 billion.
“Ørsted has taken the decision to cease the development of the Ocean Wind 1 and 2 projects,” the company said in a press release. “This is a consequence of additional supplier delays further impacting the project schedule and leading to an additional significant project delay. In addition, Ørsted has updated its view on certain assumptions, including tax credit monetization and the timing and likelihood of final construction permits. Finally, increases to long-dated US interest rates have further deteriorated the business case.”
This development comes after Ørsted announced in August 2023 that it would delay the aforementioned projects until 2026.
Farm Bill, Food Security, & Conservation with Congressman Glenn 'GT' Thompson
Visiting Congress after the election of a new Speaker of the House is a surreal experience. After three weeks of endless reports of “Republican chaos,” the mood - especially in House Agriculture Chairman Glenn “GT” Thompson’s office - is visibly calm.
“Our work didn't come to a screeching halt without a Speaker. It was just made a little more difficult, a little more complex,” Rep. Glenn Thompson (R-PA) told me. “Our committee work has just been going well.”
Although Congress was temporarily stalled, Chairman Thompson says committee work didn’t rest one bit. Priorities, like the 2023 Farm Bill reauthorization, were being worked on behind-the-scenes.
Thompson heaped boundless praise on new House Speaker Mike Johnson (R-LA) and remarked he was “thrilled” that Johnson’s legislative calendar includes prioritizing the passage of the 2023 Farm Bill reauthorization next month.
Rep. Thompson has represented Pennsylvania’s 15th Congressional District since 2019 and previously the Keynote State’s 5th Congressional District from 2008 to 2018. Readers may recognize his district for being home to Penn State, the Allegheny National Forest, Marcellus Shale natural gas reservoirs, and Pennsylvania’s elk herd in Benezette. In 2021, I spent some time there reporting on the fracking industry for my CFACT “Conservation Nation” video series to see the process firsthand and jobs that depend on the industry.
The Agriculture Committee is chiefly tasked with advancing policies involving farming, ranching, and rural interests but also handles newer commodities – including digital assets like cryptocurrency.
I asked the Pennsylvania lawmaker, who is descended from a long line of dairy farmers, about the role farmers and ranchers serve and why preservationist environmentalists unfairly castigate them as despoilers of nature.
Fellowship Opportunities for Winter 2024
For freedom-minded women, I encourage you to apply for IWF’s Visiting Fellowship. Applications are due December 1st, 2023.
And if you’re a young professional aged 18 to 35 and want to jumpstart your media career/improve upon your skills, apply for the Young Voices Contributor Program due November 30th, 2023.
ICYMI
Articles/commentary/media appearances from the past week.
MEDIA MENTIONS
Here’s a press release announcing my new gig with Independent Women’s Forum.
ARTICLES/BLOGS
Podcasts You May Have Missed
Catch up on District of Conservation episodes below.
Thank you for reading! Let me know your thoughts and encourage your friends to subscribe to the newsletter too.
—Gabriella
Wind industry made a lot of democRats rich... its way too premature to use wind for power. Them big bulky giants take up way too much space, and trees are removed to level the ground...