Overview
- HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. directed the CDC’s National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health in late summer to study potential harms from offshore wind, with the Surgeon General’s office involved, according to Bloomberg.
- An HHS spokesperson, Emily Hilliard, said the study’s work is on hold due to the ongoing government shutdown.
- One topic identified for review is electromagnetic fields from undersea transmission cables, a subject of concern for some fishing groups and a point of dispute in the scientific literature.
- The effort is part of a wider Trump administration reassessment of offshore wind that has paused or complicated projects, including a brief court-resolved halt at Ørsted’s Revolution Wind and Interior’s freeze then reinstatement of Equinor’s Empire Wind.
- Fishing-industry representatives have welcomed the reported probe, while prior research cited by The Hill notes limited evidence of direct human health effects from modern wind turbines.