REPORT: Dem Presidential Hopeful Implicated In Emerging Scandal

Former U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg ignored safety concerns in order to fast-track approval for dozens of windmill projects alongside America’s highways and roads, despite acknowledging that such hazards did indeed exist, according to a report from the New York Post.

In total, at least 33 recommendations to build giant wind turbines all clear of critical roads were overruled in 2023 and 2024, according to a current department official with knowledge of the situation. This paved the way for the projects to be built close enough to potentially interfere with critical radio communications.

In one example, the Commerce Department’s National Telecommunications Information Administration informed an Illinois wind farm seeking regulatory approval that “the turbine locations that fall within the one-to-three-mile boundary of these rails may be problematic for train communications in this area and present an undue risk,” the New York Post reported.

The project had been under review for 45 days before the Transportation Department flagged the issue. Despite the acknowledged safety issues, the Commerce Department issued another letter withdrawing the Transportation Department’s previous concerns without explanation.

“DOT continues to review and analyze the potential for harmful interference that might result from turbines placed within close proximity of rail, highway, and other transportation infrastructure, and reserves the right to make setback recommendations, or any other recommendation deemed necessary by the Department, on future projects,” the January 2024 letter, which was obtained by The Post, stated.

The unexplained reversal came as the Biden Administration was approving green energy credits worth hundreds of billions of dollars under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act.

Current Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy is now launching a comprehensive review of any wind farms located near critical transportation infrastructure. He is further accusing his predecessor and the Biden Administration as a whole of prioritizing their green energy goals over public safety threats.

“Joe Biden and Pete Buttigieg put climate religion ahead of safety — blatantly ignoring engineers who warned of the danger of constructing wind turbines near railroads and highways,” Duffy said. “That’s why I’m immediately implementing a higher standard of safety. What the past administration did is a shame, but it’s a pattern for Biden and Buttigieg.”

The new federal regulations will mandate at least 1.2 miles between wind farms and train tracks or roads after an independent study found that the former interfered with critical radio communications in transportation.

In addition to the projects with acknowledged safety issues, an additional 140 wind farm projects were authorized by the Buttigieg-led Transportation Department without any safety review at all, a current department official told the New York Post. It is unclear how many of those projects would have been placed within the proposed 1.2 mile buffer zone.

The emerging scandal comes as Buttigieg has consistently polled as a formidable candidate for the Democratic Party’s presidential nomination in 2028. Buttigieg has emerged as the top contender in a number of recent polls, including one from Atlas Intel, one of the most accurate pollsters of the 2024 presidential election, and a June poll from Emerson College.

Buttigieg has struggled mightily with black voters, however. This could doom his campaign before it starts, as the Democratic Party is set to begin its presidential primary cycle in South Carolina, where black voters form a significant portion of the party electorate.