Federal watchdog opens investigation into offshore wind impacts amid whale deaths 

A top federal watchdog agency is opening an investigation into the impacts of offshore wind along the New Jersey coastline amid calls for a moratorium on development and an uptick in marine wildlife deaths.

In a phone call Thursday afternoon, the Government Accountability Office (GAO), a nonpartisan agency tasked with conducting oversight of government operations, informed Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., that it would conduct the probe. Smith, who represents a district along the Atlantic coast, has repeatedly called for a GAO investigation into offshore wind development, expressing concern about its potentially wide-ranging impacts on wildlife and the marine economy.

“This aggressive, independent investigation into the ocean-altering impacts of the 3,400 offshore wind turbines slated for the Jersey Shore will help address the wide-ranging questions and concerns that the Biden Administration and Governor [Phil] Murphy continue to dismiss as they plow full steam ahead with this unprecedented offshore wind industrialization of our shore,” Smith said in a statement.

“It is absolutely critical that New Jersey residents understand all the impacts of these offshore wind projects – which will permanently transform our marine environment and seascape and could put our tourism-drive economy at grave risk – before it’s too late,” he continued.

On May 15, Smith penned a letter to the GAO alongside House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Bruce Westerman, R-Ark., and Reps. Jeff Van Drew, R-N.J., and Rep. Andy Harris, R-Md., asking for the investigation. He also authored a bill similarly mandating a GAO probe that was passed as an amendment to the Lower Energy Costs Act, which the House approved on March 30.

Smith has requested the investigation examines the impact offshore wind development has on marine life including whales; commercial and recreational fishing; tourism; and military use and vessel traffic. He has also asked for the watchdog to examine how severe weather events may impact wind turbines.

“With so much at stake and out of an abundance of caution and concern, these offshore wind projects must be at a minimum paused until the Government Accountability Office concludes its study,” Smith added.

Since December, at least 39 whales and 37 dolphins have been found stranded on East Coast beaches near where energy developers have been conducting offshore wind surveys, according to local officials.

And, in that time span, Republican lawmakers and environmental groups have called for a moratorium on offshore wind development and an investigation into wildlife deaths. Their concerns have butt heads with clean energy proponents and Biden administration officials pushing offshore wind.

Days after taking office, President Biden issued an executive action ordering his administration to expand opportunities for the offshore wind industry as part of his aggressive climate agenda to curb greenhouse gas emissions and stop global warming. Months later, he outlined goals to deploy 30 gigawatts of offshore wind energy by 2030, the most ambitious goal of its kind worldwide.

“Two years ago, President Biden issued a bold challenge to move America towards a clean energy future,” Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said in April. “The Interior Department answered that call and is moving rapidly to create a robust and sustainable clean energy economy with good-paying union jobs.”