Support growing for offshore wind moratorium 

Earlier this month, the Democratic state Senate president and Democratic speaker of the state Assembly released a joint statement echoing our calls for a pause on offshore wind development until more research could be done. Their statements read, in part: “There are still many unanswered questions about the economic impact these projects will have on ratepayers as well as potential impacts to one of our state’s largest economic drivers, tourism at the shore.” A reasonable and rational statement one would expect from their elected officials.

In doing so, the Democratic legislative leaders joined non-partisan, concerned citizens groups like Clean Ocean Action, Defend Brigantine Beach, Save LBI and others, who have called for a pause in the project. For the record, I released my own statement urging Gov. Phil Murphy to suspend the project all the way back in February – calling for a moratorium until scientists could be ascertain what was causing the unusual number of whale and dolphin deaths plaguing our region.

Shortly after I released my statement, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) conceded that New Jersey’s offshore wind farm development “is likely to adversely affect” whales and other marine mammals, while stopping short of solely blaming it for the deaths – copping to something many of us had long-since concluded based on the tragic scenes we had witnessed throughout the late winter and early spring.

So, while people across the political spectrum, and across New Jersey, are all coming to the same conclusion – that a pause for more scientific review is warranted – there has been one outlier: Atlantic County Commissioner and recently announced state Senate candidate Caren Fitzpatrick.

Commissioner Fitzpatrick not only wants the state to move full-steam ahead with construction of these massive, three-football-field-high, offshore wind turbines, but she doubled-down in a recent radio interview, stating that she would have voted to approve a billion-dollar bailout for Ørsted, the foreign corporation behind the project. For those who haven’t followed it, that billion dollars was supposed to reimburse ratepayers – like you – to offset rising utility costs. Yet, when Ørsted threatened to abandon their offshore wind project unless they got the bailout, a majority of Trenton politicians buckled. I voted against it, as did Assemblyman Don Guardian and Assemblywoman Claire Swift. A week after that bailout, Ørsted announced that their first quarter operating profit was $1.02 billion!

Then, as if siding with a foreign corporation over Atlantic County’s working families and retirees wasn’t enough, Commissioner Fitzpatrick penned a recent op-ed in The Press of Atlantic City attacking concerned grassroots citizen and environmental groups as tools of “big oil” – insulting the thousands of men and women across the political spectrum who have organized and rallied against offshore wind turbines due to economic and environmental concerns.

Commissioner Fitzpatrick alleged – without proof – that these well-intentioned, passionate citizens in Atlantic County and elsewhere were “shadow groups” doing the bidding of others to stop offshore wind. Furthermore, she slammed the local citizen groups as supporters of “extreme right politicians” – even though countless members of these groups are, in fact, lifelong Democrats and committed liberals.

Frankly, Commissioner Fitzpatrick’s reckless and over-the-top attacks – which one could argue are defamatory – are at minimum offensive coming from an elected official who currently represents our county and is now running (against me) to represent us in the state Senate.

Unfortunately, hyper-partisan rhetoric and a penchant for letting her far-left ideology get in the way of bipartisan, commonsense dialogue is par-for-the-course with Commissioner Fitzpatrick.

I think we need less of that in Trenton.

Vince Polistina, of Egg Harbor Township, is the state senator representing Atlantic County.

Offshore wind support plunges, public & bipartisan concern grows, and industry’s true colors show

Advocacy group reflects on ocean concerns and shares calls for action.

September 1, 2023 | Clean Ocean Action

As shore areas prepare for the unofficial end of summer with Labor Day weekend, Clean Ocean Action (COA), a nonprofit ocean advocacy group, looks-back at a summer filled with headlines of public concerns about offshore wind (OSW) activities, economic troubles for OSW companies – some of which are fossil fuel giants, bi-partisan concerns for OSW projects, and dead marine mammals.

This week, a new Monmouth University poll shows declining support for OSW energy development, stock prices tumbled for another offshore wind company, and more dead marine mammals washed ashore along New York and New Jersey’s coast and beyond, including six stranded whales in August alone.

“The Monmouth University poll raises many issues to be discussed and addressed, but it’s clear that with all the facts and information presented in federal government documents about the impacts of offshore wind, the public has become more informed and are raising concerns, especially with the lack of good science and transparency,” said Cindy Zipf, Executive Director, Clean Ocean Action. “Clean Ocean Action’s positions are based on fact and science and based on the growing information released about offshore wind and these projects, it is not surprising public concerns are also growing.”

Meanwhile, stock prices tumbled on August 30, 2023, for offshore wind and coal and gas company Orsted, a company principally owned by the Danish Government with record-high profits in 2022. Earlier this summer, the New Jersey Legislature narrowly passed a bill, which was quickly signed by Governor Murphy, to “bail-out” Orsted with up to one billion dollars for the Ocean Wind 1 project. The company is reportedly seeking additional federal tax credits. In an announcement on August 30, Orsted delayed the expected commission of Ocean Wind 1 to 2026 in the wake of financial challenges.

“By grabbing so many projects, Orsted’s greedy over-reach seems to be coming back to haunt them. Not only is the company looking for more time, but they also have the gall to blame the delay on not getting enough tax dollars, which is a slap in the face and a wake-up call to NJ legislators who recently passed a law giving them up to $1 Billion rate payer dollars. The massive OSW industrialization is too much too fast. At minimum, COA continues to call on NJ to pause its third OSW solicitation,” added Zipf.

This summer also saw the release (Atlantic Shores South) and approval (Ocean Wind 1) of federal documents reviewing the environmental impacts of the proposed offshore wind projects off New Jersey. These lengthy documents, which are thousands of pages long, described the projects in more detail and included the numerous impacts on the environment expected from the projects. Clean Ocean Action identified numerous deficiencies and issues of concern in the Environmental Impact Statements for these projects in formal written comments submitted to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM).

In the meantime, questions remain about the cause of death of an unprecedented number of whale deaths in the New York/ New Jersey region from December 2022, and into this summer with a spike in deaths in August. In addition, dozens of dolphins and porpoises also have stranded and died since December. On August 30, there was a report of another dead small marine mammal off Cape May Inlet, NJ.

“Another day, another marine mammal stranded. We must all stay vigilant and not allow these excessive deaths to be normalized. Agencies are quick and confident to say major activities for offshore wind development are not to blame, but without evidence. As OSW projects are fast-tracked through the approval process, construction activities are starting, and marine mammals are at risk for louder, harsher, and more impactful noise. COA stands by its original demand for an independent investigation,” said Kari Martin, COA Advocacy Campaign Manager.

Growing Bipartisan Concerns for OSW

The concerns raised by elected officials about offshore wind are also growing and are bipartisan. In June, the Government Accountability Office (GAO) agreed to US Representative Congressman Chris Smith’s (R-NJ) request for an independent investigation into the impacts of offshore wind industrialization. In addition, Congressman Jefferson Van Drew continues to raise questions about OSW impacts and signed the letter requesting the GAO study.

At the state level, NJ Senate President Nicholas Scutari (D-22) and Assembly Speaker Craig Coughlin (D-19) released a statement in August raising concerns for the Third Solicitation for offshore wind projects by the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities (NJBPU), which would more than double what New Jersey already has approved. In response to the statement by Democratic Leaders in NJ, county and local leaders in New Jersey sent a joint letter to the Senate President and Assembly Speaker expressing they were “pleased” with the concerns raised.

“COA is encouraged by the growing bipartisan concern about offshore wind energy development. There are significant risks and impacts to the ocean and marine life that must be fully considered and addressed prior to the rapid, broad industrialization of the ocean with offshore wind power plants and infrastructure,” added Zipf. “The reckless pace of ocean industrialization with offshore wind is government at its worst. The fact is, fossil fuel companies which own OSW projects are getting a pass on environmental reviews and tax credits, and now want more.”

“COA urges citizens to continue raising their voices to their elected officials to help build momentum to stop the reckless pace of offshore wind. Make calls daily or weekly. Send emails. Request meetings. Share information with friends and family at gatherings,” added Ma1·tin. “It’s up to the public to speak up. It’s been the only way we have collectively fought offshore oil and gas drilling year after year, stopped liquefied natural gas projects and facilities, closed ocean dumpsites, and brought the ocean back from the brink. Make some noise, people, and not the kind that will harm marine life.”