New Jersey’s $8,000-per-resident wind energy scheme won’t reduce climate change

The Daily Signal |Travis Fisher and Kevin Dayaratna| March 21, 2023

Offshore wind is unpopular with locals, and opponents made their voices heard at a public forum last week in Ocean City. Residents mentioned the recent increases in whale deaths; the potential harm to the tourism industry from destruction of historic viewsheds; and the lack of transparency from the state regulator, the New Jersey Board of Public Utilities. A local reporter summed up the meeting by saying, “One thing was clear after speaker after speaker denounced the projects: Cape May County officials and residents clearly do not want wind farm energy off the coast.”


In stark contrast to the bucolic vision of harvesting energy from the wind, New Jersey is witnessing harsh political reality. Gov. Phil Murphy has approved a large offshore wind farm in southern New Jersey, and local residents and officials who oppose the project because of extremely high costs, the lack of reliable energy, and the impact on marine life are being steamrolled.

Murphy’s stated objective is to reduce emissions from conventional fuels to stop global warming. Yet climate models show that the global temperature reduction would be infinitesimal, even if New Jersey stopped consuming all conventional fuels for its electricity needs. For these insignificant effects on temperatures, the governor is asking New Jersey residents to pay …

https://www.windaction.org/posts/54547

Wind farm opponents to rally in Trenton

By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY | March 27, 2023 | ocnjdaily.com ~~

Protect Our Coast NJ, a coalition of groups opposed to offshore wind farms, will hold a rally Thursday at the Trenton State House Annex to demand that Gov. Phil Murphy stop the projects until the cause of a surge in whale deaths is determined.

Keith Moore, of Defend Brigantine Beach, another coastal group, said wind farm opponents will deliver an online petition, signed by nearly 500,000 people, calling for the immediate halt of wind farm development. The rally is scheduled at 9 a.m.

Numerous advocacy groups, some formed to address what they call the “transformative industrialization” of the ocean, have been speaking out against the construction of offshore wind energy farms.

U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, whose district includes the shore towns of Atlantic and Cape May counties, has introduced a resolution calling for a congressional investigation of the potential negative impacts of offshore wind development. The resolution demands the halt of wind farm activity pending an investigation of the cause of the whale deaths.

Since December, at least 30 dead whales have washed up on the East Coast shoreline, including 10 in New Jersey. Last week, eight dolphins beached themselves in Sea Isle City. Two of the dolphins died almost immediately, while six others were euthanized after their condition deteriorated.

On Friday, a badly decomposed pygmy sperm whale that had apparently been dead for months washed ashore on the beach at 49th Street in Ocean City.

The flurry of mostly humpback whale and dolphin deaths has raised suspicions that sonar mapping of the seabed for a series of proposed offshore wind energy farms may be confusing the mammals and causing their deaths.

However, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the Marine Mammal Stranding Center in Brigantine concluded that most of the humpback whale deaths were caused by vessel strikes after finding injuries on the mammals consistent with ship collisions.

NOAA and the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection are among the government agencies that dispute any connection between the wind farms and the dead whales.

“As of March 2023, no offshore wind-related construction activities have taken place in waters off the New Jersey coast, and DEP is aware of no credible evidence that offshore wind-related survey activities could cause whale mortality,” the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection said in a statement.
The beginnings of John Gowdy’s whale sculpture on the Ventnor beach take form. (Photo courtesy of John Gowdy)

Renowned sand sculptor John Gowdy is in the process of creating a life-sized whale sculpture on the beach at Suffolk Avenue in Ventnor to raise awareness of the whale deaths.

Ventnor’s Board of Commissioners on March 23 gave Gowdy permission to build the sculpture and will allow the Public Works Department to move sand on the beach for its creation.

Gowdy said he is trying to bring light to the deaths of whales and dolphins “without pointing fingers” and the “ugliness of windmills on our horizon.”

“We need to come together in front of a whale carved in sand and talk about it,” he said.

Gowdy said he would like to hear from advocates on both sides of the issue, including those who support offshore wind development, as a way to address the devastating effects of global warming.

“Even people who are pro-windmills are invited, although some may feel like they won’t get a warm welcome,” he said.

The sculpture will be huge – 45 feet wide and 9 feet tall, he said. There will be a platform on top where advocates can speak.

Gowdy said he called his entertainer friend John Higbee to write a song about the whales. Higbee will perform his song, “Save the Whales,” at 1 p.m. Saturday, April 1. Speakers will follow and when they are through, Higbee will perform the song again.

Gowdy said he can use some help and is calling on the arts community to help build the sculpture between now and April 1. The rain date will be April 2.

The sand sculpture is located on the beach at Suffolk Avenue to the left of the new Ventnor Beach Patrol Headquarters.

Ventnor Mayor Lance Landgraf asked the community to support the event.

“The effort to put these offshore wind turbines should be put on hold until we find out what’s happened. It’s critical to our community and region, and we want to make sure we are doing the right thing,” Landgraf said.

Source:  By NANETTE LoBIONDO GALLOWAY | March 27, 2023 | ocnjdaily.com

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Maine Center For Public Interest Reporting – Three Part Series: A CRITICAL LOOK AT MAINE’S WIND ACT

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(excerpts) From Part 1 – On Maine’s Wind Law “Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine if the law’s goals were met." . – Maine Center for Public Interest Reporting, August 2010 https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/From Part 2 – On Wind and Oil Yet using wind energy doesn’t lower dependence on imported foreign oil. That’s because the majority of imported oil in Maine is used for heating and transportation. And switching our dependence from foreign oil to Maine-produced electricity isn’t likely to happen very soon, says Bartlett. “Right now, people can’t switch to electric cars and heating – if they did, we’d be in trouble.” So was one of the fundamental premises of the task force false, or at least misleading?" https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/wind-swept-task-force-set-the-rules/From Part 3 – On Wind-Required New Transmission Lines Finally, the building of enormous, high-voltage transmission lines that the regional electricity system operator says are required to move substantial amounts of wind power to markets south of Maine was never even discussed by the task force – an omission that Mills said will come to haunt the state.“If you try to put 2,500 or 3,000 megawatts in northern or eastern Maine – oh, my god, try to build the transmission!” said Mills. “It’s not just the towers, it’s the lines – that’s when I begin to think that the goal is a little farfetched.” https://www.pinetreewatchdog.org/flaws-in-bill-like-skating-with-dull-skates/

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Hannah Pingree on the Maine expedited wind law

Hannah Pingree - Director of Maine's Office of Innovation and the Future

"Once the committee passed the wind energy bill on to the full House and Senate, lawmakers there didn’t even debate it. They passed it unanimously and with no discussion. House Majority Leader Hannah Pingree, a Democrat from North Haven, says legislators probably didn’t know how many turbines would be constructed in Maine."

https://pinetreewatch.org/wind-power-bandwagon-hits-bumps-in-the-road-3/

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