If there were any fans of offshore wind energy proposals in the Wildwoods Convention Center on Thursday afternoon, they kept quiet during a congressional hearing on the issue, led by U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd. Over about 2½ hours, speakers dove into what they see as problems with the proposal for wind turbines off the coast of New Jersey and other Eastern states, and with the state and federal approval process they say favors the wind developers. The hearing was billed as “An Examination into Offshore Wind Industrialization.” After opening statements, which were each deeply critical of the wind power plans, the Congress members heard from environmental advocates, an attorney representing Cape May County, a fishing industry member and others. They did not hear from Ørsted, the Danish energy company that owns Ocean Wind 1, the offshore wind power project expected to be the first in operation off New Jersey. Photos, Video, >click to read< 07:43
Tag Archives: clean-ocean-action
Cape May County Ends Litigation Over Failed Wind Energy Project
Cape May County has ended its legal battle against a proposed offshore wind energy farm after the state and federal agencies that had supported the project admitted it is “dead and will not be coming back to life.” The county had filed state and federal lawsuits to block the wind farm proposed by the Danish energy company Orsted 15 miles off the coast between Atlantic City and Stone Harbor. In the suits, the county alleged that the project would have caused far-reaching economic and environmental harm to the tourism industry, commercial fishing, migratory birds and marine life such as dolphins and whales. “By Orsted’s own calculation, Cape May County was facing a loss of over $1 billion in tourism revenue. Our fisheries industry was facing millions of dollars in losses. Marine mammals and other sea life were threatened with injury and harassment,” Cape May County Board of Commissioners Director Leonard Desiderio said in a news release Monday announcing the end of the ligation. Photos, more, >>CLICK TO READ<< Congratulations! 13:12
Offshore Wind Lease Areas Impede on Historic Fishing Grounds
In announcing its decision Monday (the initial deadline for comment), BOEM said it received requests from tribal nations and stakeholders to provide more time to review and comment on the lengthy environmental document. The decision also came on the 40th anniversary of COA’s incorporation. “When we started in 1984, the ocean was the dumping capital of the world. We worked really hard to clean it up and in 2000 we ended ocean dumping. (That’s) the power of the people,” Cindy Zipf, COA executive director, said. Since then, the Atlantic Ocean has thrived, she added. “We’ve seen majestic animals and (the) bounty of what she (the ocean) provides (us) free,” Zipf said. “What’s the return now? There’s a bunch of people that want to industrialize the ocean to claim some green energy revolution, but the facts aren’t there. We don’t see them.” more, by Gina G. Scala, >>click to read<< 10:41
World Ocean Day Prompts Calls for Action
Calling themselves “Ocean Rebels for the COZ” members of Clean Ocean Action (COA), Mayor John Peterson, naturalist Trisha DeVoe and others came out to promote for the aquatic environment during World Ocean Day. Those present noted that after four decades of progress in ocean protection, new and old threats were being fast tracked that could impact the ocean of today. Peterson said he hoped to see “officials of all elected levels of government, up and down the Jersey shore” in joining COA 
in making the public aware “of the threats to our ocean and what can happen if we become complacent. Lavallette resident Brick Wenzel spoke to Jersey Shore Online.com from the perspective of a commercial fisherman. “I am the fishing liaison for the Fishermen’s Dock Cooperative out of Point Pleasant Beach. I have been a licensed commercial fisherman since 1982. When you look at the industrialization of our ocean, the commercial fishing industry is the most heavily impacted blue water economy with the industrial build out.” Photos, >click to read< 12:51
Save Our Shores Rally Beachgoers to Offshore Wind Fight
A day at the beach took on a different meaning Saturday as offshore wind opposition groups came together to educate the public about the impact of wind energy on Jersey Shore communities during a “Save Our Shores” event on the 68th Street beach in Long Beach Township. A short distance from where groups like Save LBI, Clean Ocean Action, Defend Brigantine, and Save the East Coast set up, Jon Shields and Emily Fiore, both of Surf City, put a familiar Save LBI sign in the sand and stood behind it. Shields said he comes from an engineering background, learned about wind turbines and what to do when they are built in school and that’s where his concerns stem. Lots of photos! >click to read< 11:09
Offshore wind proponents, critics square off at Atlantic Shores hearing
Both proponents and critics of New Jersey offshore wind power generation faced off on Monday during a hearing for a project, that if approved, would construct up to 200 wind turbines less than 9 miles off the Jersey Shore. Atlantic Shores Offshore Wind, a project by the power companies Shell and EDF Renewables North America, promises to power about 700,000 homes in New Jersey through the construction of up to 200 ocean wind turbines. Supporters of the project say Atlantic Shores and other offshore wind projects are needed to quickly reduce greenhouse gas emissions, which are contributing to ocean warming, acidification, coastal flooding and stronger storms. But opponents of the project say it amounts to industrialization of the Atlantic Ocean and will irreparably harm a delicate coastal ecosystem. They argue Atlantic Shores will eliminate crucial scallop and oyster beds to commercial fishing and ruin the ocean view on which local tourism depends. Video, >click to read< 15:06
Is the Great Fishkill of 1976 About to be Repeated? By Jim Lovgren
In 1976 the United States suffered its largest man-made environmental disaster ever as 2,500 square miles of ocean died, thanks to a hundred years of sewage dumping by New York City and Northern New Jersey communities. This catastrophe awakened the public to this disgusting practice and environmental organizations sprung up to fight it, eventually winning the fight. Proving that the little guy can prevail against the “powers that be”. >click to read< 17:37
Wind project scope ‘staggering’
It wasn’t “until the whales and the dolphins started washing up that people’s attention was able to focus” on the offshore wind farms, according to Cindy Zipf, and when people looked beyond the whales, they realized what is happening is “staggering.” “I don’t think ever in the history of mankind have we proposed to industrialize an ecosystem this fast and at this magnitude,” she said. Zipf is executive director of Clean Ocean Action, a coalition of groups dedicated to protecting the ocean. Zipf acknowledges the pace at which the plans are moving forward is making efforts to slow or stop them difficult. “It’s challenging considering how fast-tracked everything is and how limited the permitting process is. It’s kind of under the jurisdiction of two people to make it happen, President Biden and Gov. Murphy,” she said. “Hopefully as more is understood there will be some more caution but as it is right now the (state and federal) agencies are very enthusiastic.” >click to read< 16:29
Middletown Township Committee Demands Halt on Offshore Wind Energy Plans for NJ Coastline
The Middletown Township Committee unanimously passed a resolution that expresses support for a federal and/or state moratorium on offshore wind energy projects along the New Jersey coastline at the Monday, March 6 Township Committee Meeting. There are currently multiple wind turbine projects to construct offshore wind farms 10 to 20 miles off the New Jersey coastline in various stages of development. There are serious concerns with offshore wind energy, such as the recent increase in whale deaths, that have not been adequately addressed as these wind turbine projects continue to move through the planning stages. Wind farms could also have a negative impact on the commercial fishing industry’s vital offshore fishing grounds as well as New Jersey’s multi-billion tourism industry. >click to read< 10:27
Island Town Deploys ‘Save the Whales’ Message Boards As Officials Call for Offshore Wind Pause
An island community has made no bones about its position on calls to place a moratorium on offshore wind development research until experts can determine whether the offshore soundings have interrupted whale communication patterns. Officials have said a rash of nearly 20 marine mammals, mostly humpback whales, have been discovered deceased, washed up on beaches or floating offshore. The calls for a moratorium center on research mapping taking place offshore prior to wind turbine construction. As it currently stands, no turbines have been built off the New Jersey coast, nor are any under construction. Crews, however, are performing geological seafloor mapping and surveying using acoustic equipment that some have argued could send marine mammals off their migration tracks or disable them in the wild. >click to read< 08:40
Claims about offshore wind farms killing whales are unsubstantiated, scientists say
Since December, more than 23 whales have washed up dead along the east coast of the United States, leading wind energy skeptics to lay blame on the pending installation of offshore wind projects. But some scientists with the federal government say that there is no evidence to support those claims. Last year, the Biden administration sold six leases to produce wind from turbines off the mid-Atlantic coast, part of its effort to fight climate change by boosting production of clean, renewable energy. Some pundits and politicians have concluded that preconstruction activity on new wind turbines has resulted in an increase in the death of whales. Clean Ocean Action has joined Republican New Jersey Reps. Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew to demand a suspension of wind development. >click to read< 11:32
Blue State Enviro Groups Demand Answers From Green Biden Administration On Whale Deaths
Nonprofit groups in the state’s coastal towns have spent months trying to get the administration to place a moratorium on offshore wind projects until a thorough, transparent investigation can be completed to see if there is a connection to recent whale strandings. Since December 2022, over 20 whales have washed up along east coast shores near survey sites for future offshore wind projects in an unusual mortality rate, according to NOAA. “The low-frequency sonar used in the windmills is causing deafness in the whales. It’s one of those things that science is only going to pick up on years after the fact, in the meantime, whales are being killed,” James Lovgren, board of trustee member of Clean Ocean Action and retired commercial fisherman, told the DCNF. “You have to pause and ask, ‘why are we doing this?’” >click to read< 09:17
Whale deaths exploited in ‘cynical disinformation’ push against wind power, advocates say
Efforts to stop wind turbines off the Atlantic coast have a new mascot: the whale. A dozen New Jersey beach town mayors and several other groups now argue offshore wind power activity could be the cause of recent whale deaths and wind projects must be stopped while scientists investigate. But those most vocal about their concern have been silent in recent years as whale strandings surged along the East Coast. Wind energy supporters and whale advocates say these groups and politicians appear to be using whales as pawns. >click to read< 10:17
Biden admin faces blowback over wind farm construction threatening marine life: ‘Put whales over woke!’
Activist groups like the Protect Our Coast NJ, Save Right Whales, and others have voiced concerns that coastal wind turbines built amid a Biden administration push for green energy are hurting an already endangered species. The Washington Post reported how if President Biden hopes to archive his renewable energy goals, the undertaking would require “massive” amount of offshore wind turbines to be installed. “Dead whales and tough economics bedevil Biden’s massive wind energy push,” the Post wrote. Environmentalist and author Michael Shellenberger wrote a Twitter thread about how construction can hurt the local whale population in a variety of ways. “Industrial wind projects ‘could have population-level effects on an already endangered and stressed species,’ concluded the NOAA scientist, Sean Hayes,” Shellenberger tweeted. “What are ‘population-level effects?’ In a word: extinction.” >click to read< 08:53
12 Jersey Shore mayors call for moratorium on offshore wind following whale deaths
The announcement followed news that another humpback whale had died off of the coasts of New Jersey and New York and washed ashore in Lido Beach, Nassau County, New York, according to numerous reports. “While we are not opposed to clean energy, we are concerned about the impacts these (offshore wind) projects may already be having on our environment,” the 12 New Jersey mayors wrote in a joint letter to Washington officials. On Saturday, a dead humpback was seen floating about 12 miles off Long Beach Island, said Andrea Gomez, a spokeswoman for the Greater Atlantic Regional Fisheries Office at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, or NOAA. It was not clear Monday if the Lido Beach whale could be the same one spotted off Long Beach Island. >click to read< 10:48
What really killed the whales? Environmental groups in New Jersey are squaring off.
Following the discovery of a 30-foot humpback whale that washed ashore in Atlantic City earlier this month, several groups including Clean Ocean Action wrote to President Biden demanding a pause on all wind-energy activity off the Jersey coast and an investigation into why a total of seven whales have perished in less than five weeks. According to Jennifer Coffey, the executive director of the New Jersey Association of Environmental Commission, suggestions that the Garden State’s plan to construct a huge wind farm out in the ocean have anything to do with the whale tragedies are unfortunate and misguided. >click to read< 08:15
Governor Murphy has a whale of a problem with his offshore energy plan
“Circumambulate the city of a dreamy Sabbath afternoon … Things have changed a lot since 1851, when Herman Melville wrote those words. But the Atlantic Ocean hasn’t. People still wander to its shores to gaze at an ocean devoid of man-made objects. But not for long, not if Phil Murphy gets his way. In his State of the State address, Gov. Phil Murphy boasted of his plan to have hundreds of wind turbines built offshore, some more than 900 feet tall. The governor also mentioned his commitment to “environmental justice.” We are used to looking at the ocean as public, but the Murphy administration wants to award large chunks of it to multinational corporations such as Royal Dutch Shell. We’re seeing that with groups like the Sierra Club and the Audubon Society. >click to read< 11:39
NJ governor: No pause in wind farm prep after 7th dead whale
Advocacy Groups Demand Transparent Investigation into Deaths of Six Endangered Whales
Calling the deaths of six endangered whales that have washed up in 33 days on the beaches of New Jersey and New York “alarming and environmentally harmful,” local, state and regional ocean advocacy groups are calling for President Joe Biden to immediately address the unprecedented trend. “The noise from the offshore wind vessel is a potential cause of the recent whale stranding and increased near-shore sightings,” said Bob Stern, president of Save LBI, a nonprofit, non-partisan coalition opposed to the placement of offshore wind farms off Long Beach Island. “The beached whales bear no sign of vessel strike or fishing gear entanglement, leaving natural causes or noise as the potential causes and raising the likelihood that our concerns were well-founded.” >click to read< 16:03
South Jersey Times Editorial Board – N.J. whale death mystery may not lead to mighty wind
Depending on who’s counting, at least six whales have been discovered ashore since late fall. Let’s not to jump to conclusions, though, about why these whales died, at least not to the degree that we need to shut down everything that’s going on offshore. Pressure groups are already calling for moratoriums on any work related to offshore wind energy development, even though none of structures related to the turbines system exist off the Jersey coast. (The survey work is happening, though.) The developers of offshore wind, and cheerleaders who include our governor, are finding more pushback against these planned installations than they anticipated. It’s not just Clean Ocean Action that has a beef; commercial fishing groups and others concerned about shoreline aesthetics are weighing in, too. >click to read< 10:48
6 beached whales in 33 days — NJ groups say offshore wind may be to blame
Advocacy groups believe they know why the New Jersey region has seen half a dozen beached whales over the span of 33 days: offshore wind energy infrastructure. On Monday, two days after a 30-foot humpback washed ashore in Atlantic City, ocean advocacy organizations sent a letter to President Joe Biden, demanding an immediate investigation into the recent whale deaths and calling for a pause on all ongoing wind-energy activity offshore. “Never have we ever heard of six whales washing up within 33 days,” said Cindy Zipf, executive director of Long Branch-based Clean Ocean Action. “We don’t know how many whales may have died offshore.” >click to read< 10:14
Jersey Shore Mayor Says Murphy Offshore Wind Farm is Hot Air by Funded by Political Lackeys
“One day in the not-too-distant future, you’re going to wake up, look out onto the beach and see armies of gas-powered ships starting to erect “clean” windmills not too far off the coast of Ocean County,” Kanitra said. “It will be the industrialization of the last pristine resource we have in New Jersey… and it will destroy our tourism economy. It’s being sold as an environmentally friendly initiative by Shell Energy and their lackeys, but it’s anything but that. It’s simply a money grab for the BILLIONS these multinational corporations stand to make. That’s why our fishing industry is against it.” If Murphy’s offshore wind farm is environmentally friendly, then why are so many environmental organizations in the state against it? >click to read< 11:52
Scientific ‘buried treasure’ may yield data about shorelines’ future. (may, that could, might,,)
Deep beneath the ocean floor off the New Jersey coast lie secrets that could help scientists predict how climate change might affect one of the most popular shorelines in the country.,, The work has triggered some controversy.,, Environmental groups have expressed concerns,,, Read more here 09:41
Groups oppose three universities and the National Science Foundation ocean blasting plan off N.J. coast
Environmental and fishing groups are opposing a plan by three universities and the National Science Foundation to carry out seismic blast tests on the ocean floor off the New Jersey coast this summer. The groups say the tests could harm or kill marine life including dolphins, whales and many types of fish. The National Marine Fisheries Service has,, Read more here 16:30
