Wind energy companies Ørsted North America and Atlantic Shores have plans to build offshore wind turbines 10 to 15 miles off New Jersey’s shoreline. Atlantic Shores plans to build at least 111 wind turbines across 183,353 acres at three different sites off New Jersey by 2027. Construction for Danish wind company Ørsted’s Ocean Wind 1 and Ocean Wind 2 projects is set to begin next year, with at least 99 turbines fully operational by 2025. Gov. Phil Murphy has said he supports offshore wind for its ability to create jobs, reduce the garden state’s carbon emissions and generate renewable energy. He has set an offshore wind goal for the state of 11,000 megawatts by 2040. But residents and local government officials have been critical of the plans. >click to read< 09:12
Tag Archives: offshore wind farms
Gov. Murphy’s “Green” Policies Are Killing N.J. Wildlife
In 2019, Governor Murphy signed an executive order to massively increase New Jersey’s offshore wind dependency. Since then, the state has sold two massive contracts to build the state’s first offshore wind turbines, covering nearly 200,000 acres (covering a distance roughly the same length as Wildwood to Philadelphia) of ocean. As sonar testing began on these projects, whales started washing up on New Jersey beaches in record numbers unseen in fifty years. These die-offs, according to Gov. Murphy and the “experts,” are merely a coincidence — but you and I know better: this is all part of Governor Murphy’s energy disaster plan. >click to read< 10:05
In response to the Biden Administration’s shoddy wind farm approval
The House of Representatives today passed an amendment offered by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) requiring a comprehensive, independent investigation into the sufficiency of the environmental approval process for 3,400 offshore wind turbines along New Jersey’s coastline during its consideration of the Lower Energy Costs Act (HR 1). Smith said his amendment—which passed by a vote of 244-189 and is now part of HR 1—comes in response to the Biden and Murphy Administrations’ rush to install the massive wind farms around the nation’s busiest port without adequate study on their impact on the environment, marine mammals, the fishing industry, tourism, navigational safety and more. Video, >click to read< 09:07
Dem senators from 4 states ask NOAA to address whale deaths
Democratic U.S. Senators from four states want federal environmental officials to address a spate of whale deaths on both coasts, urging “transparency and timeliness” in releasing information about whale deaths and their causes. The call late Tuesday by New Jersey Sens. Robert Menendez and Cory Booker; Connecticut Sen. Richard Blumenthal, Oregon Sen. Jeff Merkley, and Rhode Island Sen. Sheldon Whitehouse for action by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration marked the first large-scale request for action by Democratic federal lawmakers on an issue that has rapidly become politicized. Thus far, mostly Republican lawmakers have called for a pause or an outright halt to offshore wind farm preparation work, which they blame for the deaths of whales along the U.S. East Coast since December. But in their letter to a NOAA administrator, the Democratic senators conspicuously did not blame — or even mention — offshore wind as a potential cause of the deaths. >click to read< 16:52
Witness Drives Home Marine Vessel Safety Concerns as Offshore Wind Growth Questioned
“Radar interference is a major safety problem for our vessels,” said Megan Lapp, the fisheries liaison for a Rhode Island-based seafood company who has spent close to a decade studying the impact of offshore wind farms on the commercial fishing industry. “Marine navigation without reliable radar is a life-threatening situation.” Lapp’s comments came during the first congressional hearing on the industrialization of the ocean earlier this month. She was one of six witnesses to testify before House of Representatives members Jeff Van Drew and Chris Smith of New Jersey, Andy Harris of Maryland and Scott Perry of Pennsylvania on March 16 in Wildwood. >click to read< 09:01
Resistance to Offshore Wind Is Growing on US Coasts
A growing chorus of interest groups is calling for a pause in offshore wind activities to allow further assessment of the sector’s impacts on the marine ecosystem. Fishing groups and local residents have filed five lawsuits against proposed or under-construction wind projects along the Atlantic seaboard. A leading body for the U.S. Pacific fishing industry is urging the federal government to call off its proposed auction for offshore wind off the Oregon coast. And the United States’ largest lobbying group for Native Americans recently called for a halt to all offshore wind scoping and permitting. Wind energy is a key component of the Biden Administration’s climate agenda. >click to read< 08:10
Nils Stolpe: How many statisticians does it take to….
Screw in a lightbulb? Trivialize the deaths of at least two dozen whales? Convince the world that the massive installation of wind power off our East Coast won’t irreparably damage our estuarine, inshore and offshore ecosystems? The folks at NOAA/NMFS (and with the convenient parroting of myriad so-called environmentalists, and BOEM, the other part of the federal cheerleading squad selling Ocean Wind as a major solution to our “energy crisis”) have declared that it hasn’t been proven that there aren’t any relationships between the extensive survey work being committed by Big Wind and the associated contractors and the two dozen deaths that have been visited upon several species of whales off New York and New Jersey. What is their proof? Inadequately enough, their “proof” boils down to the fact that they have seen no proof. To my way of thinking, that’s tantamount to convicting someone of murder because there is no proof that he or she isn’t a murderer. But it appears as if, as far as dead whales and President Biden’s and New Jersey’s Governor Murphy’s windmill fantasies are concerned, that’s good enough. At least for NOAA/NMFS, BOEM and a bunch of environmental organizations. Why? >click to read< 09:54
I’m a fishing boat captain. Green energy companies, government want to put me out of business
Offshore wind energy might be killing whales, but there’s no question it’s killing American fishermen. I’ve been a fishing boat captain for over 20 years. I live on an island in Maine and sail out of New Bedford, Mass. My brothers and cousins are lobstermen. Fishing is the trade our family has plied for generations. We’re proud to practice the founding craft of our nation. When colonists first settled New England, they looked to the sea to sustain them. And so it is for our coastal communities four 
centuries on. But for how much longer? Federal regulators and foreign green energy companies seem determined to drive us off the water and lay waste to the communities that depend on fishing. If their well-laid development plans succeed, biblical calamity will follow for working people across New England. Consider the mechanics of fishing. Photos, Video, >click to read< 10:06
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
Anti–wind farm petition takes off, nearing 250k signatures
A petition drive that demands a halt on wind farm projects following whale deaths along the coast has collected more than 240,000 signatures so far. (As Monday morning, March 13, the petition had more than 318,000 signatures.) Ocean City wind farm opponent Suzanne Hornick, one of the founders of Protect Our Coast NJ, which began in 2019, said it is time to stop offshore wind acoustic testing. Gov. Phil Murphy, a strong supporter of offshore wind technology, wants New Jersey to become a leader in green energy. So far, New Jersey has approved three offshore wind farms and is looking to add more. But it appears that many New Jersey residents are opposed to the wind farms,,, >click to read< 11:36
Biden’s Budget More Than Doubles Funding For Offshore Projects, Potentially ‘Putting American Fisherman Out Of Business’
Biden’s budget allocates $60 million to expand the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s (NOAA) offshore wind permitting activities, an initiative fishermen say will damage their businesses and environmental groups warn could be killing whales. Experts warn that wind projects disrupt the whale’s habitats and generate disorienting noise, factors that could be contributing to a recent increase in whale deaths. So far, their requests for the Biden administration to investigate have been fruitless. Fishermen are also sounding the alarm on offshore wind efforts. “Offshore wind will put American fishermen out of business,” said commercial fisherman Jerry Leeman. >click to read< 08:02
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
The Whale slaughter continues, but is this just the beginning? By Jim Lovgren
Another Humpback Whale washed ashore on a New Jersey beach on March 1st , the 12th known Whale to die since the start of December, along the New York, New Jersey shoreline, coincident with multiple research vessels using active Sonar, seismic Pingers, and Ultra High Resolution Seismic sparkers. As more research vessels ply our waters, more dead Whales wash up on the beach. This is just the start of the gigantic ecosystem changing industrialization of the US continental shelf from the Gulf of Maine to Florida. We now have 23 dead Whales on the east coast within a three month period, and despite what government officials claim, it is not a normal amount. >click to read< 07:55
Biden’s Offshore Wind Dreams Face Rising Controversy, Opposition
By now, most Americans are likely aware of the increasing number of whales that have been found grounded on Atlantic beaches, some of which lie adjacent to offshore wind projects already under development. In a May, 2022 letter to the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management’s (BOEM) lead biologist, Brian Hooker, NOAA scientist Brian Hayes warned that “the development of offshore wind poses risks to these species,” and that the “risks occur at varying stages, including construction and development, and include increased noise, vessel traffic, habitat modifications, water withdrawals associated with certain substations and resultant impingement/entrainment of zooplankton, changes in fishing effort and related potential increased entanglement risk, and oceanographic changes that may disrupt the distribution, abundance, and availability of typical right whale food (e.g. Dorrell et al 2022).”But that warning seems to have had little impact. >click to read< 09:53
Government Grants Wind Industry Licence to Kill Critically Endangered North Atlantic Right Whale
The collapse in Atlantic Right Whale numbers runs in parallel with the increase in the number of offshore wind turbines planted into their (once) natural environment: numbers declined from 480 to 340 whales between 2010 and 2022. But, rather than putting a halt to the imminent and complete destruction of a charismatic seaborne mammal, the US government has given the wind industry a license to kill; known in the trade as an ‘Incidental Harassment Authorization’. Where ‘harassment’ means doing whatever is necessary to construct and operate giant industrial wind turbines offshore, up to and including killing whales in the process, and doing so with complete impunity. To equate the wind industry with ‘environmentalism’ is a first-order error. But to grant them a state-sanctioned licence to destroy marine environments – along with the rare and endangered species that environment supports, is flat out criminal. >click to read< 14:56
A new push to stop NJ offshore wind development
As debate continues over what is causing so many dead whales to wash ashore along the New Jersey and New York coastline, New Jersey Congressman Chris Smith, R-4th District, has introduced legislation requiring what he terms “an immediate, comprehensive investigation” into the environmental approval process for offshore wind projects. Meanwhile, New Jersey Rep. Jeff Van Drew, R-2nd District, announced on Friday in a statement that he will be holding a hearing on March 16 regarding offshore wind projects. The time and location were not available at the time of his announcement. >click to read< 16:19
Scottish fishers blast Holyrood for ‘scandalous’ marine policy tantamount to ‘greenwashing’
Mike Park was speaking as the clock ticks down on a Scottish Government consultation on its controversial proposals for Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs). Another industry leader, Elspeth Macdonald, branded the plans as “greenwashing”. And Banff and Buchan Tory MP David Duguid claimed they were “the biggest threat to the north-east fishing industry for decades”. But the government hailed its proposals as “a step change in the protection of our marine environment”. It aims to have at least 10% of Scottish waters designated as HPMAs by 2026. >click to read< 07:45
Issues raised over Highly Protected Marine Areas
Scottish Government plans to designate at least 10 per cent of Scotland’s seas as Highly Protected Marine Areas (HPMAs) are the “biggest threat to the north-east fishing industry for decades”, a MP has warned. Mr Duguid said the Scottish Government’s plans to install HPMAs and offshore wind, to a larger extent than elsewhere in the UK, is causing concerns of “spatial squeeze” and will be detrimental to the Scottish fleet. It follows concerns from organizations including the Scottish Fisherman’s Federation (SFF) which described the plans as “government greenwashing” while “prioritizing political objectives over good policymaking and decision-taking”. >click to read< 15:45
A portrait of offshore wind companies
All of the prominent offshore wind companies originated in the oil and gas industry: Ørsted (Danish Oil and Natural Gas), Equinor (Norwegian Statoil), British Petroleum, Avangrid (Spanish Iberdrola gas), and Shell Oil (Dutch/UK). These past enemies of environmentalists, now dancing partners, continue to generate revenue from fossil fuels. Ørsted even profited from burning coal this past year. Given the industry’s history of misleading the public about climate change, it’s not unreasonable to question their assertions now. These companies lose money from offshore wind operations. However, backed by generous upfront government subsidies, the ongoing construction of wind farms compensates for these losses. Because federal subsidies will contribute 30% of the capital costs, taxpayers will pay these predominantly foreign-owned, for-profit companies, billions of dollars. Orsted predicts that South Fork Wind will cost $53 million per turbine. >click to read< 11:27
Are NOAA scientists being silenced? By Jim Lovgren
Since the beginning of December there have been at least twelve strandings of whales along the New York and New Jersey shores, all resulting in the death of these animals. An abnormal amount of strandings have been reported in a few southern states as well during this time frame, exacerbating
what NOAA has declared as an unusual mortality event taking place on the East coast that started in 2016. These deaths include, Humpback, Minke, Fin, Sperm, Northern Right Whale, various Dolphins and more since 2016. Many of the Mammals stranded are endangered species, with the Northern Right Whale considered critically endangered having a population of less then 350 animals remaining, which is down from close to 500 only a decade ago. A curious coincidence among these particular marine mammals is that they are classified as Low frequency cetaceans, meaning that they communicate, navigate and feed using low frequency sound. Similar to the frequency most commonly used for sonar mapping or submarine detection by the Navy. >click to read the article< 16:02
100 MPH Process: Fisherman Dewey Hemilright of Wanchese, NC on Wind Energy
“Sometimes I wish I wasn’t so entrenched in this stuff,” commercial longline fisherman Dewey Hemilright said. “It’s hard to turn my mind off.” Hemilright, who fishes out of the northern Outer Banks village of Wanchese, serves on the federal Mid-Atlantic Fisheries Management Council as well as numerous advisory committees. Lately he has turned his attention to offshore wind energy and its potential impacts on fisheries, including commercial, recreational, and for-hire charter businesses. “I don’t think people understand the magnitude of these wind energy areas from Maine to South Carolina, a massive amount of acreage if you add it all up, and what a disruption to the seafood industry this could be,” he said. “And the leases are going for such huge amounts of money I worry that the commercial fishing industry will amount to a grain of sand on Jockey’s Ridge.” Hemilright calls the recent acceleration in ocean bottom leasing a “100 mile-per-hour process.” >click to read< 10:29
How offshore wind developers are working around the Jones Act
The U.S. is going to need between four and six gigantic wind turbine installation vessels to support President Joe Biden’s 30 gigawatt-by-2030 offshore wind goal, according to a new Energy Department national lab-led report out this week. It currently has zero finished vessels that comply with the Jones Act, which requires that vessels carrying shipments between points in the United States be owned and crewed by U.S. citizens, registered under the U.S. flag, and built in the United States. Project developers have therefore used, or are planning to use, Jones Act-compliant “feeder” barges to transport wind components from domestic ports out to the project site, where the components are then transferred to a foreign-flagged vessel capable of installing them. >click to read< 14:21
Whale deaths in NC and along the East Coast have officials searching for answers
On Jan. 7, a critically endangered North Atlantic right whale calf was found dead, wedged under a pier in Morehead City. In the previous month, three humpback whales washed up on beaches between Beaufort and the northern Outer Banks. The four North Carolina deaths are part of at least 14 whales that have washed up on East Coast beaches since Dec. 1. Federal officials, scientists and conservation groups have said there could be multiple factors contributing to the rise in whale strandings, including an increase in the population of the Western North Atlantic humpback whales. But one idea that’s gained traction online and among some coastal residents and politicians is that huge offshore wind farms planned off many East Coast states, including North Carolina, could be harming the marine mammals. >click to read< 08:46
Industrial wind: Sierra Club should stick to their own back yard and leave mine alone
When I go to the beach, which I do almost every day, I prefer to look out on an empty ocean where the only sign of civilization is a fishing boat or two. I can see why a giant multinational energy company would want to spoil that view with 900-foot wind turbines that generate both electricity and money. But why would the Sierra Club? They cite climate change as the reason, but there are other sources of carbon-free energy such as nuclear, which the Club opposes. When I got him on the phone yesterday, Mayor Paul Kanitra told me the people in his town oppose “the industrialization of the last pristine natural resource we have in New Jersey.” “We don’t want this dystopian viewscape of red lights flashing at night and turbines droning,” Kanitra said. >click to read< 10:37
New Bedford fishing industry considers compensation for offshore wind’s impact
Massachusetts and eight other Atlantic Coast states proposed the establishment of a regional fisheries compensatory mitigation fund administrator. In June, the U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) issued a draft framework for mitigating impacts to commercial and recreational fisheries. Stakeholders have until Jan. 31 to submit comments to a Request for Information released by the states on Dec. 12 to guide the process. New Bedford Port Authority Executive Director Gordon Carr said the initiative and leadership of the nine states and the extensive work involved in issuing the scoping document for a regional fisheries mitigation fund administrator and seeking stakeholder input through the RFI process is greatly appreciated. >click to read< 08:06
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
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
