The National Offshore-Wind Opposition Alliance sponsored a national day of action for citizen groups to protest federal and state efforts to promote offshore wind as a major source of future power generation. It was billed as two coasts with one voice, and some protests took place on both coasts. Community groups showed their opposition in Long Beach, New York, in Morro Bay, California, and in New Bedford, Massachusetts, among other locations.
There was little evidence in news reports and social media that New Jersey groups turned out in force for the Jan. 18 event on this issue, which has been a strong motivator of protest in the past. One potential explanation is that the November election is seen as the win the offshore wind opposition groups were looking for.
The election of Donald Trump returned a candidate who explicitly and often said he opposed offshore wind farms, and on his first day in office this week he ordered a pause in current projects and a review of whether their lease terms need to be modified or terminated.
Trump’s action came after the Biden administration gave final approval to the country’s 11th wind project, the SouthCoast wind farm off Martha’s Vineyard. It also came as outgoing Interior Secretary Deb Haaland took issue with Trump’s promise to halt offshore wind projects. “Frankly, I’d like to see him try,” she said. “That ship has sailed. I think that offshore wind is here to stay.”
That is not the sentiment embraced by numerous citizen-based groups that organized and fought offshore wind approvals, New Jersey groups like Protect Our Coast NJ, Save Long Beach Island and the American Coalition for Ocean Protection.
Opposition has come from public entities as well. In Cape May County that included the county government and municipalities like Ocean City.
Offshore wind opponents remain very active in New Jersey.
In Atlantic City, one opposition group, Defend Our Beaches New Jersey, collected more than enough signatures to place an ordinance repeal measure on the ballot this November. The ordinance, passed in December by a 5 to 4 vote, grants permissions and easements to Atlantic Offshore Wind I for transmission lines from its offshore wind energy project.
State Assemblyman Paul Kanitra (R-10) posted to the Protect Our Coast Facebook page the result of his conversation with incoming Trump’s choice as Interior secretary, Doug Burgum: “My fellow offshore wind warriors will be very happy to hear that he told me directly that no new wind farms will be built off New Jersey’s coast during the Trump administration!!!”
Paulina O’Connor, executive director of the Offshore Wind Alliance, an industry advocacy group, issued a statement calling offshore wind “vital” to New Jersey’s clean energy future. Pointing to the surging demand for electricity that is causing many utilities to scramble for additional supply, O’Connor said, “It is irresponsible not to support new energy development.”
The offshore wind industry, which has had the advantage of strong federal support for the last four years, now faces an unfriendly administration in Washington. The groups that have persisted in the opposition to offshore wind now are shifting their focus from obstruction of Washington’s plans to holding the new administration to its campaign promises.
Contact the reporter, Vince Conti, at vconti@cmcherald.com.
