Wind Power

To the Editor: 
I attended the recent “Congressional Hearing on Offshore Wind Industrialization Along the East Coast,” chaired by U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew at the Wildwoods Convention Center.
It’s hard to make a good decision without good, solid facts. Unfortunately, 30 South Jersey mayors, Van Drew, and some of the witnesses at his hearing have clouded the issue of windmills.
They have implied, without evidence, that the cause of an increase in whale deaths is survey boats and sonar soundings from Ocean Wind, which is a project to build offshore wind turbines along the New Jersey coast.
Both NOAA and the Marine Mammal Stranding Center state there is no evidence linking sonar to the whale’s deaths. A comprehensive study of recent strandings, reported in local and national news media, going back to December 2022, lists vessel strikes as the likely leading cause of death. Scientific studies, in conflict with those opposed to wind power, are ignored. Supposition and fancy are substituted for facts.
One of Van Drew’s witnesses made the claim, without empirical evidence, that offshore wind turbines would reduce shore breezes leading to higher temperatures and increased humidity.
Another witness was an employee of the Caesar Rodney Institute, which, according to sourcewatch.org, received funding from the American Fuel and Petrochemical Manufacturers and the American Energy Alliance. This witness, to no one’s surprise, was not in favor of wind power.
There has been a tremendous expansion of shipping from the Port of NY/NJ, the largest in the nation, as well as an unprecedented growth of the whale population. This has led to increased contact between whales and ships.
Let’s keep the issue clear. We are drowning in the effects of fossil fuels. Don’t be swept up in the anti-wind hysteria, wiping out this chance to clean up our air and water.