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Jan. 13 to 19
Future of Wind Power
The November elections have placed the future of offshore wind power in a precarious position. Once this source of renewable energy was touted as the answer to meeting aggressive goals for decarbonization and reduction of fossil fuel emissions.
At his inaugural address seven years ago, Gov. Phil Murphy promised to “invest aggressively in renewable energy” as part of a plan to combat climate change. A key in that promise was support for offshore wind.
Today the offshore wind industry is reeling, trying to find a path forward after two years of broken contracts, missed capacity targets and canceled wind farms. That pathway, if it exists, may be even more difficult to locate given the result of the November election, which is bringing Donald Trump back for a second term as president.
Trump already has local Congressman Jeff Van Drew working on an executive order that Van Drew says would declare a six-month moratorium on offshore wind activities while government agencies restudy the likely environmental, national security and economic impact of ocean-based wind farms.
Jan. 18 was designated as a day to “end” offshore wind development, with public protests called for and hundreds of members of the public responding both in person and virtually in towns like Sea Girt, Manasquan, Wall Township and Howell.
Meanwhile, when he had just a month left on his term, President Biden in December announced the approval of the SouthCoast Wind project, the 11th offshore wind farm development proposal approved by his administration.
A statement from the Offshore Wind Alliance, an industry advocacy group, calls offshore wind “vital” to advancing New Jersey’s energy security and independence. It goes on to argue that “considering the surging demand we are facing, it is irresponsible not to support new energy development.”
For many in opposition to the ocean-based turbines, the answer is often to slow the pace of retirement of existing sources of electricity generating capacity.
This controversy played its role in the national elections just over. It is likely to be an issue front and center in the 2025 campaigns to replace Murphy as governor.
Rebuilding Los Angeles
The devastation in southern California challenges one’s ability to describe it. The insurance industry’s projected losses continue to grow, with the Insurance Journal saying that they are approaching $40 billion. The clear problem is that analysts are trying to put a price tag on an event that is far from over. The firm of Keefe, Bruyette & Woods doubled its prediction in 24 hours “as fires across the regions remain largely uncontrolled.”
What is likely to be a major wakeup call for the fire victims is what the Wall Street Journal calls “a little-noticed rule change” by the state insurance regulator. Pushed by insurers, the change creates a “backstop” for California’s Fair Plan, the state’s insurer of last resort. The rule change allows insurance companies to bill their customers if they, the companies, are forced to bail out the Fair Plan.
The Fair Plan, the insurance safety net, must be bailed out, if necessary, by regulated insurers as a price of doing business in the state. Now that bail-out can be passed on to customers in the form of bigger insurance bills.
Why is this of more than passing interest in New Jersey? Because it is yet another sign of the changing nature of property insurance in the age of climate-induced catastrophes.
A Brookings Institution analysis notes that homeowner policy premiums have risen by more than 30% between 2020 and 2023. State last resort insurance plans doubled in size from 2018 to 2023. In fact, Florida’s insurer of last resort became one of the top 10 largest home insurers in 2023.
There is pressure for a government policy response that will keep insurance available and affordable for homeowners. The time for states like New Jersey to be considering such policy options would be before the crisis reaches our doorstep.
A recent Rutgers study shows that three New Jersey counties, one of them Cape May, were in the top 100 counties nationwide that are experiencing the biggest jump in nonrenewals by property insurance companies between 2018 and 2023.
A Rutgers post said that one extreme weather event could potentially topple the entire market in a region. The basic point is that we in the Garden State are not immune to what is happening in the insurance markets in places like California.
Food Price Inflation
Food prices are up 28% since 2019 overall, with many specific foods up significantly more. Now, with bird flu blamed as the culprit, we are in the midst of what is being called “egg inflation.” The USDA says that food prices will continue to increase in 2025 but at a “decelerated” pace.
CoBank, an institution that serves agricultural businesses, notes the uneven nature of the inflation with increases in what it calls “pockets of food” like eggs, beef, coffee and even orange juice.
Food inflation even played a role in the November elections as voters looked for someone they expect to tackle the problem. November saw the largest monthly gain in food prices since January 2023.
The current level of grocery price inflation is moderating, but still leaving prices very high when compared to where they were before the pandemic.
While there are those who see paths to a reduction in food prices, the state of complexity driving the rise in costs may derail any plans.
Coffee prices are impacted by weather events in Brazil, chocolate by climate-based adverse weather in West Africa, the bird flu outbreak is ravaging flocks and driving up egg prices, and the U.S. cattle inventory is at its lowest level in 70 years, according to the American Farm Bureau Federation, impacting the price of beef. Orange juice prices are rising rapidly as citrus disease and weather play havoc with the supply.
New Jersey does more than just share in the pain. According to a Consumer Affairs 2024 report, the Garden State had the fifth-highest increase in the nation in grocery prices across 15 categories analyzed in the report.
Happenings
*The terror attack on revelers celebrating in New Orleans during the early hours of New Year’s Day has had repercussions in Cape May County, where the family of one of those injured lives.
*The state’s Fish & Wildlife division has published a proposal through which the state can restrict “public access of total waters and adjacent shorelines” in order to protect endangered wildlife species.
*Rep. Jeff Van Drew is continuing his push for an explanation and justification for rising electricity rates in South Jersey.
*President-elect Donald Trump said during a press conference that he will release information about drone sightings across the East Coast, but especially in New Jersey, “one day” into his presidential term.
*The “Freedom to Read” Act, controversial legislation signed a month ago by Gov. Phil Murphy, sets standards for removing books from school and public libraries, protects rights to free access to age-appropriate books and materials, and shields librarians from harassing lawsuits and criminal charges.
*Rep. Jeff Van Drew (R-2) says that he has helped prepare an executive order for incoming President Donald Trump that would halt all offshore wind projects from Rhode Island to Virginia for six months.
*The American Psychological Association, using newly released data from WalletHub, notes that New Jersey ranks sixth in the nation among states where credit card delinquency is rising quickly.
*If you’ve always wanted to be in the movies, you may want to consider submitting an application to be a passenger at a train station or a car driver for an upcoming Steven Spielberg UFO movie that’s scheduled to be filmed in Cape May County March 10-14.
*A Middle Township fifth grade teacher charged with aggravated sexual assault on a boy who was living with her and whom she once taught began a sexual relationship with him when he was 11, according to the affidavit of probable cause in the case. The relationship led to the birth of a child.
*The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Coast Guard have announced the transfer of 532 acres from the Coast Guard to Cape May National Wildlife Refuge, conserving habitat for a wide variety of migratory shorebirds such as the rufa red knot, piping plover and American oystercatcher.
*North Wildwood police arrested Michael Brisby, 36, from Missouri, on Jan. 10 after he told officers that he was hearing “voices in his head” that told him to head to an FBI building in Langley, Virginia.
*“She has a heartbeat, honey.” With these simple words, there was a sigh of relief after an AtlantiCare emergency medical technician counted the pulse of a 1-week-old baby who had stopped breathing.
*Lower Cape May Regional High School alumna Aylin Alvarez Santiago has been nominated for the Television Academy Foundation’s 44th College Television Awards, along with 15 other Montclair State University classmates.
*In December the Army Corps of Engineers released a new draft plant for protecting the back bay areas of New Jersey from the ravages of storms and sea level rise, a plan that updates one released in 2021. It arrives with some significant changes to the earlier document.
*The sentencing of former Wildwood Mayor Pete Byron by Cape May County Superior Court Judge Bernard DeLury that was scheduled for Jan. 17 has been put off until April 25.
Spout Off of the Week
To the Cape May Spouter complaining about paying for the Baltimore Ravens game. Move to Rehoboth and get it for free ! This is Eagles county ! Go Birds !
North Wildwood
