POINT PLEASANT, NJ – Massive wind turbine farms just 15 miles off the coast of the Jersey Shore planned by Governor Phil Murphy encompass an area from Cape May to the Barnegat Inlet and are getting ready to be constructed.
Point Pleasant Mayor Paul Kanitra says there’s more than just clean energy on the table, saying the effort is not only bad for tourism but a money grab by powerful entities.
“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 off-shore wind farm is environmentally friendly, then why are so many environmental organizations in the state against it?
Clean Ocean Action is recommending New Jersey starts small. Instead of building the massive farms just off the coast, COA recommended a test pilot to be considered prior to going all in. COA said Murphy’s plan is, “A step toward massive industrialization of the ocean.”
Bureau of Ocean Energy Management in the U.S. Department of the Interior said the project could have an adverse impact on commercial fisheries, marine mammals and scenic vistas along the Jersey Shore.
“That’s why our local environmental groups are against it. Look through the NJ Election Law Enforcement Commission’s online campaign contribution database for “wind” and related search terms and you’ll see a long line of greedy state politicians who have already fed from the trough and sold you out, taking dollars left and right and then voted to supersede local town zoning laws that could have stopped this,” Kantitra said. “Luckily, there are a lot of local Mayors out there who refuse to take the grant monies, sponsorships and donations they’re constantly dangling In front of us to grease the skids.”
One thing is for sure, when this project comes online, your day at the beach will no longer be spent watching the ocean waves, banner planes and fishing boats passing by. It will include miles of spanning turbines along the horizon.
Some are calling for Murphy to move his massive farms from 15 miles offshore to 40 miles offshore, but that’s not likely to happen.