Photo of dead whale that washed ashore in brigantine. Photo by mmsc — Photo of dead whale that washed ashore in Brigantine. Photo by MMSC

TRENTON, NJ – Democrats in Trenton blocked an attempt to enact a 30-day moratorium on wind farm surveys off the coast of the Jersey Shore in light of a recent increase in whale deaths.

Republicans are having a whale of a time trying to convince Democrats to halt the project.

An effort led by Senator Joe Pennacchio to enact a 30-day moratorium on wind farm survey work to determine if there’s a link to a sudden surge in whale deaths along the Jersey Shore was blocked by Democrats.

Pennacchio made a motion during Monday’s Senate session to add an amendment implementing the proposed moratorium to a renewable energy bill under consideration. The Democrat majority voted to block his amendment.

“I know we’re all concerned about the sudden surge in whale deaths that’s occurred in our area over the past two months, so I’m disappointed that Democrats blocked an amendment that could help us determine the cause,” said Pennacchio (R-26). “Senate Republicans continue to believe the fastest and least intrusive way to determine if there is a link between wind farm development and the whale deaths is to halt survey work for 30 days. If the trend in whale deaths changes for the better during that time, we’ll have data showing a more thorough investigation is needed. If we don’t see a change, a small delay of a few weeks won’t substantially impact the development of the wind farms. At least we would know we’re not sacrificing our marine environment and endangered whales in the cultish pursuit of green energy at any cost.”

The Democrats, acting on the advice of New Jersey Governor Phil Murphy, who believes the uptick in whale deaths is not related to off-shore sonar surveys, towed the party line to push forward with the massive off-shore wind turbine farm full speed ahead.

Clean Ocean Action, one of the leading environmental groups supporting the moratorium, has expressed concern that surveys of the ocean floor being conducted for offshore wind farm development may disrupt the ability of whales to navigate safely, possibly contributing to the spike of fatal groundings and vessel strikes since December as a result of sonar mapping, drilling, and seismic testing.

“As many of our colleagues have pointed out, the only significant change in our waters recently has been the start of survey work related to the wind farms that will be built just miles off our beaches – the same beaches where whales are now washing up dead,” Pennacchio added. “Surprisingly, some people who call themselves environmentalists seem completely unwilling to consider the possibility that the survey work is linked to the sudden spike in whale deaths, and they adamantly oppose any effort to investigate out of fear it will impact the development of the wind farms. If the surveys were related to any other kind of development, you can be 100% certain that the work would have been halted already for an investigation.“

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