On April 26, ABC News reported that three groups opposed to wind energy projects in New Jersey filed a lawsuit against the state.
Save Long Beach Island, Save Brigantine Beach, Save New Jersey’s Coast has launched a legal challenge to the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s approval of the Atlantic Shores offshore wind project. according to Go to ABC News. They filed suit in the Court of Appeals, arguing that the project did not meet federal coastal protection standards.
The Atlantic Shores project, located off the coast of Long Beach Island, is one of three wind farm plans to receive preliminary approval in New Jersey. The lawsuit filed by these groups is the latest effort to thwart the state’s ambitions to become a leader in offshore wind energy development on the East Coast, the newspaper reported.
Three anti-wind energy groups are suing the state of New Jersey to revoke key environmental approvals for a wind farm planned off the coast of Long Beach Island. https://t.co/NBfOzA3EJS
— ABC News (@ABC) May 3, 2024
Bruce Afran, a lawyer for groups opposed to wind power, criticized New Jersey’s approval process.
“Approval states that the Atlantic Shores project will destroy marine habitat, compact and harden the ocean floor, harm marine communities, encroach on migration routes for endangered species, and cause declines in commercial fishing stocks.” This was done in disregard of federal regulators’ environmental impact statements,” Afran said in a statement, according to ABC News. (Related: What Did California’s Fossil Fuel War Actually Accomplish?)
Joshua Henn, a political strategist who supports tackling climate change, has claimed that opposition to wind energy projects is secretly supported by the fossil fuel industry. “There’s nothing grassroots about this effort,” he said, according to ABC News. “This is space turf sown by the fossil fuel industry.”
Smoke from the Newell Road Fire near Goldendale, Washington, is visible inside a wind turbine on July 22, 2023 in Bickleton, Washington, USA.REUTERS/Matt Mills McKnight
Protect Our Coast President Robin Shafer denied any financial ties to the fossil fuel sector. “We have never received a dime from any entity associated with the fossil fuel industry,” he said, according to ABC News.
Jason Ryan, a spokesperson for the American Clean Power Association, defended the thoroughness of the planning and analysis behind wind projects. He expressed his confidence that their permits would survive legal challenges. Meanwhile, the debate continues as New Jersey seeks proposals for more offshore wind projects in an effort to achieve 100% clean energy generation by 2035, ABC News reported.
