Three organizations opposing New Jersey’s wind farm project filed suit against the state April 26, ABC News reported.
Save Long Beach Island, Defend Brigantine Beach, and Protect Our Coast NJ, have initiated a legal challenge against the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection’s approval of the Atlantic Shores offshore wind farm project, according to ABC News. They filed their lawsuit in appellate court claiming that the project fails to meet federal coastal protection standards.
The Atlantic Shores project is located off the coast of Long Beach Island and one of three proposed wind farms in New Jersey that have received preliminary approval. The lawsuit filed by these groups represents the latest effort to stop the state’s ambition to become a leader in offshore wind energy development on the East Coast, the outlet reported.
Three anti-wind power groups are suing New Jersey to overturn a key environmental approval for a wind energy farm planned off the coast of Long Beach Island. https://t.co/NBfOzA3EJS
— ABC News (@ABC) May 3, 2024
Bruce Afran, the attorney for the groups opposing wind power, criticized New Jersey’s approval process.
“Approval flies in the face of the federal regulator’s environmental impact statement that says the Atlantic Shores project will damage marine habitat, compress and harden the seafloor, damage marine communities, compromise migration corridors for endangered species, and cause commercial fishing stocks to decline,” Afran said in a statement, ABC News reported. (RELATED: What Has California’s War On Fossil Fuels Actually Accomplished?)
Joshua Henne, a political strategist who supports climate change initiatives, claimed that the opposition to wind power projects is covertly backed by the fossil fuel industry. “There ain’t nothing grassroots about this effort,” he said, ABC News stated. “It’s astroturf, seeded by the fossil fuel industry.”
Smoke from the Newell Road Fire near Goldendale, Washington is seen amid wind turbines in Bickleton, Washington, U.S., July 22, 2023. REUTERS/Matt Mills McKnight
Robin Shaffer, president of Protect Our Coast, denied any financial ties to the fossil fuel sector. “We have never taken one penny from any entity linked to the fossil fuel industry,” he said, according to ABC News, “Not one.”
Jason Ryan, a spokesperson for the American Clean Power Association, defended the thoroughness of the planning and analysis behind the wind projects. He expressed confidence that their permits would withstand legal challenges. Meanwhile, the controversy continues as New Jersey seeks more offshore wind project proposals, aiming to achieve 100% clean energy generation by 2035, ABC News reported.