In 2020 Gov. Phil Murphy declared, “Offshore wind is a once in-a-generation opportunity to
not only protect our environment, but also greatly expand our state economy in a way that has
immediate impacts and paves the way for long-term growth. “Source: nj.gov ‘’ This remains to
be seen.
On Wednesday, July 5, 2023, the Associated Press reported that the federal government gave
the go-ahead for NJ’s first offshore wind farm to begin construction. About 13 miles off the
coast of Atlantic City construction will possibly commence by the second quarter of 2024.
According to Orsted. the Danish wind energy company that will be constructing. owning and
operating the wind farm, they will move forward once all federal and state permits are
obtained. This is the first of possibly three more wind farms off the coast of NJ with Orsted
having already gained approval from NJ for a second farm. Ultimately the plan is for over 100
wind turbines visible from the beaches of Atlantic City and Ocean City.
Climbing on Pres. Biden’s 2030 green bus our governor has set 2035 as a target for NJ to be
using carbon free energy sources such as wind energy in the global warming battle he is
personally waging. The impact of windmill farms has been shown to be negative rather than
positive. In fact, our US Government said early on that windmills will not help to ease global
warming.
Land based wind farms have been in use in middle America for several years. They have
been shown to increase global warming by raising the surface temperatures of the ground
beneath them at night, thus causing the earth to dry out and impact crop yields negatively.
Also, it is strongly believed that the low-grade whine of the turbines confuses bats radar
systems who fly into the blades being killed. The bats are the farmer’s friends as they eat the
insects. In some areas the safety of American eagles is also being impacted.
In the case of ocean wind farms, fishing industry officials believe that the placement of the
windmills is detrimental to their livelihoods eliminating over 1,000 jobs in the New England
area alone; damaging the equipment used to fish safely or for vessels to navigate the areaduring inclement weather in Cape Cod. According to Newsweek a suit was filed against the S
Government in 2021.
Of course, we are concerned about the marine life here in NJ as well as other unknown effects
on our environment. But is Governor Murphy seeking to be a hero in his quest to make our
state a leader in sourcing and implementing carbon free energy regardless of how it also
impacts NJs economy.
We believe he surely is on track to turn the ocean into an industrial power plant.

Lisa Fabrizio. Linden and Patricia Quattrocchi, Clark
Candidates, NJ General Assembly LG 22