By a narrow plurality of votes, Garden State residents want the Murphy Administration to immediately halt construction of offshore wind farms—especially with unresolved question of work currently being done contributing to to the death of whales and dolphins.
The poll, released by Fairleigh Dickinson University (FDU) May 11, found that 39% of New Jersey residents want the state to stop the development of offshore wind farms, after the unprecedented spike in whale and dolphin deaths continue unabated, while 35% believe the project should continue unobstructed.
“If we’re going to meet the Murphy Administration’s green energy goals, New Jersey needs to build a lot of wind farms, and fast,” said Dan Cassino, a professor of Government and Politics at FDU, and the director of the poll. “But the administration just hasn’t convinced the public that it’s a good idea.”
Support Dropping
Currently, there is no direct link yet connecting the states offshore wind project to the unforeseen spikes of whale and dolphin deaths. But the continued reporting between those sudden deaths and the ongoing underwater construction within the same general time period has effectively changed how people view the project.
The pollsters noted that while there was thus far no known link between the two, responders significantly reduced their support for the project as 42% of New Jersey residents then supported the project, with 33% opposed, giving those in favor of the project a nine point edge.
Whale Death Effect
However, when the questionnaire added the information regarding the sudden spike in whale and dolphin deaths coincidentally corresponding with the construction of the offshore wind farms, only 29% of New Jersey residents were in favor of continuing the project, with 46% saying that it should be halted, resulting in a 16-point margin against the wind farms.
This difference is mostly driven by Democrats. Among this cohort, mentioning the whales and dolphins reduces support for continued development of offshore wind farms by 24 points (from 65% to 41 %); among Republicans, it reduces support by half that amount (from 27% to 15%).
“The argument that the wind farms are hurting cute, smart animal’s just craters support,” said Cassino. “People concerned about the environment want to have green energy, but put that up against dolphins, and the dolphins are going to win every time.”
No Regional Bias
The poll revealed, regardless of where one in coastal areas or within the interior of the state, residents have the exact same views regarding the development of wind farms. For the coastal counties of Atlantic, Cape May, Monmouth, and Ocean, 44% of respondents say that development should be halted, with 33% saying that it should continue.
Those percentage numbers are the nearly the same as the 41% of New Jerseyans within the northwest corner of the state who want to halt development, or the 46% in South Jersey. Support for the wind farms is highest in the urban core counties of Essex, Hudson, Mercer, Middlesex, and Union Counties.
“This isn’t a regional issue in New Jersey,” said Cassino. “Whether you’re actually going to see the offshore wind farms doesn’t matter nearly as much as whether you’re a Republican or a Democrat.”
Republicans Against Projects
Additionally, the survey found that regardless on how the questions were posed concerning the deaths of whales and dolphins, 53% of Democrats support the continued development of wind farms without interruption, with only 21% saying it should be halted.
However, the reverse is true when it comes to Republicans, with only 21% in favor of the project continuing, and 62% saying it should stop.
GOP lawmakers recently renewed their call for a moratorium on the work of wind farms in the Atlantic Ocean after hearing for over two hours about the negative effects the green energy initiative would have on the environment and economy of the Jersey Shore. The virtual forum held May 3 by State Senate Republicans was billed as an independent hearing to receive testimony on the surge of whale and dolphin deaths along the New Jersey beaches in recent months and potential links to wind farms that are under development.
Hearings Called
“It’s clear from the testimony we received that the wind farm projects were rushed, there’s data demonstrating real harm to marine life, and shore towns and fisheries will face serious economic impacts that have been completely ignored,” said State Sen. Anthony M. Bucco (R-25).
In response, Democrats in the Assembly said they will hold a will hold a “science-based hearing” on marine mammal deaths May 18, receiving testimony from experts in the scientific community to help lawmakers and the public understand the issue from a fact-based perspective. The hearing is billed as including subject area experts from government and academia who have been studying the increase in marine mammal deaths since 2016 when the “Unusual Mortality Event” along the Atlantic coast from Maine to Florida was first triggered by NOAA.
According to the Wildlife Society, 23 whales and other marine wildlife have washed up dead along the eastern coastline since December 2022. The Murphy Administration has pressed ahead with the developments, inviting bids for more turbines as recently as the last few months, stating the cause has more due to warming waters than the surveying currently being done off the waters of the Jersey Shore.
Green energy is not killing the whales if anything they are saving them from the dirty fuel, oil that has been killing them for years and killing us. Stop the anti Green BS.
I am still trying to figure out how wind farms are causing whale and dolphin deaths when there are no wind farms built or under construction off the NJ coast. This phrase in the article perfectly highlights the problem: “However, when the questionnaire added the information regarding the sudden spike in whale and dolphin deaths coincidentally corresponding with the construction of the offshore wind farms, only 29% of New Jersey residents were in favor of continuing the project …” The poll did NOT provide information linking the marine mammal deaths to wind farms, they provided DISINFORMATION. I repeat, “How can wind farms contribute to whale deaths when none are built or under construction anywhere off the NJ coast?”
This is a classic example of a right-wing disinformation campaign being treated as fact when simple logic destroys the argument. The anti-fact climate change deniers will say ANYTHING to divert attention from ocean pollution and rapidly rising ocean temperatures.
Perhaps North-JerseyNews.com would be advised to do basic fact checking before publishing articles that accelerate the dissemination of anti-science propaganda.
That your article is about a poll and not about facts says a lot. Journalists should be investigating the facts, which at the moment don’t support that wind energy has anything to do with the whale/dolphin deaths.
YO! FDU; Most people surveyed think that most surveys are manufactured & manipulated in favor of special interests & their agendas!! AND; Not mine but those surveyed!! Funny though, but other Countries around the globe haven’t encountered this issue!! NOW; How strange is this??//
My understanding is that collisions with large ships is what’s killing whales. SevenSeasMedia.org says “Collisions with vessels are the deadliest threat for whales.”
I do believe that somehow, the whales and dophins are being killed through this ridiculous wind thing that looks like it does absolutely nothing
The problem is, it is not the wind turbines that is killing the whales—it is largely vessel strikes—the increased shipping traffic from all those Amazon Prime shoppers who need to have everything tomorrow—meaning more “stuff” shipped everywhere so that it can be within one day of people who never learned to wait for anything. Warmer waters also means they are in different areas, possible crossing those busier shipping lanes more frequently or at different times.
Before they blame whale deaths, etc. on wind farms, talk to a country, like Denmark, has had wind farms for years! They would know more about whether this is a sensible answer!
I wonder if the whales and dolphins are sacrificing themselves because they somehow feel the anxiety of our children experiencing lockdown drills and the trauma of mass killings of fellow students. Increases in proliferation of guns and violent incidents definitely correlate with the recent loss of dolphins and whales.
Sonar is throwing the echo location off. The dolphins and whales are killing themselves. Screw Denmark, it’s a mess and if you like it go live there. They are using sonar to locate locations to build. Stop the nonsense now and my god people read up before you post stupid comments. Man made global warming or climate change is a hoax. Stop it. The earth has always gone through periods of climate change. 5-6 ice ages so far. Those dame Vikings and their suvs.
here have been far too many whales and other marine mammals washing up on our beaches these last few months. And even though these tragedies are getting tons of media coverage, we’re not seeing action happening fast enough to address the real causes of whale deaths.
Nearly every necropsy has pointed to one cause of death: vessel strikes. In other words, cargo ships and other massive boats off our coasts are hitting whales, causing severe and sometimes fatal injuries.
Right now, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) is considering creating tougher restrictions on how fast large ships can go. This is our chance to make sure rules get put in place that will actually make a difference.
Join us in calling on NOAA to adopt the toughest speed limits for large ships as quickly as possible.