A New Jersey beach town is pushing back against Biden’s windmill project due to potential threats on the economy and local ecosystem.
Small but mighty, an 18-mile long island in New Jersey is fighting the Biden Administration’s latest initiative to build large-scale wind farms just 9 miles off the coast, the closest windmills to shore in the world. On June 23, the White House joined 11 east coast governors to implement federal-state offshore windmills, with one location being Long Beach Island (LBI), N.J.
The Federal-State Offshore Wind Partnership is projected to provide clean energy to millions of homes, create nearly 80,000 jobs, and spur $12 billion per year in private investment in offshore wind projects by 2030. But is Biden’s project all it’s cracked up to be? Homeowners and vacationers across these states being affected have taken on the task of saving their coast.
The potential plummet in tourism and endangerment to the local ecosystem that could result from the turbines has led to the formation of a nonprofit organization called Save LBI, made up of residents, business owners, and visitors challenging the project. They have started petitions, posted signs, and contacted government representatives to encourage the relocation of these windmills to an area 35 miles off the coast. A lawsuit was also filed in the U.S. District Court, District of Columbia, with the federal Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM) as the defendant, seeking justification for the government’s selection of wind energy areas and claiming they violated the Endangered Species Act and National Environmental Policy Act.
“We are hopeful that the Court will agree with us and order a review of turbine locations because there are much better areas farther offshore,” President of the Save LBI, Dr. Robert Stern, tells Mission. “Our goal is to get the federal agency to fully disclose all the impacts involved and to also consider reasonable alternatives to the project that have less environmental impact.”
This little island is a vacation hotspot in the summer and near ghost-town during the year’s remaining months, meaning it relies heavily on tourism. Visitors travel to these beaches for quiet, natural views and a peaceful escape, but with wind turbines the size of the Eiffel Tower less than 10 miles from shore, beachgoers are worried.
Mary Helen Borchert, a 20-year full-time resident of the island, described it to Mission as “a quiet, peaceful place.” Borchert expressed her concerns for the ocean and air wildlife, the local fishing industry, recreational boaters, and her natural ocean views.
In a survey performed, almost 30% of beachgoers and prior renters said they would not return if the currently unobstructed seascape is visually impacted by these turbines. With independent Ma and Pa shops on every corner, the Save LBI organization estimated that over 1,000 jobs could be lost on the island if the plans are carried out. The Save LBI organization also estimated that property prices could drop by almost $1 million due to the obstruction of ocean views.
Although the initiative plans to reduce carbon emissions, lower the state’s reliance on fossil fuels, and slow climate change, it is expected to endanger the North Atlantic right whales—who are already the rarest of all large whales—that migrate through the area. Likewise, the currently near-threatened local piping plover birds could potentially face high fatality rates as they would need to cross multiple rows of moving turbines to fly in and out of their nesting.
While these offshore wind turbines present a list of attractive benefits, the potential destruction they could cause is unignorable. The Save LBI organization is working tirelessly to do just that, save Long Beach Island. Can the small island win?
