March 19, 2023 — Four congressmen and a panel of expert witnesses denounced plans for a series of offshore wind energy projects as a mass “industrialization” of the ocean that will cause environmental harm and could seriously damage the Jersey Shore’s tourism industry.
The congressional hearing Thursday at the Wildwoods Convention Center was packed with an overflow crowd of about 450 people, while dozens of others were not allowed to enter the auditorium because of crowd restrictions.
“Let us in. Let us in,” chanted the people who were forced to stand outside while the hearing got underway.
U.S. Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who headed the hearing, vowed that President Joe Biden and Gov. Phil Murphy’s Democratic administrations will face stiff opposition if they continue to support the development of wind farms off New Jersey and other East Coast states.
“This is not the last hearing, I tell you. We are not giving up on this,” said Van Drew, the Republican New Jersey congressman whose district includes the shore communities in Atlantic and Cape May counties.