August 15, 2024 — Two congressmen gathered with experts critical of offshore wind development Tuesday in Brigantine, where they blasted a plan to build power turbines miles off the Jersey Shore.
Inside the auditorium at the Brigantine Community School, Republican Rep. Jeff Van Drew, who represents southern New Jersey in Congress, and Rep. Scott Perry of Pennsylvania’s 10th Congressional District, held a hearing targeting offshore wind before a crowd of roughly 100 attendees.
“It’s not just people who live at the Shore (who will be affected), it’s wherever you live,” Van Drew said during the hearing. “These things cost a fortune, and they’re not dependable, and they break down a lot.”
Critics of offshore wind have noted the recent failure of a turbine at Vineyard Wind off Martha’s Vineyard in Massachusetts. The turbine’s broken blade resulted in fiberglass debris spread across beaches there in July.
“For years, the offshore wind companies … have told us that offshore wind is safe, clean, great for fighting global warming, no threat to the environment, and will cut our electric bills,” said Amy DiSibio, who sits on the board of directors for ACK for Whales, an anti-offshore wind organization based in Nantucket. “None of this is true, as we have painfully seen over the past month in Nantucket.”