Don’t expect an honest hearing, Save Jerseyans, but the Assembly Science, Innovation and Technology Committee’s decision to hold an offshore win hearing on May 18th in Trenton is an acknowledgement of a growing political problem for the majority party ahead of the 2023 legislative elections.
The Democrat-run committee’s members must have similar polling to what FDU just discovered.
This morning, the New Jersey pollster released survey results showing only 31% of unaffiliated voters and 21% of Republicans supportive of wind development off of the Jersey Shore’s coast when informed of the potential impact on marine wildlife; even 1 in 5 Democrats changed their support when the deaths of whales and dolphins enter in the equation.
The GOP has held its own hearings but, because they don’t control either chamber, the Republican Party can’t take any formal action on its own.
It’s likely that Democrat hearings will feature “experts” who support the Murphy Administration talking points – buoyed by organizations who’ve taken money from wind developers – that there is no link between whale/dolphin deaths and wind turbine survey activity. Unfortunately for wind farm advocates, the federal government’s own reports validate the strong possibility of link between sea animal deaths and injuries and offshore wind development.
