Last Friday, Democrats in the New Jersey State Legislature kept the Orsted Ocean Wind Turbine Project alive by a single vote in the State Senate. Orsted is a Danish corporation working to install and operate 300 giant wind turbines. In wants to put them in the ocean nine miles from New Jersey beaches between Seaside Heights and Ocean City. Last year, several New Jersey state government agencies gave Orsted permits and promised enough rate hikes and government grants to guarantee profits for Orsted. However, during the past few weeks, Orsted claimed that it needed additional funds to cover added costs. Last month, Joseph Fiordaliso, President of the NJ Board of Utilities (BPU) publicly accused wind turbine companies like Orsted of “dragging their feet”.
Governor Murphy and Democratic State Senators and Assembly Members responded by proposing that Orsted be given millions of dollars of unused federal tax credits. These credits were about to expire. The money would have been used to cut electric bills for consumers. Opponents of Orsted’s wind turbine project strongly opposed this. They included citizen groups like Protect Our Coast in Ocean City, Defend Brigantine Beach, Save the Right Whale, and Save LBI. Local government officials including the County Commissioners (formerly called freeholders) in Cape May and Atlantic Counties adopted resolutions opposing the wind turbines. Many Republican elected officials including Congressman Jeff Van Drew and Mayor Vince Sera of Brigantine publicly spoke out against spending more money on wind turbines. Hundreds of residents and business owners displayed signs and handed out literature opposing the project. Our organization, Liberty and Prosperity distributed postcards explaining why wind turbines are bad for New Jersey and the entire country.
Last Friday, 44 of the 80 members of the New Jersey State Assembly, a majority, voted to give Orsted the tax credits it requested. All of the “yes” votes were Democrats. All of the “no” votes were Republicans. Five Democrats did not vote.
The vote was much closer in the 40 member New Jersey State Senate. All 15 Republican State Senators voted “No”, together with Democratic State Senator Vin Gopal of the beach town of Neptune in Monmouth County. At first, only 20 Democrats voted “Yes”. This was one vote short of the 21 vote majority need to approve giving Orsted the tax credits. Five Democrats did not vote. One was Democratic State Senator Bob Smith of Piscataway, Middlesex County. Although he had sponsored the bill, he was not in Trenton when the vote was taken. However, just before the measure failed, Democratic State Senator Shirley Turner of the Trenton area,switched to a “yes” vote. She said she was originally unwilling to vote more funding for wind turbines because she was concerned that the proposed wind turbines would cause rate hikes and would not create enough jobs for “women and minorities”. However, she said she later voted to give the project the requested tax credits because “my colleagues allayed my concerns.”.
Although the wind turbine project is now moving forward, the closeness of the vote showed that continued opposition can still stop the project. The closeness of the vote made national news and was reported by the Washinton Post.
If Wind Turbines produced the “abundant and affordable” electricity, they would pay for themselves. Developers like Orsted would not need rate increases and government funding to make their projects profitable. However, they don’t. Wind turbines are expensive to build and maintain. They are also extremely wasteful for many reasons. When there is too much wind, the extra electricity is “dumped” and wasted. There are no batteries big enough to store it. Because there is no stored electricity, and wind can stop or slow down at any moment, back-up generators must constantly burn and waste fossil fuels. Otherwise, they would not be ready to supply power to stop the grid from crashing whenever the wind slows down. Solar electricity is just as intermittent and unpredictable and causes these same problems.
This is why “green” solar and wind energy is so expensive. NJ Governor Murphy and the Board of Public Utilities previously agreed to double or triple our electric bills to guarantee the Danish company Orsted a profit on its proposed 300 giant ocean wind turbines. In addition, Orsted is entitled to some of the $369 billion for “green energy” to be spent by the federal government under the 2023 “Inflation Reduction Act”.
Yet all this money was not enough for Orsted to make money from this project. It needed millions of dollars more in the form of federal tax credits.
Above Image: Another Example Of How Wind Energy Is Built On Flawed, Unsustainable Technology. Click Here For Link To Full Article:
Although Orsted got this money, its Wind Turbine project is still far from a done deal. Orsted still needs additional land, permits, and approvals from Ocean City and Atlantic City. It must also defend a number of lawsuits. Orsted will need more approvals and funding from the New Jersey Legislature. All 80 seats in the State Assembly and all 40 State Senate seats are up for election on this November. If just a handful of the State Senators and Assembly members who voted for Ocean Win are defeated this November, Orsted will not get the funding and permits it needs to move forward.
Help us bring this message to voters in the rest of New Jersey. The best time to reach them is now–when they are with us in the summer! Help us reach them on our beaches, Boardwalks, and docks. And when we meet them at our shops, restaurants and concerts. We have plenty of signs and postcards available near the steps of our office at 453 Shore Road, in Somers Point, NJ 08244. The signs are leaning against the wall. The postcards are in the small, waterproof plastic containers.
Please take what you need, but use what you take. Or please contact us and we will deliver them to you. If you or anyone in your family over age 14 is willing and able to hand out postcards on the beach, boardwalk, or summer concerts, please let us know. We are willing to pay meals and expenses. Please leave a voice mail at 609-927-7333 or email us at info@libertyandprosperity.com.
If you have not done so yet, please help us print more post cards. We would like to hand them out all summer. Please donate online, or send your tax-deductible check payable to to Liberty and Prosperity 1776, Inc. to our office at 453 Shore Road, Somers Point, NJ 08244. Or meet us any Saturday morning for breakfast between 9:30 AM and 10:30 AM at the Banquet Room next to Sal’s Coal Fired Pizza, 501 New Road, Somers Point, NJ 08244. Thanks!
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