Atlantic City Councilman Kaleem Shabazz @KaleemShabazz and Council President Aaron “Sporty” Randolph are unabashed cheerleaders for the offshore wind industry. They told a large crowd at a hearing recently that the @Shell owned @ATLShoresWind industrial development company is a good neighbor and had given city programs—including the Boys and Girls Club of ACNJ—in excess of $1 million. Plus, this “good neighbor” intends to build a short boardwalk to nowhere in the mosquito infested marshes of west Atlantic City.
Why? Because part of doing business in AC, is paying to play. The ACNJ City Council would sell out low income, overburdened, underserved communities by allowing industrial development through these neighborhoods to benefit a massive offshore wind development.
Despite the fact that New Jersey doesn’t have any coal fired power plants, and the fact the nearest one is 125 miles from the ocean breezes of Atlantic City, Shabazz claimed in a recent piece in @ThePressofAC:
“Offshore wind … will help close down dirty fossil fuel-burning facilities that jeopardize the health of people who live in communities like mine, where asthma, heat-caused illness and other pollution-caused illnesses increasingly threaten public health.”
In hearing after hearing, and Op Ed after Op Ed, shills for offshore wind like Shabazz @edpotosnak @njlcv @NJBPU tick off a list of benefits of offshore wind:
-good-paying union jobs ✔️
-environmental justice ✔️
-address the climate crisis ✔️
-decrease reliance on dirty fossil fuels ✔️
These would be great—if only they were true. Offshore wind employs mostly foreign workers. The industry isn’t averse to stepping on the toes of the indigent and the working class. According to industry documents, there is no credible evidence that offshore wind would actually affect global climate change. And, largely due to its unreliability, OSW doesn’t actually reduce dependence on other sources of energy.
These shills and their paid minions read the same banal scripts, without a fact basis. They claim that they stand for environmental justice, while at the same time championing industrial development through and next to low income housing, and near communities of color.
Instead of selling out their own communities to multibillion dollar global industries, perhaps Shabazz, Randolph and the rest of the ACNJ City Council should examine the deleterious impact from the “good neighbor” agreement @TownofNantucket signed with @VineyardWindUS.
For more information, please visit https://protectourcoastnj.com
