By Jeanne Wall Published April 26, 2025 JERSEY SHORE — Construction on the Empire Wind 1 offshore wind farm has been ordered to stop by the Trump administration, following concerns over its federal approval process — a significant victory for Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), who has long led the fight against offshore wind projects off the Jersey Shore. Smith, known for his persistence and ability to get results, took the lead once again this year by calling on U.S. Secretary of the Interior Dou... Read more

By Stephanie A. Faughnan - LACEY – When Bob Nosti left town with his wife on April 22, he glanced south and noticed a pillar of smoke rising into the sky. He thought little of it — in Ocean County, springtime often brings controlled burns to clear underbrush. But by the time he returned home hours later, the smoke had thickened, the air was acrid, and the Garden State Parkway traffic had grounded to a halt. What Nosti didn’t know then was that the warehouse housing his life’s work — Liberty Doo... Read more

Carly Baldwin,Patch Staff Posted Wed, Apr 23, 2025 at 12:50 pm ET | Updated Wed, Apr 23, 2025 at 5:18 pm ET — Last Wednesday, April 16, the Trump administration issued a stop-work order to a wind farm off the Jersey Shore that started undersea installation work — despite President Trump's ban on all new offshore wind development. The wind farm is Empire Wind 1, owned by Norwegian renewable energy company Equinor. In 2017, Empire Wind received a permit to build a wind farm 19 miles off Long Bran... Read more

News 12 Staff • Apr 19, 2025, 3:25 PM Last year, the federal government gave its approval for the offshore wind project Empire Wind 1 and 2, which went into construction earlier this month. Now the project is on pause. The Bureau of Ocean Energy Management got word to put the brakes on the Empire project from the Department of Interior, pending review to "address these serious deficiencies." In a letter to the BOEM from the Sec. Doug Burgum, he states the project was rushed through by the Biden... Read more

By Patrick McGeehan - April 16, 2025 - Just as construction was starting on a massive wind farm off the coast of Long Island, the Trump administration ordered an immediate halt on Wednesday that could spell a serious setback for hopes of powering New York City with offshore wind. Doug Burgum, the interior secretary, called for the cessation of “all construction activities” on the Empire Wind project, which was designed to provide enough electricity to power about 500,000 homes in New York. On th... Read more

By Emily Pontecorvo & Jael Holzman• April 16, 2025 The Trump administration will try to stop work on Empire Wind, an offshore wind project by Equinor south of Long Island that was going through active construction, Interior Secretary Doug Burgum posted to X on Wednesday. Burgum announced that he directed the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management to “halt all construction activities on the Empire Wind Project until further review of information that suggests the Biden administration rushed through i... Read more

By Dan Alexander The contention by Republican Congressmen Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew that wind turbines off the coast of New Jersey would interfere with military radar was proven correct in a newly issued report by the Government Accountability Office. The report issued Monday by the non-partisan organization states that “wind turbines can reduce the performance of radar systems used for defense and maritime navigation and safety in several ways. These include reducing detection sensitivity,... Read more

By Jim Lonergan March 22, 2025 at 8:36 AM — After nine months of covering offshore wind energy developments along the Jersey Coast, three glaring issues have emerged over that time—each fueling opposition to the federal and state-backed offshore wind plan: 1️⃣ Lack of due diligence on key environmental, economic, and logistical factors. 2️⃣ Rushed approvals that prioritize speed over comprehensive review. 3️⃣ "Bigger is better" mentality, with leaders pushing for NJ to be the nation’s offshore ... Read more

Historic number of stomach cancer advocates unite on Capitol Hill to push for increased research funding amid growing concerns over federal science budget cuts. Debbie's Dream Foundation: Curing Stomach Cancer (DDF) successfully wrapped up its 13th Annual Stomach Cancer Capitol Hill Advocacy Day, where nearly 200 patients, caregivers, and supporters met with members of Congress to advocate for increased federal funding for stomach cancer research. As part of this year's efforts, DDF honored Con... Read more

March 7, 2025 at 2:10 p.m. From OSV News and Staff Reports At their 20th anniversary event, the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast organizers recognized Rep. Chris Smith, R-N.J., with its Christifideles Laici Award, named for St. John Paul II’s apostolic exhortation for the laity. In his acceptance speech, the longtime Catholic Congressman hailing from the Diocese of Trenton and human rights advocate pointed to religious persecution in places like Nigeria, Nicaragua and China as issues that shou... Read more