Remarks by Congressman Smith
Delivers remarks at Rally Against Empire WindSmith underscores Empire Wind's threats to national security, the environment, sea creatures, New Jersey commercial and recreational fishing, and tourismToday, Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ), a longtime vocal opponent of offshore wind development, joined local elected officials, fishermen, stakeholders, and New Jersey residents at the Rally Against Empire Wind in Seaside Heights, where he delivered the following remarks: I am unalterably opposed to ocean wind power including Empire Wind—which is heavily reliant on government handouts including between a $1.3 billion to $3 billion (ITC) created and authorized by President Biden in his so-called Inflation Control Act. This is one of the worst taxpayer rip-offs ever. We ask President Trump to stop it. I spoke to Interior Secretary Burgum for half an hour again yesterday, asking the administration to reinstate the Empire stop work order first issued in April. He told me that three days ago, the Department of the Interior announced the launch of a full review of offshore wind energy regulations to ensure alignment with President Donald J. Trump’s energy priorities. This effort includes ensuring federal regulations do not provide preferential treatment to unreliable, foreign-controlled energy sources over dependable, American-made energy. Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum was quoted in the press release, “The Department is fully committed to making sure that offshore energy development reflects President Trump’s America First Energy Dominance agenda and the real-world demands of today’s global energy landscape. We’re taking a results-driven approach that prioritizes reliability, strengthens national security, and upholds both scientific integrity and responsible environmental stewardship.” The Department of the Interior will also be reviewing the cost for the inevitable failing of offshore wind turbines as it seeks to ensure federal regulations do not provide preferential treatment to unreliable, foreign-controlled energy sources over dependable, American-made energy. As in the case of Empire Wind, a project of Equinor, a company owned by the government of Norway which means that it violates the Outer Continental Shelf Lands Act (OCSLA) by awarding U.S. offshore territory to a company controlled by a foreign government. Ocean wind power in general, and Empire Wind in particular, is a serious national security threat, an environmental disaster in the making—an existential threat to sea creatures large—including whales and dolphins—and small. Ocean wind power is a death sentence to commercial and recreational fishing, to tourism and while it will cost billions of taxpayer subsidies to build, it will nevertheless be the most expensive form of electricity on the planet. While many are concerned about known threats to our coast far too few fully appreciate the devastation that off-shore wind turbines will bring to our precious Jersey Shore and Atlantic Ocean. Today as Hurricane Erin is being carefully tracked as a potential threat for the East Coast, the extreme vulnerability of offshore windmills—each as tall as the Chrysler Building with each blade as long as a football field—has been recklessly trivialized and dismissed by the wind power industry and its supporters. One Carnegie Mellon University study in 2012, published by the National Academy of Sciences, found that, “There is very substantial risk that Category 3 and higher hurricanes can destroy half or more of the turbines at some locations.” The study went on to say, “Wind turbines are vulnerable to hurricanes because the maximum wind speeds in those storms can exceed the design limits of wind turbines.” And a 2020 article published by the European Academy of Wind Energy entitled Hurricane eyewall winds and structural response of wind turbines concluded, “On the whole, these studies have shown that hurricane winds can indeed pose important risks to offshore wind turbines.” “A Category 3…will buckle up to 46% of the towers…” The damage caused by Category 3, 4, and 5 hurricanes is important for offshore wind development in the United States because every state on the Gulf of America coast and 9 of the 14 states on the Atlantic Coast have been struck by a Category 3 or higher hurricane between 1856 and 2008.” Who cleans up Empire Wind’s mess when the turbines crash into the water? The government of Norway? Don’t hold your breath. It was just one year ago in July that a 350-foot wind turbine blade fell into the water off Nantucket—creating life threatening fiberglass shards and hazards to humans and marine life resulting in the closing of several beaches. Who’s going to be on the hook to pay for these monstrosities when they are “decommissioned” and no longer able to be used after just 15 -20 years or according to updated estimates 13-14 years after going online. You and I—the taxpayer and ratepayer, that’s who. If off-shore wind is so good, why is the so-called useful life of each wind turbine so ridiculously short? If off-shore wind is so good, why do they need our massive taxpayer subsidies? No one pushing this foolish initiative likes to talk about permanently leaving rusting, dangerous windmills in the ocean off our shore to rot and corrode—and more ominously to leach dangerous metals and toxins into the ocean endangering marine life. The impact of this harmful consequence is only now receiving minimal attention. The U.S. House of Representatives passed two pieces of legislation I wrote on Ocean Wind. · One which passed 244 to 189 sought a comprehensive review and the GAO report found among other negative consequences that “wind turbines can reduce the performance of radar systems used for defense and maritime navigation and safety in several ways…' The Senate failed to act on my House-passed FAA amendment. I plan to offer the legislation again, this time to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). The fact of the matter is that ocean wind poses a significant security and safety threat to Vessel navigation—including fishing boats, U.S. Navy ships, merchant ships and search and rescue operations by the Coast Guard—as well as military and civilian aviation… all due to radar interference. The National Academy of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine released a report in 2022 entitled: Wind Turbine Generator Impacts to Marine Vessel Radar and found that wind turbine generators “obfuscate the marine vessel radar for both magnetron-based and solid-state radar… and “can cause significant interference and shadowing that suppress the detection of small contacts…” The study also found that “wind turbine mitigation techniques for marine vessel radar have not been substantially investigated, implemented, matured or deployed.” Empire Wind is dangerously close to the flight paths for numerous airports including Newark Liberty, LaGuardia, JFK and the Joint Base and one of the largest shipping lanes in the world. Empire Wind poses unacceptable risks. Empire Wind threatens life and livelihoods at the Jersey Shore. Empire Wind is dangerous and flawed. Empire Wind must be stopped. Let’s all do all we can to stop Empire Wind. ### Contact: |