by EXCLUSIVE: A New Jersey lawmaker blasted Orstedt, a green energy giant, on Friday after the company refused to attend his hearing on the environmental impact of offshore wind.
Representative Jeff Van Drew, RN.J., noted that Orsted, a Denmark-based power company worth more than $240 billion, has been absent from the ongoing review of the effects of offshore wind on wildlife, particularly endangered species of whales, despite the fact that he has an office located in his district. The company is involved in several offshore wind projects along the East Coast, including a 2,200 megawatt development along the Van Drew area coastline.
The lawmaker directed his ire at the company shortly after hosting an on-site hearing Thursday with stakeholders and experts in Wildwood, New Jersey. Orsted’s representatives declined an invitation to testify at the event.
“I invited Orsted to testify at the hearing with weeks notice. They have an office located in my district, yet they refused the opportunity to appear before our panel of expert witnesses,” Van Drew told Fox News Digital.
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Representative Jeff Van Drew, RN.J., in 2019 on Capitol Hill. (AP Photo/J. Scott Applewhite, file)
“Orstedt claimed to have had a ‘comprehensive, public process,’ yet I know my district and it would be very difficult to find anyone from our community to our stakeholders who believe they have engaged in that process.
“So it’s no surprise that they refused to appear because they don’t have the answers that we require,” Van Drew added. “The federal government is allowing these offshore wind companies to bypass in-depth analyzes of the long-term impacts of offshore wind farms in order to advance this administration’s Green New Deal policies.
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“It is becoming increasingly clear that [Bureau of Ocean Energy Management (BOEM)] and [National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)] they are in collusion with these companies and they won’t be able to hide forever.”
Van Drew organized the hearing – which was also attended by Reps. Chris Smith, RN.J., Andy Harris, R-Md. and Scott Perry, R-Pa. – in response to a recent unprecedented increase in whale deaths on the East Coast. According to federal data, 14 humpback whales and six North Atlantic right whales have been discovered dead this year alone with the most beached in New Jersey and Virginia.
The Block Island Wind Farm is pictured off the coast of New York on April 16, 2021. (Mark Harrington/Newsday RM via Getty Images)
In the wake of the deaths, Van Drew, Smith, dozens of local officials and several environmental groups called on the federal government to issue a moratorium on offshore wind development, arguing that agencies like NOAA and BOEM must first a more extensive environmental impact review before massive turbine construction projects go ahead.
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“All of us up here believe that serious, aggressive and independent analysis of the impacts of these ocean-changing projects is so dire,” Smith said at Thursday’s hearing. “The approval process for the wind farm was shoddy at best, leaving many serious questions unanswered and unanswered about the extremely harmful environmental impacts on marine life.”
Federal officials, clean energy advocacy groups and Orsted, however, have brushed off the criticism, saying there is no evidence that wind farm construction is contributing to the rising number of whale deaths. In a press briefing earlier this year, NOAA and BOEM officials noted that an “unusual mortality event” had been reported for humpbacks and right whales years ago.
A humpback whale beached on Long Island, New York, where it was discovered dead last month. (AP Photo/Seth Wenig)
But the U.S. is on pace this year for 67 dead whales and 29 dead right whales, according to federal data. The previous record for humpback deaths was set in 2017, when 34 were discovered dead, and the highest number of right whale deaths, 31, was reported in the same year.
“Orsted does not believe a moratorium on offshore wind development is warranted, and our company is committed to helping New Jersey prepare for a clean energy future by responsibly developing a local and sustainable offshore wind industry,” said Maddy Urbish, the company’s CEO. The New Jersey-based chief of government affairs and policy told Fox News Digital in a statement.
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Urbish added that the federal government has thoroughly reviewed Ocean Wind 1, part of the company’s wind project off the coast of Atlantic City. He said BOEM’s 1,408-page draft environmental analysis of the project includes 1,200 cited reports from sources such as the U.S. Coast Guard, U.S. Navy and local county, in addition to peer-reviewed experts, and consulted more than 100 stakeholders on the edit, process.
“We have been transparent about our plans and remain diligent in educating the public, local communities, commercial fisheries and stakeholders throughout the development of the project,” he continued. “We will continue to answer questions and provide information about our proposed projects as they go through the federal and state review process.”
