Emotions buffet NJ coastal wind project in peek at US future

By WAYNE PARRY
Associated Press

OCEAN CITY, N.J. (AP) — If one small hearing about a single electrical cable coming ashore in a Jersey Shore town is any indication, emotions are blowing strong about the offshore wind energy in the U.S. That’s particularly true in New Jersey, where a gold rush is underway for the right to lease tracts of the ocean floor for wind energy projects involving thousands of turbines. A hearing Monday night involving just one power line went on for two hours, with emotional opponents outnumbering supporters, and many saying wind energy is not the solution to climate change. A minority of speakers defended wind power as necessary to help the U.S. stop burning fossil fuels that contribute to climate change.