President Trump took the opportunity to
congratulate U.S. Rep Jeff Van Drew, an outspoken wind critic, on Truth Social.
(“The whales, which are dying in record numbers because of these wind scams,
are very happy tonight,” he wrote. “Way to go Jeff. The people of New
Jersey love you!”) Meanwhile, Michael Shellenberger, a popular figure on the
right who has been instrumental in fomenting distrust of wind operations, also declared the decision on X/Twitter a
“victory,” reminding his followers “This fight isn’t over. We still have other
wind energy projects to stop.”
Some New Jersey GOP interests signaled that
they intend to exploit offshore wind as a political issue far beyond this
month’s elections or the Orsted decision, eyeing the issue as a way to engage
voters in 2024. The Energy and Policy Institute, a watchdog group that first
caught the RSLC ad buy, also reported that a group called Fixing New Jersey
spent tens of thousands of dollars on Facebook and Google ads against offshore
wind. The group was founded, the Energy and Policy Institute noted, shortly
after Republican gubernatorial candidate Jack Ciattarelli lost to Phil Murphy
in 2021, with the Ciattarelli campaign’s political director serving as the
group’s executive director. After Orsted pulled its plans, Ciattarelli told his audience on Facebook, “We need to be
vigilant in protecting our Jersey shore. Vote Republican.”
So far, this strategy hasn’t actually won
elections. Not only did Gopal prevail over his Republican challenger, but
several other GOP candidates endorsed by anti-offshore wind groups lost their bids as Democrats retained control
of the state. Ramos-Busot thinks voters rejected the GOP’s vilification both of
offshore wind and Democrats’ other climate policies, like electric cars and
stoves. “What this race is telling us is that people at the shore, in [Gopal’s]
district, are either neutral towards offshore wind or support it—but they’re
not in opposition to it,” she said. “If that was the case, it would have shown
a different result.”