PODCAST: Offshore Wind and Long Beach Island: What You Need to Know

Welcome to the GSI Briefing podcast – hosted by Regina Egea, President of the Garden State Initiative.

In previous episodes, we’ve looked at the broad implications of the state’s Energy Master Plan which outlines our state’s goals and direction to reduce carbon emissions. This plan, like many other states, is causing consternation about the pace and cost of our transition to using more renewable power sources which rely on newer and generally more expensive sources of power.

In this edition, we will take a look at one of the power sources in which this Administration is investing heavily with both tax and ratepayers’ money – the installation of wind turbines off our New Jersey shores. To discuss this issue, we welcome Dr. Bob Stern, the leader of Save Long Beach Island, a coalition of citizens who are bringing greater scrutiny and demanding more transparency of the state’s plan to install wind turbines off the coast of their beach community.

Dr. Stern, a resident of Beach Haven on LBI, is an engineer who previously managed the office in the U.S Department of Energy that oversaw the protection of the environment as it relates to energy programs and projects.

Bob Stern is currently the President of a 4000-person organization called Save Long Beach Island Inc., which as the name indicates, has concerns over the offshore wind project proposed there. He has a doctorate degree in engineering and applied mathematics, and previously managed the environmental reviews for energy projects undertaken by the U.S. Department of Energy. He also managed air quality planning activities at the New Jersey DEP which involved regional air pollutant transport issues similar to those found in global warming. He is trying to use that experience to get sensible placement of offshore wind turbines.