CFACT’s president and co-founder, Craig Rucker, was invited to testify to a hearing hosted by the New Jersey state Senate Republicans investigating the reasons behind the increase in whale and dolphin deaths along the Jersey Shore. This comes after CFACT’s coalition efforts to bring awareness to whale deaths via a plane banner and billboard near Atlantic City brought significant media and government attention.
The full hearing can be seen here, and Rucker’s testimony begins at the 1:07:00 mark.
Many New Jersey residents are very concerned about the deaths of the whales and dolphins. Various experts were called upon to give their piece of advice regarding the issue, including CFACT’s president. Rucker focused on the faulty scientific arguments Biden’s wind power plan is based on regarding climate change, which Rucker explained haven’t changed much since the global warming narrative first appeared decades ago, then explained the very obvious impact the loud acoustic testing for setting the bases of the turbines has on the mammals.
“It’s our contention that the reckless net zero energy policies that are currently being pursued by the Biden Administration as well as certain governors and agencies at both the national and state level are doing irreparable harm to our natural world, and they should be halted until further research be undertaken to assess their impacts,” Rucker said.
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CFACT’s Craig Rucker speaks during the virtual hearing (top right) while Senator Testa takes notes (top left), fellow panelist Bob Stern (bottom left) listens in, and Senate GOP official Brad Schnure (bottom right) moderates.
“President Biden, like his predecessor Barack Obama, has made clear he believes a climate crisis is an ‘existential threat’ to the planet. He’s undertaken what he calls a ‘whole of government approach’ to tackling it. Now, my organization CFACT has participated as a recognized NGO at virtually every major United Nations climate gathering since the 1990s. And full disclosure, we would dispute the President’s assertions of doom and gloom and the urgency to act with reckless abandon, in pursuing so-called ‘green energy,’ such as offshore wind.”
Rucker went on to explain that the sound level of the acoustic testing and drilling needed to install the offshore wind turbines is very similar to that used by the Navy, which has already been determined to cause damage and harm to marine mammals that depend on sound and sonar to communicate.
“The decibel level of the sonar testing for the offshore wind, where you are at [New Jersey], is not far removed from that which the Navy used, often reaching near 200 decibels. The monopile driving to place the wind turbines into the ground can also reach that level or higher as well as the operational sound of giant wind turbines once they’re up and running according to our research. This presents a clear and present danger to all whale species, especially the Right Whale, of which there are only about 350 or so that remain in the wild.”
Senator Michael Testa had a question for both Rucker and other panelists regarding the greenhouse gas impact of the projects.
“Have you seen…any studies of how much of a positive impact this project would have in the elimination of greenhouse gases,” Senator Testa asked. “I’ve been given a lot of information from constituents and from other concerned citizens that are not within my legislative district that they’ve seen studies that say the ultimate positive impact that this project would have if fully built out is actually zero.”
‘We are looking into that issue, we have a project called the ‘Net Zero Reality Coalition’ which is actually formed for that purpose to look at what projects like this are doing,” Rucker said. “We have’t derived an answer for this specific project as of yet, however, it is a contention of the scientists and researchers we have on that, that actually it might increase green house gases…”
It is CFACT’s hope that this is the first of several hearings covering this important issue to bring media and government attention to the plight of not just the whales, but of ratepayers and fishermen as well.
Several prominent media hits mentioned the hearing, including the Associated Press, The Press of Atlantic City, the New Jersey Globe, and NJ 101.5 online.
Should additional hearings be scheduled, CFACT will be happy to participate and post the updates here to cfact.org for evaluation and debate.
Meanwhile, CFACT will do everything it can to bring awareness to the issue through activism, media hits, and of course, if necessary, legal action.