During the past 15 months, this Blue Ribbon Panel has identified myriad costs and benefits related to development of offshore wind turbine facilities in New Jersey’s coastal waters. Because of the lack of basic scientific data, however, this Panel cannot characterize the appropriateness of offshore wind development for this state’s coastal waters. Nonetheless, this Panel has found that New Jersey is facing a serious and growing energy crisis that must be addressed. New Jersey must assume a leadership role and set an example of responsible development of energy technologies that are reliable, renewable, and low-or zero-emission.

"Offshore wind power development has potential to generate a series of quantifiable environmental benefits. These benefits appear significant in both absolute and monetized terms, but are arguably marginal relative to the scale of existing energy production and emissions affecting New Jersey's environmental and natural resources. Offshore wind power development also presents a series of potential environmental costs. In the absence of a developed literature, the scale of many of these costs are not readily quantified or monetized, making the nature of these impacts highly uncertain and necessitating additional research." (page 70)

New Jersey Audubon Society (NJAS) and its 20,000 members generally support environmentally-responsible renewable energy sources, such as wind power, photovoltaic cells, geothermal and hydro-fuel cells. Because traditional energy sources contribute to global climate change, habitat change and degradation, smog pollution, mercury contamination in our waterways, and radioactive waste, NJAS recognizes the importance of developing emission-free sources of energy. However, we are concerned about the potential impacts of these developing technologies on wildlife, and natural habitats.