Tuesday March 12, 2024
Reading the website of Protect our Coast New Jersey, you would think it was created by persons concerned for the Shore and whales. However, the truth behind the primary funding against offshore wind development is more complicated than people who want to save whales (BTW, the first right whale killed off the coast this year was hit by a speeding boat – where are you, NOAA?)
Such groups are funded by Donors Trust, which has doled out more than $500 million to such groups as Heartland Institute, Cato, and other right-wing organizations. And there is a ton of fossil fuel money behind the so-called homeowners’ and tourist groups that oppose offshore wind development, whipped up into fear of losing their view.
This money sponsors speakers stating that renewables can’t save the planet, but of course, clean natural gas can. Fossil fuel money is pouring into New Jersey. Claiming that offshore wind turbines may have oil leaks, fossil fuel ignores its own offshore oil development. Behind the websites and pictures of beachgoers with signs is the money.
Prayer for the Day
Deliver us, good Lord, from those who fear the loss of money,
Those who claim they care for our world but do not;
Save us, O God, from the fraudulent hype of big oil,
Those who reap profits from our lack of understanding.
Hold us firm, Holy One, in our struggle to save our earth,
The one you have given us to care for and protect.
In the name of the One who walked among the lilies,
Even Christ Jesus our Lord, Amen.
Thoughts for the Day
We’ve been given a warning by science and a wake-up call by nature. It is time to heed them.
Bill McKibben, environmentalist
Wind and other clean, renewable energy will help end our reliance on fossil fuels and combat the severe threat that climate change poses to humans and wildlife alike.
Frances Beinecke, Natural Resources Defense Council
Sing to the Lord a new song, and praises to the end of the earth!
Let the sea roar and all that fills it, the coastlands and their inhabitants,
Let the desert and its towns lift up their voice, the villages the Kedar inhabits;
Let the inhabitants of Sela sing for joy, let them shout from the mountaintops.
Let them give glory to the Lord; and declare God’s praise in the coastlands
Isaiah 42: 10-12