Sign In or Create an Account.

By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy

Climate

Americans on the Coast Actually Love Offshore Wind, a New Poll Shows

The whales will be fine.

Wind turbines.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Last year, I got two kinds of stories about offshore wind in my inbox. One was about the industry’s struggle with inflation and higher interest rates. The other was about rampant claims that the industry was killing whales — an idea for which there is no evidence, and which was found to be spread by groups with ties to the fossil fuel industry.

But while both narratives have set the industry back to some extent, neither appears to have damaged public support for building wind farms in the ocean. Americans living on the coasts largely support offshore wind and want to see the industry continue to grow, according to a new poll.

The poll was conducted in November 2023 by Climate Nexus, a climate change strategic communications group, and Turn Forward, an offshore wind advocacy nonprofit that says it does not receive funding from wind farm developers.

A representative sample of 2,038 adults living in coastal counties along the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans and Gulf of Mexico were asked about their views of offshore wind. More than two-thirds responded that they support offshore wind farm construction, and 63% responded favorably when asked specifically whether they supported offshore wind farms near where they lived. Nearly 60% endorsed the U.S. government selling more leases to expand the industry’s development.

Public sentiment, for the most part, was positive across party lines. The majority of Republican respondents also said they supported offshore wind, both in general (57%), and near where they live (52%).

A more polarizing question was whether respondents preferred offshore wind development to expanding offshore oil and gas, with 71% of Democrats opting for wind but only 33% of Republicans. (26% of Republicans said they had no preference.)

One of the more intriguing parts of the poll tried to suss out what people had heard and read about offshore wind, and where they were getting information about the emerging industry. Local opposition groups like Protect Our Coast New Jersey have developed large followings on Facebook, where members share their fears that wind turbines will harm marine mammals, tourism, and property values — and also argue against the basic facts of climate change. Several grassroots groups, including Protect Our Coast New Jersey, have been found to have financial relationships with fossil fuel-funded think tanks like the Caesar Rodney Institute.

Conservative outlets like Fox News have also fueled the narrative that offshore wind development is killing whales. Media Matters, a media watchdog, found that Fox has “aired at least 54 segments suggesting that offshore wind development is causing whale deaths.” A report published last year by researchers at Brown University that mapped out the networks of anti-offshore wind groups in the U.S. suggested that social networks and conservative news outlets like Fox function as “a feedback loop of opposition and misinformation.”

According to the new poll, 53% of coastal Americans have received information about offshore wind on TV news, and 48% have seen posts about it on social media. Those were the two top sources of information, followed by newspapers, family and friends, and TV ads. But even so, most respondents — 56% — said that everything they have seen, read, or heard about offshore wind has been more positive than negative.

But while the poll may be a good temperature check on public sentiment, it doesn’t necessarily change some of the headwinds that offshore wind development faces. An earlier report from Columbia University researchers found that local opposition to renewable energy projects, including offshore wind projects, is growing. The report specifically documents instances where community groups have passed laws to block projects or filed lawsuits against developers or local officials.

There are currently four lawsuits pending in federal court against Vineyard Wind, a project that is already under construction, from a group called Nantucket Residents Against Turbines. In New Jersey, at least two communities passed resolutions last year calling on state and federal officials to impose a moratorium on offshore wind projects, citing whale deaths. And last October, a group called Protect Our Coast LINY celebrated a victory when New York Governor Kathy Hochul vetoed a bill that would have greenlit placing an offshore wind transmission cable under the sand in Long Beach, which the group had been fighting.

Even if the majority of coastal citizens support an American offshore wind industry, a vocal minority can still wield a lot of power to hold it back — especially when they have the backing of fossil fuel money.

Blue

You’re out of free articles.

Subscribe today to experience Heatmap’s expert analysis 
of climate change, clean energy, and sustainability.
To continue reading
Create a free account or sign in to unlock more free articles.
or
Please enter an email address
By continuing, you agree to the Terms of Service and acknowledge our Privacy Policy
Energy

The New Campaign to Save Renewables: Lower Electricity Bills

Defenders of the Inflation Reduction Act have hit on what they hope will be a persuasive argument for why it should stay.

A leaf and a quarter.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

With the fate of the Inflation Reduction Act and its tax credits for building and producing clean energy hanging in the balance, the law’s supporters have increasingly turned to dollars-and-cents arguments in favor of its preservation. Since the election, industry and research groups have put out a handful of reports making the broad argument that in addition to higher greenhouse gas emissions, taking away these tax credits would mean higher electricity bills, as well as the oft-cited increase in greenhouse gas emissions

The American Clean Power Association put out a report in December, authored by the consulting firm ICF, arguing that “energy tax credits will drive $1.9 trillion in growth, creating 13.7 million jobs and delivering 4x return on investment.”

Keep reading...Show less
Green
Politics

AM Briefing: A Letter from EPA Staff

On environmental justice grants, melting glaciers, and Amazon’s carbon credits

EPA Workers Wrote an Anonymous Letter to America
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Current conditions: Severe thunderstorms are expected across the Mississippi Valley this weekend • Storm Martinho pushed Portugal’s wind power generation to “historic maximums” • It’s 62 degrees Fahrenheit, cloudy, and very quiet at Heathrow Airport outside London, where a large fire at an electricity substation forced the international travel hub to close.

THE TOP FIVE

1. Trump issues executive order to expand critical mineral output

President Trump invoked emergency powers Thursday to expand production of critical minerals and reduce the nation’s reliance on other countries. The executive order relies on the Defense Production Act, which “grants the president powers to ensure the nation’s defense by expanding and expediting the supply of materials and services from the domestic industrial base.”

Keep reading...Show less
Yellow
Electric Vehicles

These States Are Still Pushing Public EV Charging Programs

If you live in Illinois or Massachusetts, you may yet get your robust electric vehicle infrastructure.

EV charging.
Heatmap Illustration/Getty Images

Robust incentive programs to build out electric vehicle charging stations are alive and well — in Illinois, at least. ComEd, a utility provider for the Chicago area, is pushing forward with $100 million worth of rebates to spur the installation of EV chargers in homes, businesses, and public locations around the Windy City. The program follows up a similar $87 million investment a year ago.

Federal dollars, once the most visible source of financial incentives for EVs and EV infrastructure, are critically endangered. Automakers and EV shoppers fear the Trump administration will attack tax credits for purchasing or leasing EVs. Executive orders have already suspended the $5 billion National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure Formula Program, a.k.a. NEVI, which was set up to funnel money to states to build chargers along heavily trafficked corridors. With federal support frozen, it’s increasingly up to the automakers, utilities, and the states — the ones with EV-friendly regimes, at least — to pick up the slack.

Keep reading...Show less
Green