Thread by @RobTaber

We should talk about the weird GOP astroturfing around whales 🐳 and wind 💨 that's going on in New Jersey.

First - yes, Marjorie Taylor Greene and Sean Hannity are part of this.

While it would be easy to roll our eyes at MTG claiming "wind farms are killing whales," this is getting respectability-washed by other GOP congressmen - notably Chris Smith and Jeff Van Drew of New Jersey.

patch.com/new-jersey/poi…

Things got ~awkward~ at a recent #WorldWhaleDay 🐳 "Save the Whales" rally hosted by @CleanOcean that Reps. Smith and Van Drew hosted.

(I note that one rally organizer has a spate of small WinRed donations, while most Clean Ocean Action staff donate to Dems or not at all.)

.@CleanOcean's Facebook ad library tells an interesting story:

Anti-pipeline / anti-plastic stuff across early 2020.

And then a webinar on potential impacts of wind in mid-2020

facebook.com/ads/library/?a…

Here's a write-up of that webinar. I note that the speaker isn't an ecologist, but rather an environmental lawyer with a political/poli sci background.

Still pretty measured!

srhub.org/2020/07/29/win…

But there's another group that's entered the local fray: "Protect Our Coast - NJ." They are, shall we say, less transparent AND less measured. The rally organizer with the WinRed donations joined the "Protect Our Coast" Facebook group a month ago.

Not only does the website not include any staff, board members, or street addresses, the text itself is hilarious. "Photoshopped." "Debatably linked." And yet we're supposed to be scared of turbines.

But happens when you go to donate to "Protect Our Coast - NJ"? Turns out the group is a front for the Caesar Rodney Institute, which according to SourceWatch is a right-wing pressure group in Delaware and a member of the State Policy Network.

I mean, the presence of not one but two GOP Congressmen at a "save our coast" rally could've been a clue. 🙃

It's worth noting that the coalition of New Jersey news outlets that run NJ.com aren't falling for this. But...

nj.com/opinion/2023/0…

Jeff Van Drew is using it to push for a /national/ moratorium on offshore wind.

vandrew.house.gov/media/press-re…

Chris Smith is going a less-direct route, trying to tangle these projects up in red tape until they can be killed.

chrissmith.house.gov/news/documents…

Here in North Carolina, we went through bans on wind development for years that the GOP tried to blame on the military (yes, really). They're now trying to fearmonger over blackouts that were caused by [checks notes] gas and coal.

Let me conclude with a slide from that @CleanOcean webinar. Offshore wind has the potential to consistently serve major popular centers, mitigating climate change + boosting national competitiveness.

Don't let oil-funded, GOP-aligned naysayers send us into a panic.

And here's Sarah with the biology behind what's actually going on with whales. 🐋