U.S. Senate Candidate Andy Kim Comes to Long Beach Island to Talk About…

Kim, who kept mum on the topic of most interest to N.J. coastal area residents during his LBI visit, now calls offshore wind a “national security priority” despite concerns about radar interference.

Rep. Andy Kim, Democratic candidate for the U.S. Senate, addresses voters in Ship Bottom, N.J. Photo Linda Bonvie

On September 5^th Democratic Congressman Andy Kim, a candidate to replace now-former Democratic U.S. Sen. Bob Menendez in the upcoming election, visited Long Beach Island.

Kim, who currently represents New Jersey’s 3^rd Congressional District, an area that now covers inland communities in Burlington, Mercer, and Monmouth counties, gave a 35-minute monologue that conspicuously avoided anything to do with two humongous pending offshore wind projects, which are perhaps the most talked about and pressing issue to shore communities.

From a press release about his campaign travels that day, we learned that Kim conducted a Q&A with seniors in Toms River and an “ice cream social” where he “listened to the concerns of students…” But when it came to his Ship Bottom Firehouse visit, Kim didn’t solicit any questions or concerns from the crowd of around 150. He did mention the beach, however, related to a four-minute visit he had made to it that day.

One of those in attendance at the Kim firehouse stopover was Dr. Bob Stern, president of Save LBI, a grassroots non-partisan group that has filed several legal actions outlining how the Atlantic Shores wind projects violate numerous federal, state, and environmental laws. If constructed, turbines will be a mere nine miles offshore from LBI at their closest point.

Stern, who told Kim during the selfie meet-and-greet following the event that Save LBI had been attempting with emails and calls to arrange a short meeting with the candidate about issues related to the proposed Atlantic Shores build, was directed by the congressman to one of his assistants. But her overheard promise to “contact” the group also failed to materialize, according to Stern.

Curious to know what Kim’s official position might currently be on the large-scale offshore wind turbines that will affect a good many of his constituents should he succeed in representing the entire state of New Jersey for the next six years, this reporter subsequently contacted his campaign.

The statement it issued after several days oddly shifted the purported need for these projects from “clean, reliable and renewable energies” he had previously referenced to “a national security priority…” for the U.S. to be “energy independent.” Kim, it should be noted, first entered Congress with a background in the national security sector.  (The full statement is at the end of this blog).

Perhaps if Kim had been more open to meeting with the opponents of these offshore wind plans, he might have been informed that the 200 turbines proposed by Atlantic Shores may indeed affect national security – but not for the better.

In a document prepared for Atlantic Shores and included in its required Construction and Operations Plan, an independent consulting company utilizing Department of Defense tools on an FAA analysis website, stated that “Impacts to air defense and homeland security radar are both highly likely and likely.”

The report also found that for Atlantic City Airport Surveillance Radar (ASR), all of the proposed turbines “will be within line-of-sight of and will interfere with this radar site…”

For the Gibbsboro Air Route Surveillance Radar (ARSR), which is a long-range radar utilized by the US Air Force and the FAA, the majority of turbines will also “be within line-of-sight of and will interfere with this radar site…”

Without “mitigation,” the report states, the effects “due to clutter will include a partial loss of primary target detection and a number of false primary targets over and in the immediate vicinity of the proposed WTGs (wind turbine generators) within line-of-sight.”

As far as making us “energy independent” and not “vulnerable to global shocks,” Kim might possibly be surprised to learn that China dominates the market for the rare earth minerals indispensable in the operation of wind turbines. China also maintains the “world’s biggest wind turbine production capacity,” according to Reuters.

Other “shocks” Kim may have been made aware of include those of consumers when faced with ever-increasing electric bills, as wind is known to be the costliest method of generating electricity. Another sticker shock comes from the numerous subsidies provided to mostly foreign developers and supported by taxpaying Americans. Then, too, calling offshore wind a way to “secure energy needs” is a bit baffling, as the energy produced would be a mere drop in the power bucket added to the “generation fuel mix” in our electrical grid system, which is supported mostly by gas and nuclear. And that’s not even to mention that the wind doesn’t always blow on schedule.

Kim’s statement concludes by stressing the need to “ensure that we secure our energy needs while preserving our environment and tourism” —two of the areas that many coastal residents and businesses fear will be most severely impacted by the construction and operation of these huge industrial installations.

Perhaps the best opportunity for Kim to have discussed the need “to work with shore communities” regarding these offshore wind projects before the election would have been his first – and possibly only – visit with residents of the New Jersey coast at which he noticeably avoided the issue altogether.

Andy Kim’s statement on offshore wind

"I think it’s a national security priority for the United States to be as energy independent as possible and not be vulnerable to global shocks. New Jersey needs to do its part, and offshore wind is an important part of that answer. I want to see our nation lead the energy innovation of the future, and I’m excited for the construction and energy jobs that offshore wind will create in New Jersey. Our state needs to work with shore communities and others to ensure that we secure our energy needs while preserving our environment and tourism." - Congressman Andy Kim.