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Stockton University’s William J. Hughes Center for Public Policy is out with a new poll that finds support for the construction of offshore wind farms off the New Jersey coast has fallen dramatically over the past four years, especially in shore towns.

According to the survey, which Stockton released on Sept. 28, more state residents still support offshore wind than oppose it – with 50% in favor, 33% opposed, and 16% undecided. But those results mark a 30-percentage point drop in support from a poll Stockton released in September 2019 – which found 80% of adult New Jersey residents in favor of offshore wind farms.

A notable tidbit from that September 2019 poll was that 77% of shore residents supported offshore wind. That sentiment has, of course, shifted dramatically as the issue has become a political controversy with an upcoming election as local community activists and many Republican lawmakers and leaders have gone on the offensive against the project, especially amid a rash of whale and dolphin deaths. Proponents of offshore wind say the deaths are not linked to the early ocean floor mapping work – pointing to federal agencies that concur with that assertion. Critics have also raised concerns about potential sightlines, noise, and other complications that could impact local shore communities and their economies.

The shift is reflected in Thursday’s poll as just 33% of coastal area respondents now say they are in favor of offshore wind farms.

“When the concept of wind farms moved from abstract policy considerations to preparing for actual construction, many residents said, ‘Not in my backyard, or at least not off my beach,’” said John Froonjian, director of the Hughes Center. “That’s especially true along the coast, where wind farms have been the focus of protests and legislative election campaigns.”

Some other toplines of the poll, which surveyed nearly 600 New Jersey adults from Sept. 16-26, 2023.

• 72% still expressed concern about climate change – with 51% saying it is very important to combat it and 21% saying it is somewhat important
• Just one in four say climate change was not very important (9%) or not important at all (17%) for the state to make those efforts
• 52% say renewable energy sources such as wind will improve the climate – versus 9% saying it would worsen conditions and 28% saying it would have no effect
• 71% said turbines would affect ocean views a great deal (34%) or a little (37%) while 16% say it would have no effect
• 68% feel that wind turbines would affect marine life a great deal (44%) or a little (24%)
• On shore tourism – 27% felt it would be affected a great deal, 28% said a little, while 37% see no impact on tourism
• On benefits – including 45% local job opportunities, 39% lower home energy costs, 35% improved reliability of electric power.
• However, 48% opposed giving tax breaks to companies building the offshore wind farms while 39% supported the tax breaks and 12% were unsure
• Respondents were evenly split about who should have the authority to approve offshore wind farms – with 41% saying the state, 42% saying the municipalities and 15% unsure

“On every question, residents of shore communities were more negative about wind energy than people living elsewhere in New Jersey,” said Alyssa Maurice, Hughes Center research associate.

The poll follows a similar trend from an August Monmouth University poll that found just over half of residents (54%) in favor of developing wind farms versus 40% opposed – a sharp drop from a 2019 Monmouth poll on the subject when favorability stood at 76%.

The full poll results can be found here.