The article positions Save Long Beach Island — the nonprofit behind the lawsuit — as a small grassroots group of residents.
But dig a little deeper and you'll find that there's much more to this story.
Conversation
Last summer, Caesar Rodney Institute (CRI), a little-known think tank in Delaware, issued a press release about one of their new programs.
CRI is a part of the State Policy Network, a group of think tanks that receive millions of dollars from fossil fuel companies.
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CRI receives funding from fossil fuel trade groups like the American Fuel & Petrochemical Association.
The think tank also receives funding from Donors Trust, the “dark money ATM of the conservative movement.”
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In the press release, CRI announced they had raised $75,000 for a new legal fund.
The purpose of the fund was to support resident lawsuits against offshore wind projects.
One of the groups to receive money was Save Long Beach Island.
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Reuters didn't mention this in their story. But they weren't alone.
and I found 28 news stories about Save Long Beach Island.
None of them mention Caesar Rodney Institute or the legal fund.
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Instead many of these stories spread false claims made by the resident groups.
In May, Asbury Park Press — the third largest newspaper in New Jersey — ran a story with this headline: "Could offshore wind turbines blow away Long Beach Island tourism?"
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The story cites a study conducted by Save Long Beach Island showing that tourism would fall by a staggering 50% as a result of the new wind farms.
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The story doesn't mention that in 2019 researchers at the University of Rhode Island studied the impacts of offshore wind on tourism.
They analyzed empirical data from the country's first offshore wind farm.
Their conclusion: the wind farm resulted in more tourism, not less.
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In addition to misleading readers, this poor coverage creates more opposition to offshore wind projects.
It also funnels local residents to the nonprofits’ websites and Facebook pages, which routinely share misinformation about clean energy.
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Decarbonizing America’s electric grid and economy will require support from people in every community in the country.
But letting the fossil fuel industry shape the narrative is a sure way to turn communities of supporters into groups of passionate opponents.
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Later this week, I plan to publish another story in my series on clean energy opposition and misinformation.
Subscribe to my newsletter below to get that in your inbox.
Or if you think Twitter will still be around by then, you can follow me here.
