Governor Murphy joined with several other U.S governors in a letter to President Biden asking for dedicated Federal funding to support offshore wind development it's right now coming at a cost higher than the states can afford and the letters asking for federal support to offset costs that would otherwise be passed down to ratepayers but while Murphy pleads with federal leaders for more support Republican lawmakers in New Jersey are pleading with legislative leaders to push pause on offshore wind altogether I'm joined Now by Senator Anthony Buco to talk about the letter he recently sent to Senate President Nix Qatari Senator Buco thank you so much for being with us tonight now you and assemblyman John de Mayo recently sent a letter to Senate President Nick scatari assembly speaker Craig Coughlin asking for a moratorium on offshore wind development you're also calling for a special legislative session what kind of oversight would you like to see from from the legislative leadership here on this issue well look there's all kinds of red flags um being waived in regard to this industry and this offshore wind industry you know whether it's worsted telling uh New Jersey that they don't think they're ready to move forward yet they may have to put a pause on it themselves uh the governor recently sent a letter along with five other Democrat governors in the Northeast to the federal government asking for more help for this industry the red flags are all over the place and um instead of us taking a pause and taking a look at this and having the legislature involved in these discussions the BPU and the governor has been moving full steam ahead and what's going to happen here is that somebody's going to have to pay for this we already know that by giving worsted a bailout of a billion dollars that's going to have an impact on repairs well that Senator it's interesting you talk about the cost and it's an interesting point because as you said Governor Murphy joined with several other democratic Governors asking for the feds to really dedicate some funding for this so my question to you is if the federal government does back offshore wind development so that the cost no longer pass on to the ratepayer does that change it for you does that make this a more promising form of energy development look this money doesn't grow on trees somebody's got to pay for it so whether it's a grant given by the state of New Jersey or a grant given by the federal government uh our residents are going to end up paying the bill and usually it comes as a result of higher utility rates or higher taxes so one way or the other we're paying you know the government the governor likes to say he'd like the New Jersey to be the Hub of the offshore wind industry I hope we don't end up being the crash Zone you know that's where we're headed here without a little oversight and without pausing this um industry to see whether or not this is the right mix for an energy master plan senator in your letter you um you cited tourism and the impact on New Jersey's tourism economy what would you like the special legislative session to look at and is tourism a major part of that well I think we have to look at um what these windmills are going to look like from our beaches we have to look at the environmental impact it's causing uh not only for sea life but on the ground we need to look at whether or not uh it's cost effective to do this whether or not a completely electrified New Jersey is even possible we don't know if the infrastructure but we know that the infrastructure can't sustain it at this point how much is it going to cost you know how long is it going to take those are all the good questions that nobody seems to want to give the answers to yeah and instead you know like I said the governor wants to make New Jersey The Hub of this industry and I just hope it doesn't end up being come in the crash Zone Senator Buco thank you so much for sharing your thoughts important points you've raised thank you thank you