Off-shore Wind Farms Superior to Off-shore Drilling
On the same day that it was announced that the BP oil spill was leaking at a rate of 210,000 gallons a day – not 42,000, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced that the construction of Cape Wind would go forward and begin within the year. Of the hotly and long-debated (nine years) wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts Salazar stressed,
This is the final decision of the United States of America.
The remaining hurdles, which include logistical negotiations with the local utility company and a final decision from the Federal Aviation Administration, are likely to be overcome.
Costs for the project, some have estimated, will be as high as $1 billion. Cape Wind Associates has not disclosed its cost projections.
Cape Wind’s installation will provide 1,000 new jobs, and its successful completion will provide the local area (Cape Cod, Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard) with 75 percent of its energy needs, cutting emissions by an amount equivalent to taking 175,000 cars off the road. The wind farm will replace a coal-fired plant, the current power supply.
Opposition remains strong. Opponents claim the farm will be both an eyesore and inhibit boating and fishing activities. Its installation costs and the increased costs to households in this region are also cause for challenges.
Of the mitigating actions Secretary Ken Salazar detailed in his announcement yesterday, Audra Parker, President and CEO of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound said,
They’re absolutely trivial… The only effective mitigation is relocation to alternative site.
Despite these objections it is safe to say that the costs – especially the long term costs – will be far less than say, oil dependency.
The obstructions created by our dependency on foreign oil have been discussed at length. Alternatives, such as Cape Wind, have been explored and, around the country, are attracting investment at a higher rate. Off-shore drilling, however, is a poor alternative for a number of reasons, one of which stands out as the most critically important: it does nothing in the fight to reduce carbon emissions, which must be stemmed if we are to mitigate the effects of global warming. Climate change in itself is also a major security issue.
Perhaps the most recent and best example of just how damaging off-shore drilling can be is the disastrous oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico this month. One containment measure involves burning the oil, where not watered down, releasing elevated levels of carbon into the atmosphere. But much of the oil has mixed with the waters of the Gulf, and as the spill continues to spread, it threatens more ecosystems, coastal wildlife and livelihoods.
Bottom Line: Wind farms, eyesore or not, are a superior – and safer – source of energy than that produced by off-shore drilling.
