Clean Power from Ocean Winds

Now, wind developers are finding ways to place wind turbines even further out in deep waters, where wind potential is the greatest, using floating wind turbines.  Such a development could add significantly to the 11,400 megawatts (MW) of new wind development already planned in shallow waters by 2010, which by itself will provide clean energy to an additional 10 million people around the world.

The U.S. Department of Energy has assessed the offshore wind potential in the United States at over 900 gigawatts (GW), enough to meet the electric energy needs of the entire country on an average day.  Nearly 30% of that potential is located in the Mid-Atlantic Coast alone, enough to supply over 80 million homes and businesses with power.

Currently, there are two major offshore projects in the works in the United States: 1) a 140-MW project off of Long Island, New York, slated for completion in 2007; and 2) the Cape Wind project off Nantucket Sound in Massachusetts, a 420-MW project slated for completion in 2008, capable of producing power to serve the needs of several hundred thousand people. 

So what are we waiting for?

It is not like wind development is too costly. Costs for wind energy are on a downward trend as the technology improves, while fossil fuel prices have been extremely volatile and rising in recent years.  In fact, due to the surging prices of natural gas for home-heating costs, customers who purchase wind energy in Denver, Colorado will actually save $4.11 per month on their energy bills this winter.

We have the technology, no question.  We certainly are capable of drilling for oil far offshore on floating oil rigs, so we can install wind turbines in the same place.  Turbines are getting larger and more efficient, with less impact on the environment.  In addition, offshore wind farms provide fewer development hurdles than onshore wind farms, because the turbines can be larger and more easily transported, without having to face construction and zoning regulations that hinder development onshore. 

In addition, wind turbines have the support of the American population and the majority of the U.S. Senate. Survey after survey has shown that the American people support wind energy over fossil fuel sources.  In 2005, the Senate narrowly passed legislation that would require major electric companies to gradually increase sales of power generated from renewable sources to 10 percent by 2020.  Several Republicans crossed over and joined the Democrats in supporting the measure. 

Unfortunately, this legislation failed to make the final energy bill.  Instead, Republican leaders in the House of Representatives pushed it aside to protect the subsidies and tax breaks promised to oil and coal companies. So don?t listen to Republicans when they blame environmentalists for restricting wind development, because they are the ones who have prevented a successful demonstration project of this technology.  Perhaps they know that such a project could change the minds of local communities, and perhaps even the few environmentalists who still oppose offshore wind power. 

Interestingly, it is Republican Senators Lamar Alexander from Tennessee and John Warner from Virginia who have emerged as the biggest critics of wind power development.  Earlier this year, Warner and Alexander joined forces to try and limit wind development, calling it ?unreliable? and ?puny.? Fortunately for the American people, their wrong-headed amendments to restrict wind power development and to cut funding failed miserably in the Senate. 

Why do Alexander and Warner oppose Cape Wind?  Perhaps the fact that Alexander owns property in Nantucket, while John Warner has family members that own property on Cape Cod, has something to do with it?  Alexander and Warner have complained about Cape Wind's visual impacts, even though the turbines will resemble little more than toothpicks from most vantage points.  In line with his opposition to Cape Wind, Warner recently proposed legislation to hinder the project by mandating a study of how offshore wind energy projects might affect military radar systems.  Warner did this even though previous studies have already shown radar interference not to be a problem. 

In addition to Cape Wind, for several years now there have been plans to build an enormous offshore wind farm off the coast of Smith Island, in the Chesapeake Bay.  Although the energy produced by these turbines would provide tens of thousands of Virginians with pollution-free energy with minimal impact on the surrounding environment, this project has unfortunately not been able to begin construction due to environmental uncertainty and political opposition.  This is a serious loss to citizens of Virginia who could be breathing easier and benefiting from the new jobs the project would create. 

Unlike the cynics and the manipulators in Congress, the progressive movement must be an advocate of environmental innovation in the 21st Century.  If the United States makes a commitment to pursue offshore wind power as it has pursued offshore oil drilling, in 50 years we can realistically provide clean electricity for the majority of Americans from clean ocean breezes.  This would be in addition to other renewable technologies such as solar and geothermal, as well as land-based wind power that already serves the needs of over two million American households. 

Personally, I?d rather have offshore wind turbines in the Chesapeake than offshore oilrigs, and I?d rather get my electric power from new wind farms instead of new coal-fired plants.  What we need is for people in this country to start speaking up for environmental and energy innovations, so that a clean and sustainable future can begin as soon as possible.

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