Offshore wind positives ignored

Editor,

On the issue of offshore wind for Ocean City, each person’s viewpoint is colored by a personal agenda or individual experience. It might be the lens of business and economics, tourism, the environment and ecosystems, climate change, local livelihoods, etc. The dominant theme of local opinion has been driven by a culture of negativism and fear, so that any positive arguments have been obscured or silenced.

There is an ongoing need to highlight the many irrefutable benefits of offshore wind power that have been mainly ignored. It is time for everyone to look at the long view, not the short-sighted view — the facts, not the emotions.

There are certain truths that we need to pay attention to:

• Maryland, and the Eastern Shore specifically, consumes five times the amount of power than it produces. There is a growing need to import electrical energy. Wind and solar power offer viable, sustainable options. Soon there will be a shortfall of electicity to meet the needs of residents and businesses.
• The energy grid is fragile. It will need to be reinforced to accommodate expansion.
• The population is steadily increasing with more housing developments and condo units popping up in proximity to highly sought beaches.
• Cutting down on the use of fossil fuels will help to reduce emissions of carbon monoxide and slow the urgent threat of climate change and the resultant rise in water levels.

Coupled with those facts is some more information that has not been readily put forth by the naysayers, some of the favorable ways the offshore wind operations are regulated:

• To protect whales, there are strict mitigating guidelines for wind power developers. On a construction site, safety boats patrol a radius around a construction site watching for whales. When the monopiles are initially being driven in, it is only at 5% of capacity with bubbles and sound vibrations creating a warning to whales. The pile-driving ramps up slowly so that whales have a chance to get acclimated and avoid the site.
• In the construction crew, there is a safety officer on board to watch out for marine mammals and shut operations down when they are in the area.
• Yes, the occasional whale or other mammal may wash up on a beach, but that has always been the case way before there was offshore wind. (Ironically, claims were made of wind turbines killing whales in the Ocean City area before any construction started!) Most whale deaths are due to collision with ships or high-speed sportfishing boats. During the migratory season from October to April, the speed limit for boats going to and from the construction site is 10 mph, while there is no limit on sportfishing boats that can cruise at over 40 knots and burn 200+ gallons of fuel per hour.
• Research has showed that wind farms don’t appear to harm migratory birds or fish. In fact, the Block Island platforms have created a habitat for mussels and barnacles and attract more fish (and more fishermen). Nor have they been a hazard to navigation.In Block Island, Rhode island, there are five wind generators three miles offshore. Rather than being met as a threat, harm, or eyesore, tour vans from the island stop to let their tourists view the graceful structures gently generating electricity, which supplies the whole island on average with the needed fuel. Fishing charter boats take their clients out to the reef that has formed around the construction site, now a habitat attracting fish. The wind generators have become a tourist attraction rather than a detriment. The fact is tourism has not been hurt in Block Island or anywhere there are wind turbines. Furthermore, the island residents’ fuel bills have gone down considerably.

Clearly, more clean energy is needed and fossil fuel production needs to be cut. It is disturbing that Ocean City and Worcester County officials have turned a blind eye to these facts and have capitalized on emotional fear-producing arguments that are short-sighted and ultimately destructive. We invite them to be more proactive and problem-solving and work with government officials to offer better suggestions than the “Just Say NO mentality.” We need to take the long view, not the short view, to preserve our lifestyle and community. Will we be able to say that we are making the next generation proud and protected?

In the early stages of our democracy (1795) Edmund Burke gave us our motto to stand for: “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

Monty and Sara Lewis
Berlin