As writers of recent letters dissect the economics of offshore wind, let’s remind ourselves that we certainly cannot continue as is, that is by using the nonrenewable fossil fuels of coal and oil and gas. Renewable energy, like wind and solar, is critical to life on earth, for humans and all the plants and animals with which we share the world.
Although fossil fuels have helped humanity advance for over a century, their use has come at great cost. Air and water pollution jeopardizes the health of humans, of all life. We’ve seen, especially lately, how the rise of carbon dioxide from the burning of fossil fuels, and the release of methane and other greenhouse gases have led to the extraordinary warming of the world. Everywhere, ice is melting, oceans are rising, and extreme weather, including worldwide droughts and downpours and energy-intense storms, now prevails; costs are unprecedented in terms of property damage in the billions and in the extraordinary loss of life.
Our most thoughtful path forward is to respond to climate change, to that which has been well documented by over 2,000 of the world’s leading climatologists, by fully embracing the use of renewables like wind and solar (and through conservation, energy efficiency, recycling, etc.). Jobs, certainly, are there, as is the opportunity to lead the world in production of all that’s related to renewable energy. Too, let’s appreciate the economic contribution of nature, of ecosystem services, estimated to be over $33 trillion, twice the world’s GNP (Costanza 1997). As any thoughtful economic assessment of renewable energy will reveal, the overall costs are minimal (e.g. as viewed from shore, a wind turbine 17 miles away is about the size of your thumbnail, about what Cape May looks like from Cape Henlopen), and the benefits to all life are many (e.g., fish and life lower on the food chain thrive at the turbine foundations), for our generation and for those who follow.
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