Offshore Wind Opposition

Written By Lynn Goodwin

A friend recently reminded me about this book which is as relevant today as it's ever been. Rachel Carson has been inspiring me since my college years.  Returning to her work I am reminded that it is always appropriate to admire and to speak up for nature. 

I remember when I first read Silent Spring and the impact it had on my life and life choices.  To not just enjoy nature, but to strive to protect it.  When Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, her views were hardly popular.  She was also criticized for not adopting the views of “responsible, broadly knowledgeable scientists''.

Caring about our natural world, and specifically the ocean, should not be controversial.  Speaking about it should not make anyone feel uncomfortable.  It is not policial, it is about protecting our ocean which sustains us physically, emotionally, and spiritually. 

It is okay to ask questions and demand satisfactory answers when it comes to offshore wind - the thousand turbines that are going up off of our coast. 

It is okay to question what is being pushed through under the catch words - climate change, green, clean, and renewable energy.  Every action given this label needs to have the specific data behind it to prove it to be so. 

It is okay to ask the questions that thousands of us have but have not been answered regarding the specific environmental impact occurring at the hands of the foreign companies that are our controlling energy source.

My short list of unanswered questions around Offshore Wind (OSW) are: 

  • Where is the data to support that the turbines will improve climate change? 

  • Who will be responsible for decommissioning once they arrive at the end of their 15 year lifespan?  The foreign companies putting them up have been legally relieved of this responsibility. 

  • How much energy do the five Block Island wind turbines produce?

  • How specifically is OSW "green" and "clean" energy? From destroying forests in South America in order to build them to shipping them here and installing them actually involves a very high carbon emission cost.

  • Can we explore other options that are low or even zero carbon emissions?

  • What is the effect of EMFs from the cables that will be running through our communities?  What sorts of problems can this cause on the health of marine species and on human life?

  • What about the impacts of the sounds and vibrations from them on both marine life, bird life, and our life?

Information that has been made public by BOEM (Bureau of Energy Management) or by the windmill companies themselves.

  • There is no measurable impact of OSW on global warming.

  • Only 1/18 of the energy from these projects off of our coast is going to RI - the rest goes to NY, CT, and MA.

  • Every wind company installing the turbines is actually a fossil fuel company such as: BP, Danish oil and Natural Gas, and Shell.  Big Oil is Big Wind and they've funded RI institutions with millions of dollars. 

  • Block Island does not receive its energy from the 5 directly off its coast.

  • The EPA has had to give special permission around carbon emissions for the project because they will pollute way over permitted standards. 

  • Part of the process of running wind turbines - which actually need electrically to run, will entail ...

  • Each turbine will cost $150M/per turbine to install.

  • Their life span is around 15 years and the cost to decommission will most likely be as costly as the installation. 

  • Our electricity costs will go up - OSW companies admit that we should expect a major adverse impact on economics. 

  • BOEM advises that they will alter temperature stratification of the ocean and impact ocean currents. 

  • OSW is not clean, not green. Each blade is impregnated with BPA, during a storm, such microplastics will be released into the ocean during turbulent winds.

  • Each substation brings in 8-10 million gallons of ocean water daily, adds chlorine to it, heats it to 90 degrees, and discharges back into the ocean in order to cool cables.  This happens every day. This process kills everything that gets sucked up into it including plankton, larvae, fish eggs. 

Do the benefits of OSW outweigh the adverse effects?  Where is the data showing that wind turbines will improve climate change? 

When someone asks how OSW is a good thing, the answer cannot be asserted with a simple "climate change".   That does not answer the question. 

I cannot imagine how such an invasive industrialization of our oceans would not adversely impact the ecosystem in some way. Sacrificing our oceans is too high a risk without actual proof of a positive impact on climate change.

Our ocean is our most precious resource and I hope we never take it for granted. I hope that as Rhode Islanders we continue to have more conversations around OSW and demand clear answers. 

Below are some resources to learn more about OffShore Wind Energy.

www.green-oceans.org

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SzIU5Y85_vE

https://www.boem.gov

https://www.linkedin.com/posts/robert-bryce-3b5a5b4_rightwhale-us-newyork-activity-7189361589190299648-lbtk

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2018/10/large-scale-wind-power-has-its-down-side/

https://protectourcoastnj.com/

Cape Wind Info | Cape May County, NJ - Official Website (capemaycountynj.gov) 

Lynn Goodwin https://www.elementsofexperience.com