Offshore wind holds promise for all of New England
From The Day, New London, CT
Block Island, R.I. — As the gentle sea breeze kept the blades steadily spinning, a boatload of labor and environmental advocates sidled up to the huge steel machines they said represent the future for economic growth, climate change mitigation and wildlife protection all at once.
“We feel like offshore wind is the most wildlife-friendly of all energy types in the U.S.,” said Miles Grant, spokesman for the National Wildlife Federation, which organized a boat tour of the Block Island Wind Farm on Tuesday.
Catherine Bowes, senior manager for climate and energy for the wildlife federation, said the five-turbine project, which is now supplying power to the island and sending surplus energy to the mainland, demonstrates that renewable energy projects can be built to benefit the environment and the economy at the same time. Her organization worked with wind farm builder Deepwater Wind over the eight-year development and permitting process so that the siting and construction would do the least harm to wildlife.
The transition from pollution-emitting fossil fuel energy to renewable energy, she said, is spawning alliances between environmental and labor groups that will benefit all of New England. All six New England states will use the wind energy supplied to the regional grid and gain skilled jobs needed to create and maintain it. More than 300 local unionized workers were employed in the construction, according to Scott Duhamel of the R.I. Building and Construction Trades Council.