October 05, 2010 Blogs & Columns » Boomer with Attitude

Pin It
Submit to Reddit
Email
Favorite

N.C. could power entire state with wind energy 

Duke Energy needs to get behind a U.S. Senate bill to spur investment and production of offshore wind energy. When Duke recently announced it was canning its three-turbine project in Pamlico Sound, it said larger-scale wind projects offshore are more promising; the problem, however, is that the company doesn't have plans for those, either. Long gone are the days when American companies were champing at the bit to adapt new technologies.

Fortunately or unfortunately, I'm old enough to remember when the U.S. was the lone, undisputed leader in all things technological. We had vision, know-how, a government that was willing to subsidize new technologies — and we had companies that were ready to take advantage of great opportunities.

Take the Space Race. I'm old enough to remember the thrill that shot through the nation in 1962, when President Kennedy declared a national goal of sending men to the moon and bringing them back by the end of the 1960s. The federal government ponied up the money for NASA, American corporations bent to the task and became richer in the process, and in the end, the U.S. was first to the moon, in the summer of 1969. On top of that, the Space Race created a wealth of new additions to life on Earth: scratch-resistant lenses, cordless power tools, CAT and MRI technologies, micro lasers, smoke detectors, programmable pacemakers, trash compactors, freeze-dried food, hang gliders, and on and on. And all of it started with something many conservatives tell us is a bad thing: government funding of a major national project.

Those days came to mind last week when a new, authoritative study revealed that offshore wind power in Atlantic waters could provide about half the electricity needed for the entire East Coast. The study has particularly good news for North Carolina. It turns out that our state (as well as Massachusetts and Delaware) could generate all the power they need through offshore wind power. Not only that, the effort to put such a plan in place would create up to 200,000 jobs, based on experience in Europe, where the offshore wind industry is far ahead of ours.

The study, produced by Oceana, a respected environmental group focused on oceanic issues, was the good news. As I read the study's findings, though, I couldn't ignore the implied bad news: The fact that the U.S., once the source of nearly all new technologies, is lagging far behind other countries that are relying on wind power now. Yes, now. Americans don't pay as much attention to the rest of the world as we used to, and many of us literally have no idea that wind power isn't some theoretical, pie-in-the-sky idea, but is being used to power increasingly large parts of Europe, as you're reading this. In fact, Great Britain cranked up the largest offshore wind farm on earth last week that, when added to previous wind power capacity, will be able to power all the homes in Scotland. It's time we woke up, folks.

The new British wind farm cost $1.4 billion, and was financed by an energy fund, which funnels money collected from polluting industries to renewable energy resources. There's no good reason we couldn't do the same thing here.

Firsthand memories of America's former technological pre-eminence make it all the more disheartening to realize Europe is eating our lunch in wind power generation. It's even more disheartening to find this country's progress being held back by businesses and policies that profit mightily from our addiction to oil and coal — and by the backward-looking doctrine of the right that says government action is always a bad thing.

But there's hope. U.S. senators from both parties — Tom Carper, Olympia Snowe, Sherrod Brown, and Susan Collins — have introduced a bill to provide essential tax incentives to spur investment and production of offshore wind energy. Let your representatives know how you feel about the bill.

Let's hope the proposed tax incentives are what Duke Energy is waiting for. Let them know your position on wind power, too. Our country needs a new, transformative national goal — achieving a future of renewable energy. It remains to be seen whether we still have the will, vision or unity to embark on that quest.

More Boomer with Attitude »

Pin It
Submit to Reddit
Email
Favorite

Latest in Boomer with Attitude

Calendar

More »

Search Events

all events
concerts
restaurants
movie times

Most Popular
Most Shared
Most Commented

© 2019 Womack Digital, LLC
Powered by Foundation