Commentary By Nick Leonetti
Orsted Ocean Wind’s goal is a daunting but imperative one: taking real action to create a world that runs entirely on green energy. The problem of unsustainability is one that is becoming more and more urgent by the minute. Climate change is no longer a problem that can be so easily ignored: unseasonably warm weather now is a daily occurrence here in South Jersey. Disease-carrying mosquitoes and ticks are hanging around a lot longer, algae-blooms are slowly suffocating popular swimming lakes, fish that used to swim in large numbers off the Jersey coast are migrating to cooler waters, lots of flash flooding is occurring, and it’s all happening fast, very fast.
All of this is no longer abstract and so easy to ignore as it once was (or worse, deny). Climate change is an incontrovertible problem that everyone will eventually have to come to face. If we keep allowing corporations to burn fossil fuels like coal – especially coal – and keep pumping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere with gleeful recklessness, sea levels are going to rise, super storms like Sandy are going to be a common, yearly occurrence; and living on this planet is going to become so much more difficult than it already is up to this point.
Orsted, along with other clean energy companies of the same ilk, are doing all they can to put a stop to climate change, or at least slow it down, in order to buy scientists and innovators some more time to problem-solve and come up with solutions. Companies like Orsted are showing that humans do not need dirty energy to maintain a comfortable lifestyle anymore. Already Orsted is delivering clean energy to seven states on the East Coast and have committed to building more than 10GW of offshore wind capacity by 2030, which is an impressive figure. The energy delivered is clean, reliable, and cheap! It creates jobs and offers an impressive amount of economic growth. It’s common sense really. Orsted has already garnered positive results offshore of Rhode Island, Connecticut, Delaware, among other places. New Jersey is, thankfully, next on the list.
On Saturday, February 8, Orsted’s Ocean Wind Project held a town hall meeting at the Ocean City Tabernacle for a couple of hours. An array of issues was discussed, mostly regarding the environmental, economic, and technical aspects of what offshore wind would mean for the region. Curious onlookers asked questions and viewed diagrams of what the wind turbines will look like when they are finally built. High-quality photographs taken from different viewpoints (one being Lucy the Elephant) with superimposed wind farms accurately placed were put on display. Stakeholders and community members saw what the wind farm would look like after it is built. Maps of the onshore components were brought in as well, for even more thorough detail.
The project, in a nutshell, is estimated to take about two years and will begin in the winter of 2022. Because this will be the third largest wind farm in the world, it will create easily over 3,000 construction jobs at the start. The company’s substation will be located at the former Oyster Creek nuclear power plant, which gives the reader an idea of how massive this whole endeavor will be. The substation is where the energy generated by the wind turbines is collected and then dispersed through cables to the communities of South Jersey. This particular project will need two substations; however, the location for the second one is undecided at this point.
Ocean City Mayor Jay Gillian has been put on record stating that this project is important for the community, and the positive response from local residents is palpable. Of course, there are always going to be those who fear change and any sort of newness no matter what the benefits. When it comes to wind farms, though, it seems negative or reluctant responses come more from confusion than anything else. Noise from the propellers always seems to be the first concern, which is simply a non-issue. Offshore wind farms are placed so far out to sea there is no audibility. The idea that this would affect seasonal tourism, for example, is ridiculous.
There is also the idea that a wind farm will disturb marine life, which is a legitimate concern. During construction, yes, wind farms will absolutely affect marine mammal activity and possibly bird migration. In the long run, however, it’s harder to say what will happen, and no one really can know for sure. It can be noted, though, that the long-term effects of something like offshore drilling are well known. Remember the Santa Barbara Oil Spill? How about the Ocean Ranger Disaster? Maybe the most recent Deepwater Horizon Disaster? In other words, it’s common sense that drilling is inherently dangerous to the environment and always leaves a giant carbon footprint, regardless. No matter what the long term holds regarding wind farms, it is highly doubtful it will be even remotely as bad as any of the events and activities mentioned above.
This new decade holds a lot of potential when it comes to going green. Great opportunities for renewable energy abound, and companies like Orsted are leading a pack of very innovative, very lucrative companies with new and fresh ideas. Wind turbines, electric cars, solar panels, Beyond Meats… it all sounds like something right out of an Isaac Asimov novel, but it’s all happening in leaps and bounds. Every day a new technology is being introduced to the planet with high hopes to create a better world for tomorrow. The fossil fuel industry is slowly losing its stranglehold over all of us, but its (hopefully) final gasp is a determined and formidable one. Companies like Orsted are taking business away from them, after all, so they are going to do everything they can to spread misinformation about new technologies like wind turbines. The best bet for any reader is to do your own due diligence, and learn about the brave new world that is in our midst. You may be pleasantly surprised.
Nick Leonetti is an adjunct professor at Stockton University. He is married to the poet Maria Provenzano. E-mail any questions regarding his writing at NLeonetti85@msn.com.
