The rapid industrialization of the ocean off Rhode Island has resulted in a wide range of heated discussion and the realization of the existence of a dangerous disconnect between the problem and the solution that we would be well advised to try to understand before it’s too late.

On the one hand, we have statements by the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management that approved all these wind farms that they will have little or no impact worldwide on carbon output and airborne pollution. But scientists believe they will have a potentially massive, harmful effect on the ocean environment. We also have statements from Special Presidential Envoy for Climate John Kerry over the years admitting that “If all the industrial nations went down to zero emission ... it wouldn't be enough. Not when more than 65% of the world's carbon pollution comes from the developing world.”  

Also, every study I know of that has been done on wind power, such as the ERCOT Bentek IV study on the impact of 2,300 wind turbines on the Texas grid, has reported virtually zero reduction of carbon and fossil fuel use because intermittent wind requires fossil fuel plants to ramp up and down to keep voltage constant. Meanwhile, a number of new U.S.-designed modular nuclear power reactors are now in production in several countries, and can produce far more power, all without creating waste fuel or emissions of any kind. In the interim, of course, natural gas is needed to allow faster replacement of coal use.