More wind power

I f the United States is serious about reducing the use of fossil fuels in favor of renewable energy sources and improving the nation’s energy independence, it needs many more wind farms like the Deepwater Wind project off Block Island.

It is exciting to see the wind farm nearing completion. It is expected to start producing electricity by early September, meeting the bulk of the island’s power needs. The five massive turbines, rising 650 feet, are technological marvels, with 240-foot-long blades able to spin and produce power in winds as low as 6 miles per hour.

The project is not without controversy. Critics, particularly property owners, complain that the turbines five miles offshore will detract from their views. Therein lies the problem. Many environmentally conscious folks who support reducing carbon emissions to slow climate change suddenly think otherwise when it means altering their seascape, even just a little.

In our litigious society, rich opponents — and oceanfront property owners are usually wealthy — can tie up a project in the courts for years.

For example, the approval process for the Cape Wind project, planned in Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod, began at the turn of the century. It has faced 26 lawsuits. After 15 years it seemed ready to move forward, only to see lapsed power-purchasing agreements provide a final blow that might kill it. Without a utility customer to buy the electricity, Cape Wind can’t get the financing to build.

Such opposition and the threat of litigation helps explain why Deepwater off Block Island will be the nation’s first offshore wind farm. Contrast that with Europe, where the first offshore wind farm dates to 1991 off Denmark. That country gets 30 percent of its electricity from offshore turbines.

Necessary are state and federal laws that provide tax incentives, encourage wind-power development, and discourage vexatious lawsuits.

Either the nation is serious about developing renewable energy or it’s not.

In addition to providing clean, renewable energy, this industry can generate the type of high-tech, well-paying jobs that both major political parties claim they want.

We applaud the progress of the Block Island wind farm with the expectation it is just the start for the industry in this country, not an anomaly.