.: Virginia Joins Coalition for Atlantic Wind Farms

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

Virginia Joins Coalition for Atlantic Wind Farms

From the Tidewater, Virginia Virginian Pilot newspaper
By Julian Walker

The Virginian-Pilot

© June 9, 2010

With new offshore drilling on hold as a result of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell is backing another federal effort to promote energy production.

McDonnell and governors in nine other states have joined an effort organized by U.S. Interior Secretary Ken Salazar to promote, coordinate and expedite the development of offshore wind facilities along the Outer Continental Shelf in the Atlantic Ocean.

Other members of the Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy Consortium are Maine, New Hampshire, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New York, New Jersey, Delaware, Maryland and North Carolina.

Virginia will be home to a regional renewable energy office, though officials said a site hasn't been identified.

"Appropriate development of... wind power will enhance regional and national security and create American jobs," Salazar said Tuesday in a statement about the partnership.

As much as one-fifth of the nation's electricity could come from wind in the next 20 years if it is effectively harnessed, he said.

Salazar presented the consortium idea to McDonnell and other officials during a February meeting in the nation's capital.

All Atlantic Coast states were invited to join the group, whose members are to produce an initial report with goals and recommendations within the next month.

McDonnell, a strong supporter of offshore drilling, said in a statement that he has "long advocated an 'all of the above' approach to our energy needs." He called the consortium "a major step forward" for Virginia.

The announcement comes more than a month after Salazar approved a permit for offshore wind facilities near Cape Cod, Mass., a potentially groundbreaking project that the secretary has said could be the first of many similar ventures.

News of the consortium was welcomed by environmental advocate Eileen Levandoski, Hampton Roads coordinator for the Sierra Club, who hopes it will allow for quicker approvals of offshore wind projects that are "commercially viable right now."

Julian Walker, (804) 697-1564, julian.walker@pilotonline.com

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This blog serves as a resource for current articles, ideas, products, websites, and blogs about alternative energy and other "green issues."

I am a 21-year veteran of the U. S. Navy Submarine Service, serving as an Electronic Technician, Electronic Material Officer, and Master Training Specialist.

I teach Tidewater Community College's new Alternative Energy course. I have been interested in alternatives to fossil fuels for many years. I love teaching about this exciting new growth field.

Commitment to using alternative energy will benefit the environment and free US foreign policy from being concerned with the availability of oil from other countries.

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Go green energy,

Bruce Bremer, MBA

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Alternative Energy Quotes

Not only will atomic power be released, but someday we will harness the rise and fall of the tides and imprison the rays of the sun.

THOMAS A. EDISON

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ECCLESIASTES 1:6

You can drill in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge, on every continental shelf and atop every hill in America for that matter, and you still won't reverse the fact that our oil production is in permanent decline. We're just sopping up what's left, digging ourselves into a deeper hole.

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RALPH NADER

To truly transform our economy, protect our security, and save our planet from the ravages of climate change, we need to ultimately make clean, renewable energy the profitable kind of energy.

BARACK OBAMA

But we shall not satisfy ourselves simply with improving steam and explosive engines or inventing new batteries; we have something much better to work for, a greater task to fulfill. We have to evolve means for obtaining energy from stores which are forever inexhaustible, to perfect methods which do not imply consumption and waste of any material whatever.

Nikola Tesla

We've embarked on the beginning of the last days of the age of oil. Embrace the future and recognize the growing demand for a wide range of fuels or ignore reality and slowly—but surely—be left behind.

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Coal, the dirtiest fossil fuel, is the crack cocaine of the developing world.

ALAN ZAREMBO, L.A. Times

But for all the talk, clean-burning coal will likely remain an oxymoron for years to come. The utility industry, which uses coal to generate 52% of its electricity, faces formidable political, economic and technological obstacles to getting "clean." … Coal contains dozens of noxious chemicals, including lead, arsenic and other heavy metals; sulfur dioxide, which creates acid rain; nitrogen oxides, which create smog; tiny soot particles, which can invade and collect in human lungs; mercury, a toxic metal that accumulates in animals, fish and the humans who eat them; and carbon dioxide, which many scientists believe is artificially warming Earth's atmosphere by trapping more heat from the sun.

JOHN J. FIALKA Wall Street Journal

New ideas pass through three periods: 1) It can't be done. 2) It probably can be done, but it's not worth doing. 3) I knew it was a good idea all along!

ARTHUR C. CLARKE