Basnight: Wind Farm 2

as reported in the Daily Advance

State Sen. Marc Basnight, D-Dare, says a giant wind turbine isn’t something he would like to see in his front yard.

But when it comes to slowing down the growth of greenhouse gases and reaping the potential benefits of wind power off the North Carolina coast, there are other issues besides great sight lines to consider, he said.

“Change is not quickly accepted by me and less quickly by people on this island,” Basnight said. “But how does it impact you or I — and most especially you — if the water level were to rise as quickly as we read by some people who make predictions in the scientific world, (and) all of the Outer Banks are under water?”

The “island” to which Basnight was referring was Hatteras Island, site of a symposium on the feasibility of Outer Banks wind turbines put on by researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and attended by state leaders, including Basnight and Gov. Bev Perdue.

About 500 people, most of them Outer Banks residents, jammed into the Cape Hatteras Secondary School in Buxton for the presentation.

“This is one of those few times in our lives we are privileged to live where we intersect environmental things that are very, very important — the right choices for the environment with the right choices for our economy and for homeland security,” Perdue told the crowd.

Harvey Seim, a marine sciences professor at UNC, said a study conducted on the Pamlico and Albemarle Sounds suggests the areas could be prime locations for wind turbines.

According to Seim, three wind turbines in a test area in eastern Pamlico Sound could be built in about a 3-mile area, seven to 10 miles offshore in 16 to 20 feet of water. Each turbine would be about 500 feet tall, cost from $10 million to $12 million, and power about 1,000 homes, he said.

If the initial tests prove positive, thousands of windmills could be constructed offshore, creating thousands of jobs in eastern North Carolina, Seim said.

Perdue said the state needs to be at the forefront of green technology, especially wind technology.

“It’s clear to me that (North Carolina’s) competition is no longer the southern states, no longer America, but the entire globe,” she said. “I believe that North Carolina has the capacity to position herself as a global leader in green energy. I believe that through that placement, we can grow a fabulous green economy that takes care of our environment and our people while it also creates thousands and thousands of jobs to the people of this state.”

Perdue said she has also authorized a scientific study to look at offshore drilling, among other things.

“I have authorized a study to look at offshore exploration of gas and oil — can it be done safely and can we focus on second and third generation fuels?” she said. “What is it we can do as a state to harness the resources God has given us?”

Timothy Petit, a representative from Duke Energy, said his company supports the construction of offshore wind turbines and that ignoring the problems of global warming will not make them go away or bring the U.S. closer to countries like China that are already investing huge resources in wind and other alternative energies.

“I’ve heard people say we can’t worry about climate change and global warming because we can do everything we want to do and the Chinese don’t play. Let me tell you — the Chinese are playing,” Petit said. “The Chinese have begun to understand their contributions to this issue and there is a massive amount of investment in China today in carbon capture and storage, in wind and solar power — they’re all over this issue.”

Some citizens voiced concerns that government entities often make promises that are not followed through on. They also expressed concerns about the impact huge turbines would have on the environment.

For his part, Basnight said that doing nothing about climate change is no longer an option. Future generations are counting on the current one to act, he said.

“If the water is rising as predicted, if we take no action, if we sit back in this county of Dare and Hyde, if we absolutely turn our back and we are wrong, we have made a terrible mistake on behalf of the people who follow us,” he said.