Winds of Change ; It’s Clean, It’s Unlimited, It’s Air

ADVOCATES of offshore drilling would have New Jerseyans gazing out to sea at oil rigs — or at least gazing out to sea with the knowledge that they were out there somewhere.

Advocates of wind power would have us gazing out to sea at wind turbines, barely visible on the horizon, with the knowledge that clean, renewable energy was being generated.

We much prefer the second scenario, since the nation must withdraw from its addiction to fossil fuel and move toward the serious production of alternative energy sources. There’s no time like the present. New Jersey’s position as a coastal state gives us the opportunity to take a leadership role in the production of wind power.

Last week, the state took a giant step in that direction with the awarding of a start-up grant for New Jersey’s first offshore wind farm. Under the proposal approved by the state Board of Public Utilities, 96 wind turbines will be located between 16 and 21 miles off Atlantic City and Avalon. The project is a joint venture of Public Service Enterprise Group of Newark (PSEG) and Deepwater Wind of Hoboken.

The turbines, which would be in use by 2012 and 2013, would be 24 to 30 stories high and visible from shore on a clear day.

Although they are expected to cost more than $1 billion, they would generate enough electricity to power 125,000 homes, or all of the single-family homes in Passaic County as well as in Teaneck, Fair Lawn, Paramus, Ridgewood, Mahwah, Bergenfield, Dumont, Englewood and Hackensack.

Under the draft of Governor Corzine’s Energy Master Plan, wind power would produce enough electricity to power 1 million homes in the state by 2020.

Most environmental groups in New Jersey support the offshore wind farm plan, which will need approval for permits from the state Department of Environmental Protection and the federal Minerals Management Service.

Offshore wind farms are already producing electricity for several European countries. Delaware and Rhode Island also have plans in the works.

Out at sea is not the only place wind power can be produced. Efforts are being made in the Legislature to allow wind turbines to be built around the state. Bills are pending that would make wind installations a permitted use in municipal industrial zones of 20 acres or more. The measures would also allow windmills and solar panels on unpreserved farm land. Farmers could retain their farmland assessment and sell the generated energy to electric companies.

This past summer’s high gas prices have done a great deal to raise public awareness of the need to move toward alternative fuels in the fight against global warming. But it will take years of persistence and determination to make the change.

That battle will be fought at the federal, state, county and local levels, and entrenched oil and gas interests will try to delay the emphasis on conservation and conversion to renewable energy forms. Fortunately, New Jersey is already taking its place on the front lines.

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(c) 2008 Record, The; Bergen County, N.J.. Provided by ProQuest LLC. All rights Reserved.