Long Island Business News - Law: Long Island must harness the abundant resource of offshore wind

Hurricane Dorian recently punished the Bahamas with 200 mph winds and a 23-foot storm surge powered by crashing 35 foot seas. This was yet another reminder of how badly Long Island could suffer from extreme weather events like we experienced with Superstorm Sandy.

The conditions brought on by Dorian, if experienced here, would overwhelm the best laid plans and pose an existential threat to our Long Island way of life and the shorelines that define it. We owe it to ourselves and future generations to respond forcefully to the environmental and technological challenge of our time by addressing a primary cause of extreme weather.

These storms are not occurring in a vacuum. Given their increasing potency and frequency, and the near universal scientific consensus that many of them are caused by carbon-induced global warming, it is essential to promote a transition to renewable energy. The solution for Long Island lies in the utilization of all available clean energy sources and the abundant resource of offshore wind.

As simple and logical as this idea may appear in the big picture, the rubber meets the road on Main Street, where controversy around local impacts tends to erupt and threaten large-scale infrastructure projects that are essential to the region’s future well-being.

Take for example the South Fork Wind Farm project that will bring offshore wind energy to Long Island for the first time. It is presently mired in controversy around the proposed onshore cable route and beach landing location needed to connect the power to the grid.

It is essential that offshore wind developers address the concerns of affected parties while finding a way to move forward with a project of enormous importance to all of Long Island. The affected parties should meet to address the concerns of the local property owners as well as commercial fishermen who are concerned about their livelihood.

We have two recent examples of success in overcoming obstacles to critically needed infrastructure projects. 

The $2.6 billion LIRR Third Track project in Nassau County is finally under construction following 70 years of planning and controversy. The project addresses the severe capacity constraint in the 10-mile long Main Line Corridor, the busiest commuter rail corridor in the nation, and eliminates seven deadly at-grade-crossings. This success is the direct result of Gov. Andrew Cuomo administration’s policy of unprecedented outreach to neighboring communities that are most impacted by construction-related disruption, combined with the energetic support of a broad regional cross-sector coalition. The result was universal agreement on a set of activities to mitigate negative impacts and ensure that local communities directly benefit. Everyone will come out winners from a project that will positively transform the corridor and ensure safe, reliable and expanded LIRR service for the region. The environment will also benefit by removing cars and trucks from local roads and highways.

In Greenport, following several months of controversy, PSEG successfully reached agreement with the village to install a critically needed underwater power line to meet peak demand on Shelter Island, thus eliminating the need for high-polluting seasonal generators. The village was compensated by PSEG and the project was implemented without incident using the same technology proposed for the South Fork Wind Farm shore landing.

In both cases, neighbors had understandable concerns that were successfully addressed by a combination of strong leadership and broad local and regional consensus, thus allowing all to benefit.

Leadership is needed now more than ever to ensure that Long Island leads the way in the transition to renewable energy that lies at the core of effectively addressing climate change that threatens our future. The South Fork Wind Farm project must be allowed to move forward. Otherwise, Gov. Cuomo’s calls for 9,000 more megawatts of offshore wind will be at peril, as would our island.

Kevin S. Law serves as the president and CEO of the Long Island Association and co-chair of the Long Island Regional Economic Development Council.

To read more, click here.