Someone recently expressed concerns about offshore wind which I think are worth exploring. She asked, “Why does Delaware not have the rights to determine the use of its own offshore waters?”
The answer is because the proposed wind farms are not in Delaware’s “own offshore waters.” The wind farms are in federal waters, farther out, so the federal government, now headed by our own President Joe Biden, favors offshore wind farms to cut pollution and curb climate change. The federal government, which is all of us, gets to decide. And lots of regular people like me in Delaware also support offshore wind because it is predicted to save us money, create good jobs and save the planet.
The federal government and state government officials have held hearings at which many people expressed their opinions. At the end of all the input, a decision has to be made, and that decision has been made by the federal officials. I, and many Americans, support the decision to facilitate the production of more renewable energy.
Then, the person wondered why nearby states like Delaware should not benefit from wind farms.
In fact, Delaware does benefit from wind farms. The wind developer offered Delaware $17 million-plus to improve Fenwick Island State Park. Unfortunately, local leaders generated opposition to the wind farm proposal, citing specious reasoning as cover for maintaining the status quo. Other sweeteners are doubtless on the way.
Delaware, the lowest-lying state in the union, will benefit from less flooding from sea level rise when we join others in tackling global warming. We Delawareans will get some of the jobs and, potentially, training facilities and port development if we encourage more wind farms serving Delaware directly.
And then, this opinion was expressed: “Maryland has plenty of its own shoreline,” which is not really the case. Maryland’s shoreline is tiny compared to Delaware’s, Virginia’s and other states’. She wants Delaware to benefit “from the electricity and fees generated, not Maryland.”
The reason Maryland benefits from the clean-wind electricity generated is because Maryland agreed to pay for the electricity. They agreed to pay a little more than the going rate, just so they could claim the credit for reducing pollution. If Delaware wants to have a similar benefit, then we need to get our Delaware leaders to issue a request for proposals and get bids for electricity that we contract for, like Maryland, New Jersey, New York, Massachusetts and Connecticut have done and are doing.
Tom Brett
Millsboro
