OPINION

Robinson: Heat emphasizes need for offshore wind energy

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If this extreme heat causes you any difficulty, you should ask your state representative to support Senate Bill 265, which allows our state to join all the nearby coastal states and have our very own offshore wind energy.

In recent days, TV and newspaper headlines worldwide reported thousands of human deaths and suffering from extreme heat. Climate experts warned long ago that burning fossil fuels would warm Earth’s atmosphere and oceans, resulting in destruction or destabilization of life-supporting ecosystems.

It’s difficult to ignore reports of increased droughts, fires, floods, crop loss, sea level rise and saltwater intrusion, diseases and health threats, loss of species, loss of outdoor activities, loss of income and loss of lives — even loss of insurance!

People who want future generations to inherit a livable, sustainable world — scientists, grassroots activists, dedicated nonprofits, responsible legislators, even the United Nations — have worked to find solutions that can mitigate the worst consequences. But nearly every nation failed to meet the challenge so far, partly because of not comprehending the urgency. (Goal setting without action isn’t enough!) Reducing carbon dioxide and methane has been stifled by the concentrated wealth and power held by oil and gas industry leaders who have lied about their products’ direct role in overheating our planet, and their high-paid lobbyists are spreading misinformation about clean, renewable energy. For example, they campaigned to kill offshore wind by saying the turbines kill whales. (Whales die from boat collisions and net entanglement; there is no evidence connecting wind turbines to their deaths.)

We need to question the motives of those who oppose clean energy. We must proceed with rapid buildout of wind and solar projects, as well as transmission infrastructure. It is urgent that we pass SB 265.

It is also crucial that our media expand coverage of this most critical issue, to include coverage of the myriad innovative ways to preserve the beauty of Earth’s precious life-supporting systems.

Jeanette Robinson

Wilmington

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.

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