Green Ocean State

David Segal is freaking out over on Daily Dose this morning after reading a ProJo editorial. Freaking out in a good way though.

New energy projects ASAP

The Ocean State has great potential sites for wind turbines, both offshore and on land, and it has plenty of room for wave-energy generators

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But as renewable-energy companies approach the state with cutting-edge wind- and wave-energy proposals, the state Office of Energy Resources is taking its time, handing over a lot of initiative to University of Rhode Island scientists to study (and study and study and…) alternative-energy projects. It wants them to come up with a statewide alternative-energy zoning plan that would take into account impacts on wildlife, commercial fishing, navigation, coastline views and the environment.

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It would be better to at least quickly try out some of these ideas in some of the more obvious places - the state has plenty of unnavigable reefs and shoals for wind turbines, and wave-power generators could go just about anywhere – and then study the results and proceed expeditiously from there. If Rhode Island were to get in on the ground floor of the renewable-energy business, there would be major spin-off opportunities. Who knows? Maybe an Australian firm that wants to sell us wave-energy generators would like to set up a production facility here, say at Quonset, where a wind-turbine maker could join it.