This page was last updated on May 12, 2010.
Wind power beats drilling any day; Adam Garber, Field Director - PennEnvironment; Beaver County Times; May 11, 2010.
It appears Mr. Garber spammed this letter to newspapers across Pennsylvania (A couple of examples are here and here.). You won’t be surprised to learn PennEnvironment believes in manmade global warming.
Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.
“The explosion of an oil rig on April 20 and the approval of the nation’s first offshore wind farm a week later laid bare the energy choices facing our nation.
“The first incident is an ecological disaster. The explosion at one of the world’s most technologically advanced oil rigs has spewed millions of barrels worth of oil into the Gulf of Mexico.”
[RWC] Mr. Garber has to know this is a false assertion. The current estimate is the well is leaking 5,000 barrels/day. To leak one million barrels would take 200 days. At the time Mr. Garber submitted his letter, the leak amount would have been about 100,000 barrels, not “millions of barrels.”
“Besides the environmental devastation caused by this disaster, the spill threatens the livelihood of many people along the Gulf who depend on fishing and shrimping to make a living.
“The second incident, the approval of an offshore wind energy project off Cape Cod, showed us another choice for our coastline. It will provide clean, renewable electricity to 75 percent of the homes on Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket.”
[RWC] Mr. Garber fails to note wind farms also require conventional power plants to provide power when the wind isn’t blowing enough.
“Here in Pennsylvania, we can learn from this history by building our own wind farm on Lake Erie, while fighting any attempt to drill off the Jersey Shore and the other coasts across the nation.”
[RWC] Mr. Garber provides a false choice. A smart energy portfolio contains various economically viable energy sources.
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