Ed Krapels and Stan Blazewicz are right that Massachusetts legislators and Governor Baker must move quickly to replace the Pilgrim Nuclear Power Station’s nuclear energy with zero-carbon power (“The future of energy,” Opinion, Oct. 28), but they ignore the massive untapped energy resource sitting right over our horizon: offshore wind.
There is enough power to replace Pilgrim several times over in areas currently designated for wind energy development far off the coast of Massachusetts. Leading global developers have competitively purchased leases in those areas and are ready to build reliable, local, rate-stabilizing power into our energy mix at a scale that matches the Commonwealth’s urgent needs.
We can and must pursue a holistic clean-energy future, capitalizing on the many opportunities before us. But if we are to increase our reliance on carbon-free power, offshore wind has a substantial role to play. With 2014 going down as the hottest year on record, and 2015 on pace to shatter the mark yet again, we have a golden opportunity to both cut climate-disrupting carbon pollution and spur massive job creation here in Massachusetts.
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We urge the Legislature and the governor to speed the transition to local clean-energy solutions and launch an offshore wind industry in Massachusetts.
The writer is the regional campaign coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation.