We are four different bloggers (two Republicans and two Democrats) with four distinct points of view. But we have come together because we agree that it’s time for Delaware to say yes to offshore wind power.
Bluewater Wind’s offshore wind farm has been reviewed in hearings, subject to repeated analyses, supported by thousands of letters and e-mails from citizens, selected in a competitive process, survived intense negotiations, and endorsed by a majority of members of Delaware’s House of Representatives.
One hurdle remains: House Concurrent Resolution 38, which enjoys the support of 35 legislators of both parties, has passed the House, and is headed to the Senate. We are calling upon the Senate to take one last decisive step to make Delaware the first state in the U.S. to make offshore wind power a reality.
We offer this joint statement as a prologue to our separate posts on the subject. But together we agree that the time has come to say yes to our energy future.
Dave Burris
Maria Evans
Jason Scott
Tom Noyes
Wind Power is the Ethical Choice
The political, economic and scientific arguments to be made for building the Bluewater Wind offshore wind farm have been made eloquently here (Tommywonk) here (WGMD) and here (delawarePolitics.net). Indeed, for people who think that we humans should behave rationally, the wind park is practically a case study in inevitability.
The horrible long-term environmental and economic impact of continuing to burn stuff (coal, oil, and even garbage) to create heat, to boil water into steam, to force turbine fans to spin and create electric simply fails on so many measures that when the archaic model is defended with bogus reports and cost projections it is laughable. The notion that fossil fuel prices are going to go down over the next 25 years as the downstream costs of carbon emissions increase (which is at the heart of Delmarva Powers’s opposition to wind power) is transparently ludicrous.
So, we shouldn’t even need to make a moral case for wind power. Moral arguments are utterly superfluous in light of the facts. And yet, in spite of the facts, this project might not get done thanks to the work of a few obstinate, but well-connected foes. Therefore, it is necessary to consider the ethical and moral arguments in favor of building an offshore wind park.
Rising above the dim of the absurd claims from Delmarva Power, it must be made clear to everyone that if we as Delawareans fail to take this step, we will have failed to live up to the moral responsibility that we owe to our children and grandchildren, and we will have failed in our ethical responsibility to be the live participants in this Democracy that our founding fathers intended us to be.
Now, I know that many people today naturally shrink from staking out “black and white” moral positions on political issues. George Bush has certainly given the practice of making moral arguments a black eye over the past seven years. We all know that you don’t have to consider yourself a liberal to have been sickened by Bush’s calls to go after “evil doers” and his claims that God favors America. One of Delaware’s favorite blogs is called “Down With Absolutes,” for heaven’s sake. We are a bunch of savvy post-modern cynics when it comes to applied ethics.
But, let us assume that there is an objective right and wrong. Let’s pretend that we are connected to each other and to the universe in such a way that it actually matters if we do (or fail to do) what is right and good and that we should attempt to build up our virtues as a culture and curb our vices. What then is the ethical, the moral course for Delaware and Delawareans at this point in history?
There are a number of moral traditions that twine together to make us Americans, but I will focus on one for the sake of argument: Christianity.
For Christians, the choice is clear. Disciples of Christ are called to love and to allow concern for justice shape their daily lives. As an extension to that calling christian spiritual leaders agree (LINK) that stewardship of the environment is a permanent reality.
Spanning evangelical, main line Protestant and Catholic Christianity, there is a vibrant realization that to merit the name “Christian,” one needs to make responsible choices when it comes to the planet. In fact, it seems to be about the only thing that Evangelicals, Catholics, and Main Line Protestants all agree on. The pursuit of the peace and justice of Christ includes saving the planet.
Pope Benedict does not sugar coat it.
“We cannot simply do what we want with this Earth of ours, with what has been entrusted to us,” said the Pope.
World religions have shown a growing interest in the environment, particularly the ramifications of climate change, he noted. “We must respect the interior laws of creation, of this Earth, to learn these laws and obey them if we want to survive.”
“This obedience to the voice of the Earth is more important for our future happiness … than the desires of the moment. Our Earth is talking to us and we must listen to it and decipher its message if we want to survive,” he stated.
Patriarch Bartholomew, the spiritual leader of the world’s 300 million Orthodox Christians has earned the nickname “The Green Patriarch” by being equally direct:
“We are concerned about the negative consequences for humanity and for all creation resulting from the degradation of some basic natural resources such as water, air and land, brought about by an economic and technological progress which does not recognize its own limits,”
Clearly, in their view, the wind power project provides us an opportunity to honor God with our hearts and minds. At any cost, the wind farm is the morally preferable choice. At cost parity with burning fuel, it is a spiritual no brainer. But don’t worry, you godless heathens out there, there is another serious ethical question wrapped up in whether the wind project lives or dies.
As I mentioned above, we all have an ethical responsibility to be active participants in this process. On the question of wind power, our democracy has been hijacked by people with immoral disregard for the outcomes of their actions.
The ultimate virtue of our system is that everyone has a voice in the decision making process, and majority rule is observed, while minority rights are protected. If the Blue Water Wind Project fails it will be due to the immoral, oligarchic, and frankly un-American efforts of a very few, very well-connected men. It will be a public and nauseating triumph of private greed over the public good.
We cannot allow that outcome. It seems that every generation is presented with a stark ethical choice to make. Creating off-shore wind power is our ethical test. And make no mistake; the eyes of the world are upon us. Once again little Delaware can do so much for so many with if we pass this test.
Just as Caesar Rodney made his way to Philadelphia on July 2nd of 1776 to break a deadlock on the question of independence, we must make our way to the halls of power to break with the unethical and corrupt practices of the past. It is Delaware’s destiny to push the country forward once again.
Caesar Rodney saw his moral duty clearly, and historians record that when he arrived at the Continental Congress to find a nervous-looking Thomas Jefferson, he matter-of-factly said, “The thunder and rain delayed me.” Let us see our moral duty with the same clarity.
Call today to register your support for Bluewater Wind’s offshore wind farm.
If your Senator is a Democrat leave a message here: (302) 744-4286
If your Senator is a Republican leave a message here: (302) 744-4048
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