Let’s embrace renewable energy

A few weeks back, a bunch of concerned citizens gathered near the totem pole in Bethany to rally support of renewable energy, of wind energy, of all the answers needed to better respond to the greatest challenge before us, one agreed upon by more than 2,000 of the world’s leading climatologists, climate change.

We all love our beaches and the wildlife they and the oceans support; all are at great risk if we do not respond urgently. Our love, our biophilia, is perhaps best exemplified by our admiration of whales or sea turtles or redbuds or horseshoe crabs or ospreys. As an ecologist who studies sustainability and population dynamics of black bears and ospreys, I especially understand how all life is interrelated; to lose one species and its habitat threatens all others. Should we not vigorously address climate change, we risk losing all life, all that supports us.

Wind energy is a viable and necessary answer. We see it at the University of Delaware where the electricity needs of the entire campus and more than 10% of the City of Lewes are met by the one wind turbine; it already has generated millions of dollars of clean energy and has paid for itself. I breathe easier in knowing its operation significantly contributes to less air and water pollution, fewer extraordinary wildfires and less loss of our beaches. As part of the Lewes horizon, I admire the turbine and see it as a sign of hope.

Some have expressed concerns. Impacts onshore due to construction are minimal when compared to the major impacts to habitats and their inhabitants caused by climate change, including impacts from rising seas, severe weather (killing 5,500 people and causing over a trillion dollars in damages since 2017, per NOAA at climate.gov), ocean acidification (over half of the Great Barrier Reef is now gone), altered currents and water cycles. Particularly with tech advancements, turbines are built thoughtfully and, currently, more than 96% of their parts can be recycled (nationalgrid.com). Studies (e.g. Journal of Marine Science) find that marine life, particularly fin fish populations, improves around turbine foundations. Proper siting eliminates significant bird or bat strikes; in Pennsylvania, at Hawk Mountain Sanctuary, an internationally famous raptor refuge where I often take my students, turbines on nearby ridges have little to no impact on the successful migrations of thousands of eagles and hawks and other migrants. The viewshed impact there is minimal, much like it would be here, what we see when we look across the 17 miles from Cape Henlopen to Cape May; distant turbines would be about the size of our thumbnail.

In addition to conserving resources, recycling better, walking and biking more, limiting food waste, driving the speed limit and driving electric vehicles, let’s do all we can to embrace renewable energy, clean energy like that from wind and sun, that which not only improves human health but also supports all life, all the plants and animals and their habitats throughout the world. Our children and theirs deserve nothing less.