Dead bird covered in oil from Bouchard spill, Buzzards Bay, MA, April 2003 (MA DEP)

The National Wildlife Federation is joining the fight for offshore wind energy because we know the climate crisis is the biggest threat to America’s wildlife this century. Properly-sited, responsibly-developed offshore wind can cut our dependence on the dirty fuels that menace wildlife in its production, burning, and most visibly, in its transportation.

A Near-Miss & a Direct Hit

America’s 3rd-largest oil spill on record happened off Nantucket in 1976 when the tanker Argo Merchant ran aground, dumping 7.7 million gallons of fuel oil. Only favorable currents and weather conditions saved the New England coast from a horrific disaster, pushing the oil away from both the coast and key fishing grounds.

The area couldn’t avoid danger a second time in 2003, when the Bouchard 120 barge carrying oil for electricity generation ran aground off Buzzards Bay. It spilled 98,000 gallons of an especially thick, heavy type of oil, fouling fishing grounds for years to come, hurting an area already suffering from high unemployment. But the impacts on birds were even more severe. Hundreds of birds, many of them endangered, were killed in the spill.

“One species that was devastated by the spill was piping plovers, small shorebirds that breed along the Atlantic Coast on sand and gravel beaches,” reported Ariel Wittenberg of the New Bedford Standard Times on the recent 10th anniversary of the spill. “The birds were already endangered before the spill coated 85 percent of the Massachusetts population with oil. The spill also doubled the number of plover eggs that did not hatch that year.”

Far from rare events, oil spills are tragically common.

Researchers from Tetra Tech EC, Inc. & University of Maine installing wildlife monitoring equipment off of Block Island, RI (Capt. Jon Grant)

Turning to Clean Energy Solutions

Today, two projects in this same region are aiming to become America’s first offshore wind energy developments. Cape Wind is hoping to begin construction in a matter of months between Cape Cod, Martha’s Vineyard and Nantucket. Meanwhile, Deepwater Wind is looking to build several turbines off Rhode Island’s Block Island, which currently gets its electricity from diesel oil. Not only would the projects slash pollution and create hundreds of local jobs, but Block Island would see drastically lower electricity rates.

Polluters aren’t going down without a fight. William Koch, heir to a fossil fuel fortune and owner of Cape Cod estates, is one of several coal and oil barons pouring millions into stopping offshore wind energy.

That’s why the National Wildlife Federation is speaking up for wildlife. Catherine Bowes, the National Wildlife Federation’s senior manager for new energy solutions, works to educate lawmakers in DC and up & down the Atlantic Coast on the best policies to develop wildlife-friendly offshore wind.  As a resident of New Bedford, MA, I’ve testified at two local hearings in support of offshore wind. NWF has teamed up with dozens of national, state & local conservation groups to release our Turning Point report and partnered with offshore wind developers to protect endangered right whales.

Hope for the Future

A letter to the editor from New Bedford’s Allan Duarte on the anniversary of the Bouchard 120 spill summed up the case for New England clean energy:

I hope everyone in opposition to possible future wind farms and solar farms read the “Black Monday” story over and over and realize in their heart and mind that wind and solar farms will mean greener and better future for our children and grand children. I hope they read and realize that an oil spill can take place again anytime, anyplace. The longer we stay depending on oil, the more disasters we must face.

Some worry about spoiling the scenery from solar panels around them, while others study long-term effects from wind turbines. None could compare at all to the long-term effects such as the Bouchard oil spill.

We just don’t get it, do we? To get something in return, we must give something. With wind and solar farms as a solution, we won’t be giving up very much in comparison to oil tankers in the horizon, or smoke stacks in the sky. I would rather see solar panels in the fields, and wind turbines in the sky. Makes so much more sense.

The National Wildlife Federation will keep fighting polluters and we need your help to do it. If you live in southeastern New England, sign up to testify at a local hearing on offshore wind.

Donate today and help NWF continue to fight for wildlife-friendly clean energy

Today, a bipartisan group of Western representatives and senators introduced the Public Lands and Renewable Energy Development Act of 2013.

I am feeling giddy. Let me tell you why.

Growing up on the East Coast, our town playground and basketball court were the extent of my understanding of public lands. Though our eastern states also have their fair share of state and federal forest land and park systems, my first experience with real public lands came during a cross country bicycle ride. I fell in love with the wide open spaces I didn’t have in my backyard back home.

On a bike it’s easy to see how much use we get out of our federal public lands—like the 285 million acres managed by the Bureau of Land Management. Hunting, fishing, hiking, all forms of energy development, ranching, off-road vehicle use, and incredible wildlife habitat to boot. Experiencing our Western public lands in person made me proud to live in America.

I’ve since learned more about the pressures our public lands are feeling, particularly from a rapidly changing climate and energy development decisions. National Wildlife Federation’s recent report, Wildlife in a Warming World, highlighted the impacts of increased drought, wildfire, and invasive species on big game, sagebrush habitat, and other sensitive wildlife

A Framework for Renewable Energy Development on Public Lands

So that gets us back to the bill introduced today by Sen. Jon Tester (D-MT) and others. It creates the framework for more efficient, responsible renewable energy development on public lands and would strategically direct the revenue from development to pay back local communities, fish and wildlife resources, and hunting and angling access potentially impacted by this clean energy development.

It’s a win-win for clean energy and wildlife conservation and you heard it right in the intro—supported by Westerners from both parties. That’s cause for celebration in and of itself!

In 2009, our public lands had zero approved solar energy projects and very few wind energy projects. With a lot of effort, this changed over the last three years, with now over 30 projects and 12GW permitted, enough power for 3-5 million homes per year.

To be frank, our current system for wind and solar development on public lands is woefully inefficient for every interested stakeholder—the clean energy industry and the wildlife advocate. It nearly always results in more conflict than necessary.

This bill helps solve these significant barriers to clean energy development and wildlife conservation. It also ensures some of the revenues from development on public lands goes back to impacted communities, particularly through a conservation fund for cumulative impacts to the landscape and sportsmen’s access.

As we embark on a clean energy future, there is a model to avoid. 140 years ago the U.S. Congress passed a law to promote mining and Western expansion, with provisions that hinder wildlife and habitat conservation to this day. For decades, campaigns have worked to fix that mining law.

Let’s not look back 30 years from now with the realization that we made the same policy mistakes in the rush to stop carbon pollution with wind and solar energy on public lands. Instead, let’s put in place now the right framework for efficient, sustainable development of wind and solar energy and help address its impacts with a conservation fund.

Learn more about NWF’s efforts to advocate for wildlife-friendly renewable energy >>

118 Sportsmen’s and Conservation Groups Urge Congress to Extend Wind Tax Credits

December 04-Congress should extend critical tax incentives that encourage renewable energy production and energy efficiency, 118 sportsmen’s, business and conservation groups from all over the U.S. urged in a letter to Congress today. The letter, with a list of sponsors, also appears as an ad in Politico today.

“Investment and growth in properly-sited, wildlife-friendly clean energy and conservation are the best ways to combat climate change, sustain communities, create American jobs, and promote economic growth across the country,” they wrote.

The letter asks Congress to continue the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and Investment Tax Credit (ITC), tax incentives that will expire this year if Congress does not reauthorize them. The letter is consistent with a September poll of sportsmen that found 72 percent of hunters and anglers back renewable energy solutions.

For more, check out the following blog post:

• Sportsmen’s and Conservation Groups Letter to Congress (pdf)

Report Warns Planned Tar Sands Pipelines a North American Menace

December 06-Inviting an unprecedented expansion of tar sands pipelines in the U.S. and Canada would commit the countries to decades of doing business with companies that have a long record of disregard for the environment, human health and landowner rights, says a new report. The report release comes just a short time before the Obama Administration is slated to make an historic decision on the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.

A tally of the new capacity, over 9,000 miles of pipe, finds the vast majority would be overseen by Canadian pipeline giants TransCanada and Enbridge. The report documents the two companies’ history of bullying landowners, influence peddling, wildlife deaths, oil spills and other bad acts that led the authors to name the report, “Crude Behavior: TransCanada, Enbridge, and the Tar Sand Industry’s Tarnished Legacy.”

While voters in the U.S. just rebuked an unprecedented fossil fuel industry effort to defeat President Barack Obama, who received widespread support from conservationists during his campaign, his administration will face an early test on the direction of its second-term climate and energy policy when it issues a final decision on TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline. Defeated challenger Mitt Romney had promised to approve Keystone XL on his first day in office.

“Politicians cannot be serious about addressing extreme weather and slowing global warming if they ignore the pollution, wildlife, and property rights impacts of Keystone XL,” said Joe Mendelson, National Wildlife Federation’s director of climate and energy policy. “The carbon pollution math simply does not add up.”

For more on the report, check out the following blog post:

• Pipeline Companies’ Crude Behavior Exposed

For the full “Crude Behavior” report, check out:

• www.nwf.org/crudebehavior

Ranger Rick Goes Digital! Introduces the First Truly Interactive Magazine for Kids

December 05-Ranger Rick, everyone’s favorite raccoon, is introducing a new, highly interactive magazine app called Ranger Rick’s Tree House. The National Wildlife Federation, publisher of Ranger Rick magazine, and also Ranger Rick’s Tree House, has entertained and educated generations of children about the wonders of animals and nature for 50 years. Like the print magazine, all educational content within the magazine app is aligned to national curriculum standards and meets the fun-factor that Ranger Rick readers have grown to know and love.

“This product totally re-envisions how children ages 7-12 read and consume magazine-like content on digital devices,” says Mary Dalheim, Editorial Director of Ranger Rick Publications.  “No other digital children’s magazine is more innovative, interactive, or just plain fun.”

For more on Ranger Rick’s Goes Digital, check out:

• Ranger Rick’s Tree House
• Ranger Rick Goes High Tech (blog post)

Win a Pass for a Private Screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey

December 04-National Wildlife Federation (NWF) is teaming up with Warner Bros. Pictures, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Pictures (MGM) and New Line Cinema for the Academy Award®-winning filmmaker Peter Jackson’s The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey, the first in a trilogy of films adapting the enduringly popular novel The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien.

The film opens in theaters and IMAX® 3D December 14. As the education partner for the film, the National Wildlife Federation is providing online resources to help students, educators, parents and individuals start their own unexpected journey outdoors and is hosting a sweepstakes for a complimentary private screening of The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey. The sweepstakes deadline is 11:59 p.m. on December 13. Enter on NWF’s website www.nwf.org/thehobbit

Report: Crude Behavior

December 06-Up north of the border, past Calgary and Edmonton, Alberta, the planet’s biggest carbon bomb is ticking. It’s called the tar sands region, and it represents both incredible feats of industry and incredible hubris —– and potentially the last blow to the fight against global climate change.

Tar sands are sludge. A sticky, viscous, tarry material that literally oozes from the ground in certain areas of northern Canada and other places like Russia, Venezuela, and even right here in the US. Technically called “bitumen,” tar sands can be processed into gasoline and other petroleum products, though it takes more effort and causes a lot more pollution than conventional oil, the liquid we’re used to seeing drilled up by rigs in Texas or Saudi Arabia. The cornerstone of the argument against tar sands is that because it requires so much energy to turn from sludge into gasoline, it produces a significantly greater amount of the carbon dioxide which is turning our atmosphere into a heat-trapping blanket and fundamentally altering nearly every ecosystem on Earth. About 100 trillion gallons of tar sands have been discovered so far, enough to fill 160 million Olympic swimming pools. The vast majority is in Canada, which holds around three quarters of the world total.

For more on Tar Sands, check out the following blog post:

• Pipeline Companies’ Crude Behavior Exposed

For more on the oil industry, check out the following blog post:

• The Push for Oil Shale: News Ripped from Last Century’s Headlines

And now here are highlights from NWF in the news:

• E&E Greenwire: Enviros Blast Pipeline Companies Ahead of Obama’s Decision
• Public News Service: Tar Sands Pipeline Project “Slinking Forward” Towards Maine
• Public News Service: Tar Sands Pipeline Project “Slinkning Forward” Into New England
• The Pittsburgh Press:  Aviary’s birds prep for national TV spot
• About.com: The Hobbit Private Screening Contest Details
• Mother Nature Network:  New magazine brings wildlife wonder to little adventurers
• Public News Service:  Ohio Hunters and Anglers Back Clean Wind Energy
• The New York Times: A New Wildlife Magazine Aimed at the Very Young
• Wicked Local Lexington: Lexington backyard certified as wildlife habitat

For more visit www.nwf.org/news

This week registered student organizations from five Michigan campuses signed on to endorse Prop 3. These student groups were also joined in their endorsements by two statewide groups: the Michigan Student Sustainability Coalition and the Michigan Federation of College Democrats.

Michigan State MSSC students educating their peers about clean energy and Prop 3

If you are interested in supporting Michigan students, or clean energy, please join us for our national day of action on October 30 to support Prop 3. Individuals and organizations from all over the country will be making phone calls to undecided voters in Michigan and educating them about clean energy and Prop 3. Please sign up here to get involved and help support our future, and the future of clean energy for our country.

Offshore wind turbine in Thames Estuary, UK. Flickr photo by phault.

The most substantial long-term solution for combating climate change is to power our homes and businesses with renewable energy—namely wind and solar.  However, right now, there is a serious threat to the American wind industry and the estimated 75,000 jobs it has created.

A set of tax credits called the Production Tax Credit (PTC) and the Investment Tax Credit (ITC) will expire at the end of this year if Congress does not act to renew them. These two financial incentives are crucial to the success of this industry.  We have already begun to see a slowdown in wind growth across the country, including here in Virginia, due to the uncertainty of their renewal.

The PTC provides a 2.2 cents per kilowatt-hour income tax credit to developers of utility-scale wind projects for the first 10 years while the ITC allows developers to take an upfront credit for construction costs equal to 30% (a developer cannot take both credits).

Future of Wind Energy Uncertain

In Virginia, a land-based project on Poor Mountain near Roanoke and an offshore wind turbine test site at the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay have both been called off, with developers citing financial uncertainty as a main reason.

Right now, we are waiting for the federal government to announce a Lease Sale Notice for developers to install wind turbines in an area 23 miles off Virginia’s coastline. Covering 133 nautical square miles, the lease area could produce 2,000 MW of clean energy.  Eight companies have expressed interest in developing projects in that area. However, if the incentives get pulled off the table now, those projects will never come to fruition, meaning the thousands of jobs that could be created right here in Virginia will never materialize.  Meanwhile, the climate change-inducing oil and gas industry continues to reap $4 billion in annual tax benefits without any concern of future expiration.

Severe Weather Threatening Virginia

And Virginia has seen its fair share of impacts from climate change. Hampton Roads, second only to New Orleans in terms of vulnerability to sea level rise in the US, is seeing more frequent storm surges and higher tides than ever before. Insurance companies are refusing to insure properties within two miles of the coastline.

Damage done by the derecho that hit Virginia on June 9, 2012. Flickr photo by woodleywonderworks.

We cannot afford to continue down this destructive path.  Congress must renew the PTC and ITC during the lame duck session, to not only bolster the wind industry, but to ultimately reduce carbon emissions that are causing the greatest environmental threat to our planet.

Take Action! Contact Your Senators Today

As an NWF affiliate in Virginia, the Virginia Conservation Network is working with the Clean Air Defense Coalition to hold our Virginia congressional leaders accountable on the PTC/ITC extension.  We urge you to contact Senators Webb and Warner today to urge them to support this important amendment during the lame duck session.

Chelsea Harnish is the Energy Program Manager for Virginia Conservation Network (VCN). Before joining VCN, Chelsea was the Policy Coordinator for one of our member organizations, the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. Chelsea and her husband Chris moved to Richmond from Cape Cod, Massachusetts where she spent 4 years advocating for Cape Wind, America’s first proposed offshore wind farm. She holds a bachelors degree from the University of South Carolina and a masters degree in marine science from Boston University.

It was all about the future of energy at an event at the Center for American Progress here in DC Friday morning when CAP released their  new report:  “Regional Energy, National Solutions:  A Real Energy Vision for America”.  NWF authored the Midwest  and Southeast chapters of the report.

Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline runs under the straits of Mackinac. Photo: MDOT Photo/Video Unit

Meanwhile, back at the event,  speakers including Rhode Island Governor Lincoln Chafee, described a diverse national clean energy strategy, built on the powerful energy, manufacturing and technology assets of regions across America.  Speakers and the report contrast this diverse clean energy plan to the American Petroleum Institute’s “Drill Baby Drill” vision: more oil and other fossil fuels.  Period.   That vision is conveniently simple.  The impacts, less so.

Fossil fuels play a large role in today’s economy, but we now know that the energy that powered the last two centuries comes with a side dish of volatile prices, environmental, health and safety risks, and it speeds climate change -which, by itself, threatens our economy, security, and sustaining the natural world for our children.

Fortunately, as Friday’s report describes, the energy world has changed.  Today we have a wealth of large scale opportunities that take energy, our economy, and the future of wildlife and our outdoor heritage forward together.  

Large scale clean energy implementation is happening across the country. Graphic: Center for American Progress

 Or, as NWF climate policy director, Joe Mendelson, said about last weeks pipeline “anomalies”:  “The best approach to our energy challenges isn’t building more pipelines, its embracing clean energy solutions that don’t spill or explode”

So whats really happening out there?

As we show in the report, states and regions all across the country are proving that they can prosper by implementing new energy technologies at scale. They show that a diverse national clean energy strategy anchored on strengths of the whole nation can build hundreds of thousands of jobs, and revitalize our economy. These solutions are real  and they may include some surprises:

• Offshore wind is the only utility-scale energy resource abundant enough to contribute substantially to the sustained, long-term energy demands of the Atlantic Coast region. Developing just 54 gigawatts of offshore wind in Atlantic waters would generate $200 billion in economic activity and create 43,000 permanent, well-paid technical jobs, in addition to displacing the annual output of 52 coal-fired power plants. (these regional bullets excerpted from CAP’s press release, and fact sheet)

NWF’s own recent report The Turning Point Atlantic Offshore Wind Energy underscores these results and emphasizes the diverse economic opportunities for states from Maine to Florida from robust adoption of offshore wind.  NWF was happy to join Clean Energy States Alliance who authored the Atlantic coast chapter of today’s report on their release.

Building the next generation of fuel efficient vehicles.  Photo: Sam VarnHagen/ Ford Motor Co.

• In addition to revitalizing American manufacturing, the deep oil savings from vehicles now being built in the Midwest under strong new fuel economy standards mean net savings to consumers of more than $54 billion a year in 2030 and will add 570,000 jobs to the economy.

• The Southeast boasts more firms across the high-tech smart-grid value chain than any other region and continuing to lead this transition offers the opportunity to create diverse job opportunities. At the same time, if [through enhanced efficiency], the region were to cut energy use across the region by 16 percent in 2030  consumers would see an annual savings of $71 billion and 520,000 jobs by 2030.

• In the Gulf Coast region, each $1 million in investment in ecosystem restoration can create as many as 36 jobs across a huge range of occupations and skill levels—more than equivalent investments in traditional infrastructure projects.
• The Mountain West boasts nearly unlimited renewable energy resources and these nonhydro projects, either under construction or in advanced development, represent 71,872 jobs. A study by Headwaters Economics found that from 1970–2010, nonmetropolitan counties in the West that had more than 30 percent protected federal lands increased jobs by 345 percent. Nonmetropolitan counties with no protected federal lands saw just 83 percent growth.
• The solar industry in California has experienced significant growth over the past 15 years. Since 1995 the number of solar businesses grew by 171 percent, and total employment jumped by 166 percent. As a point of comparison, the total number of California businesses has grown by 70 percent and employment increased by 12 percent.

These examples are not the only promising clean energy opportunities for the given regions, nor have we covered all the regions or promising technologies for the nation. But they clearly show a wealth of win-win energy opportunities in front of us that deliver to communities,  industries, and the environment across the country.  America’s energy strategy should start there.

Wind turbine blades. Photo by Flickr user vaxomatic.

One example of an incredibly important piece of legislation that is languishing in the punch and counter-punch atmosphere of this Congress is the Production Tax Credit for Renewable Energy (PTC). The PTC is a 2.2 cent per kilowatt tax credit for the production of electricity from utility scale wind turbines for the first ten years of production.  It has been on the books for twenty years, and has been an important incentive in getting the wind industry up and running.  Unfortunately, the PTC is set to expire in December of 2012, and the chances of renewing it are getting smaller and smaller every day.

A high-functioning, well developed wind energy industry is important for so many reasons.  Let’s look at a few:

1. The wind energy sector supports American job growth. With the PTC in place, our wind energy sector has been an important component for job growth in America, employing an estimated 75,000 people.  It’s projected that if Congress fails to extend the PTC 30,000of these jobs could be lost within a year.  The same study shows that renewing the PTC would likely add 17,000 new jobs.  That’s nearly 50,000 American jobs at stake if Congress fails to act.  For this reason, many major labor unions are strongly endorsing PTC extension, including the United Steelworkers, the Service Employees International Union, the Utility Workers of America, and many others.
2. To remain a world leader, we must invest in our future. Without a PTC in place, the prospect of the United States ceding the world-wide, burgeoning wind power industry to China, Denmark, Spain and other countries is very real. Whether it’s due to dwindling global supplies of fossil fuels or an international push to address the changing climate, renewable energy supplies are undoubtedly going to be an increasing portion of the world’s energy supply.  Wind power will likely lead the way.  If the United States is going to be a leader in this industry, we need to invest in it.  The Production Tax Credit is such an investment.
3. Wind energy is smart and responsible. The PTC and its role in transitioning us away from fossil fuels towards renewable sources of energy is also keenly important for reducing the emissions of carbon and addressing global warming, the planet’s most pressing environmental problem.  Climate change is real.  This summer’s weather is an indication of what we are in store for if we don’t start ratcheting back carbon emissions drastically. This July was the single hottest month recorded since measurements began in the 1890s.  Two-thirds of the country experienced drought this summer, much of it labels “severe.”  More than 113 million people in the United States lived in areas under extreme heat advisories, and wildfires burned more than 7 million acres and the fire season isn’t even finished yet.

It is imperative that Congress bridge their partisan divide and renew the PTC this session.  Early last month, a small sign showed that this may be possible.  The Senate Finance Committee voted 19-5 to renew it, with several Republicans— Sens. Chuck Grassley (Iowa), John Thune (South Dakota), Orrin Hatch (Utah), Olympia Snowe (Maine), Mike Crapo (Idaho) and Pat Roberts (Kansas)— joining Democrats to support extending the credit for one more year.

The bi-partisan nature of this vote is refreshing. This isn’t a left or right issue. It’s a jobs issue, it’s a global economic competitiveness issue, and it’s an environmental issue. It is too important to sacrifice on the altar of partisan politics.  The full Senate needs to move to pass it, and the House needs to get going before it is too late.

Wind turbines off Blyth, UK (Flickr’s Zabdiel

The coalition sent a letter to President Obama today with more than 200 signers, including the National Wildlife Federation, Environment America, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and dozens of other groups representing millions of Americans. It calls for continued federal leadership to move away from fossil fuels and applauds administration efforts over the last year, specifically the Interior Department’s “Smart from the Start” initiative. The program has designated appropriate areas for wind development in federal waters off the coast of six Atlantic states—Massachusetts, Rhode Island, New Jersey, Maryland, Delaware and Virginia.

What is the coalition specifically asking the Obama administration to do?

• Support federal financial investments to spur offshore wind development;
• Set a bold goal for offshore wind in the Atlantic;
• Ensure that offshore wind projects are sited, constructed and operated responsibly;
• Provide DOI and the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management with sufficient staff and resources, and
• Prioritize coordination to secure a market for offshore wind power.

Some people have a misperception that you have to choose between offshore wind energy and thriving wildlife populations. Much of that is due to a misinformation campaign funded in large part by William Koch, one of the billionaire polluting Koch brothers who’s fighting clean energy just because he doesn’t want to see it off his Cape Cod estate. The truth is that America urgently needs to clean up our electricity grid if we are to protect wildlife from the dangers of climate change. Experiences in Europe show us that offshore wind energy can be ramped up rapidly, economically, and an in a way that protects our wildlife and natural resources.

The federal government is making wildlife protection a top priority as it moves forward with offshore wind energy siting, leasing and development. From today’s Washington Post report on the planned auction to Atlantic Ocean offshore wind farm developers:

Before opening offshore plots to wind farms — the total area is more than 1.5 million acres — the government is spending millions to study the distribution and behavior of such federally protected migratory species as red knots, roseate terns and piping plovers, as well as of diving birds, which forage on the continental shelf.

“Conservationists of all political stripes are united behind offshore wind as a winner for America’s wildlife, public health and economy,” says Catherine Bowes, the National Wildlife Federation’s senior manager for new energy solutions. “Clean energy solutions are critical to protecting our wildlife, fish and natural resources for future generations of outdoor enthusiasts.”

Take Action

Tell the Obama administration you support properly sited and developed offshore wind energy to protect wildlife. Please take a moment to email the Bureau of Ocean Energy Management urging them to bring clean wind energy to states along the Atlantic coast.

some of the supporters holding signs outside the Boston hearing

Wednesday night over 100 people packed at room for a hearing about national grid and the clean home-grown electricity they have agreed to purchase from cape wind. The National Wildlife Federation had staff and volunteers there, and we spoke out for wind AND wildlife. Many other partners came as well, including our affiliate, the Environmental League of Massachusetts.

The room was very positive, with lots of folks speaking about why they believe we need to move to cleaner energy sources and away from fossil fuels and polluting technologies. 75% of the room talked about their support for the project as support for moving away from polluting and dangerous energy like coal and moving towards a clean energy future.

Some of my favorite things people said were from folks who spend time on the cape and islands, and who spoke about how much they love the place and how much we need the solutions that projects like Cape Wind provide to the climate crisis. Matt Lord, who is a law student at Northeastern and who has spent summers on the cape his whole life, said climate change is the biggest issue of our time, and he supports cape wind for that reason.

The Cape Wind project has been 11 years in the making, and is projected to provide year round power for more than a half a million homes in Massachusetts. And it will be a power source that you don’t have to tear the top off a mountain or start a war in another country to get.

Many days it’s rather depressing to be a climate scientist.  It can be hard to keep a positive outlook when we seem to be on a trajectory toward more and more severe impacts. But, every so often, I get to witness firsthand real stories of hope and inspiration. These moments are what keep me going and make me confident that we are going to have a brighter future.

Last week, I had one of those moments. I attended a conference on climate change education organized by NASA, NOAA, and NSF. Being at a meeting with so much positive energy and creativity devoted to helping kids and adults understand what’s happening to the climate was invigorating in itself.  The real highlight of the three days for me, however, was getting to hear from Cliff Etheredge.

A Real Climate Hero

Cliff Etheredge a farmer from Roscoe, Texas, who convinced nearly all of his neighbors to install a wind farm on their land.  His story is featured in a new PBS program based on Earth: The Operator’s Manual, a book by climate scientist Richard Alley (another climate hero!).

Conventional wisdom suggests that Roscoe would not be on the cutting edge of climate solutions, but Cliff helped his neighbors understand that leasing their land for wind energy development made good business sense. Check out this video clip about his story and all the positive impacts his efforts have had for his community.

Click here to view the embedded video.

Climate Solutions Help Communities Become Climate Resilient

Roscoe is in west Texas, an area hard hit by last year’s record-breaking drought.  I asked Cliff how Roscoe had been affected by the drought.  He replied that the local baler usually processes 100,000 bales of cotton each year, but last year they only had 6,000 bales.  Ranchers had been forced to sell off 90% of their mother herds at a huge financial loss.

In fact, Cliff said that the only positive, regular source of income was from the wind turbines.  Each turbine can be counted on to bring in $10,000-$15,000 a year.

What is remarkable to me about this anecdote is that investing in an energy source that helps us to cut carbon emissions, an essential step to tackling climate change, also was instrumental in helping this community weather the worst drought that most of its residents had ever witnessed. Indeed, as Congress today heard testimony about how weather and climate extremes increase the vulnerability of our energy systems, they would do well to also consider how moving to new energy sources can reduce those vulnerabilities and provide some level of financial cushion to communities like Roscoe, TX.

Reasons for Hope

With teams of passionate, creative climate change educators out there, reaching more and more people, and with everyday heroes like Cliff Etheredge out there implementing real-world climate solutions, we can all feel hopeful. We just need some common sense, ingenuity, and persistence to solve these problems. Otherwise, in Cliff’s words, we run the risk of “messing in our own nests!”