A Dirty Nantucket Wind Ride

A turbine-blade break pollutes the beaches of the liberal gentry

WSJ editorial. 

"There’s no such thing as clean energy, as the liberal gentry on Nantucket are learning after an offshore wind turbine blade snapped and littered beaches with debris. Somehow the uproar among progressives is more muted than after an oil spill or train derailment.

Beaches on Nantucket, Mass., were shut down last week after sharp fiberglass and green foam from the broken blade washed up on shore. Several truckloads of debris have been collected, and the federal government ordered the wind project to stop producing power until the cause of the break is determined. Natural gas power will have to ride to the electric grid’s rescue again.

This is the second major break in recent months involving GE Vernova’s Haliade-X turbines, which are nearly as tall as the Eiffel Tower. Another blade broke on a turbine off the coast of England. GE Vernova and Siemens Gamesa have also struggled with defective onshore turbines, with some toppling over and requiring expensive repairs.

Manufacturing defects are more common in new technologies, though one problem for wind projects is that developers are commissioning bigger turbines that can produce more power—and capture more government subsidies—at a lower marginal cost. Smaller turbines can be noneconomic, but larger ones are difficult to install and manufacture.

The inconvenient truth is that all sources of energy involve economic and environmental trade-offs. Solar and wind require far more land or ocean space than fossil-fuel production, and their components are junked after 10 to 20 years. Manufacturing solar panels and wind turbines also requires loads of energy, largely from coal in China. Wind turbines kill birds, including some endangered species, and noise from offshore turbines may affect whales.

Donald Trump mentioned some renewable power pitfalls in an interview with Bloomberg News published last week, albeit not with great clarity. “It always amazes me that people that consider themselves to be green, in terms of energy,” he said.

Meantime, Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo last week announced $27 million in grants for removing marine debris, which she said “can present significant threats to the water quality, habitats and economic opportunity.” Too bad none will go to cleaning up the disaster on Nantucket, which Democrats are ignoring because it undermines their climate agenda."