civiletti: America needs to make a Broadwater-sized investment in renewable energy: "America needs to make a Broadwater-sized investment in renewable energy.
During my follow-up interview this week with Pete Maniscalco, the Manorville man who’s held an anti-Broadwater vigil on the beach in Wading River since June 3, he made a statement that I’ve been mulling over ever since.
America needs to make a Broadwater-sized investment in renewable energy, Pete said.
A Broadwater-sized investment. The thing itself is huge: 1,200 feet long, 180 feet wide, it will rise 75 to 80 feet above the water, nine miles off the Wading River shore. A behemoth. The floating regasification and storage facility will cost between $700 million and $ 1 billion to construct, according to TransCanada, the Canadian energy company partnered with Shell Oil in the Broadwater Energy venture. Its operation and securing its safety, along with the safety of the international tankers delivering LNG to the facility, will cost millions more annually.
A Broadwater-sized investment. Think big.
This week’s paper also includes stories about the efforts of local residents and businesses to “go green.” It is possible to wean your home and business off nonrenewable energy, to cut or even eliminate your dependence on fossil fuels — oil and gas — to heat and light your home or business. The technology exists to power your house with solar and wind energy — energy sources that are free, clean, won’t run out and won’t require the Coast Guard and a private army to protect them from terrorist attack (like Broadwater). But for the most part, the cost of installing the technology remains out of reach for most families, even with LIPA rebates and state and federal tax credits.
So why are we, as a nation, continuing to spend billions to build and operate facilities like Broadwater’s proposed LNG FRSU? That whopper of an acronym, by the way, stands for liquefied natural gas floating regasification and storage unit, bafflegab for the behemoth described above.
And why are we, as a nation, spending comparatively little on refining renewable energy technologies and making them accessible and affordable to consumers?
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