|
Jul 12 - McClatchy-Tribune Business News Formerly Knight
Ridder/Tribune Business News - Mark Harrington Newsday, Melville,
N.Y.
Emotions ran high for the second night in a row last night at meetings to explore the environmental impact of LIPA's proposed offshore wind park. Oyster Bay Supervisor John Venditto called for the project to be withdrawn or "held in abeyance" until federal guidelines to regulate the project are in place about a year from now. But several environmental groups said the negative effects of global warming leave little choice but to begin projects such as the wind park now. Bethpage resident Steve Longo agreed. "Have you considered the cost of not doing it?" he asked officials from the federal Minerals Management Services, which manages natural gas, oil and other mineral resources on the outer continental shelf, and which oversaw the meetings. But some critics of the proposal, though supporters of renewable energy, said LIPA's project is faulty. "The problem with the wind farm is it's a piece of junk, and you can't stop global warming with a piece of junk," said Charles Hersh, a retired electrical engineer from Amityville, who criticized them as inefficient power generators. Others pointed to the political and financial forces behind the project, noting the involvement of a number of politically connected lobbyists including former U.S. Sen. Alfonse D'Amato, a consultant to Florida Power and Light, with a division that would build the wind farm. Despite the sharp sentiments, Doug Slitor, the minerals management official who is overseeing the project, said emotion is apt to play little or no part in his analysis of the environmental impact of the project. "Public sentiment is not really what we're here for," he said in an interview. |
Winds blow both ways at LIPA turbine talk