Last Thursday, February 22nd, offshore wind developer SouthCoast Wind and RI Department of Environmental Management (RI DEM) held a hearing in Portsmouth to solicit comments from the public on a permit application to dredge the Sakonnet River and Mount Hope Bay to install, operate, and maintain two underwater 345,000 high voltage power export cables—each 20.4 miles long.

Whales and dolphins have captured our imagination since biblical times. The epic battle between Moby Dick and the maniacal Ahab lives on forever as a powerful story of a whale’s ability to occupy our minds and influence our behavior.

It seems logical to assume that wind power would replace the equivalent amount of fossil-fuel-generated electricity and reduce the associated CO2 emissions, thus addressing climate change.

A majority of citizens agree with the goal to fight climate change and the urgency to act now. However, the country does not share a unified vision of how we should wage this battle.