One of the biggest threats to our clean energy future is the belief that every impact on the environment is a bad one. Some of the staunchest ‘environmentalists’ among us are willing to speak out against any clean energy project that puts any kind of a footprint on the land, sea or air. The voices get even louder as these projects draw closer to population centers.

It shocks many people I speak to who find out about the opposition to the Cape Wind Farm which is proposed in Nantucket Sound. I’ve discussed this specific issue in a previous editorial but the issues definitely point to a wider problem.

When evaluating projects that employ new technology there is going to be an impact. The question that should be asked is, “What is the balance between the negative impacts of the change and the long term benefits?”

We are living in a time when hard choices need to be made about our environment, our economy and our energy future. Its true that an offshore wind farm, for example, is going to cause an impact. There will be a disruption to the sea bed during construction. Energy will be used in the manufacturing and installation of the windmills. Birds and boats will need to adjust their navigation patterns. So there are negative impacts. But the sea bed will recover within a few years. Birds and boats will adjust their navigation patterns. After all, there’s a heck of a lot of sea out there. And then we will have decades of clean energy that enhances our economy, environment and national security.

Land-based wind, nuclear plants, hydroelectric facilities, geothermal plants and other clean energy facilities will have impacts on the environment during their construction and operation. But when we look at these projects we must evaluate the long term benefits against a standard that takes into account all of the critical issues in play. Its not just about a view being altered. Its not just about the inconvenience related to a construction project. Its about the safety, security and health of an entire nation and possibly the world.

So when people think about opposing a clean energy project because of the inconveniences that those projects may cause in the short term or in a local area, those people also need to the think of the greater good on a wider scale for a much longer period of time.