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Volunteer to run 100 miles to raise awareness for L.I. wind energy projects
The drive out to “the end” of Long Island is infamous for being a long one. But one environmental volunteer will be making the trip from Montauk to Long Beach this weekend — on foot.
On Saturday, dedicated Sierra Club volunteer Matt Kearns will make the more than 100-mile run from Montauk to the Long Beach boardwalk in a single day, part of an effort to raise awareness about the potential for wind energy on Long Island.
The “Wind 100” event will be hosted by the Sierra Club, along with a coalition of other organizations that are interested in bringing wind farms to Long Island as both a source of energy and jobs, Sierra Club organizer David Alicea said. Kearns run will unite two points on Long Island with “tremendous potential for wind energy,” he said. A large festival at the finish line will be held on the boardwalk at National Boulevard, in front of the Allegria Hotel on Saturday, from 7 to 9 p.m., featuring speakers and entertainment.
“It’s iconic, “Alicea said. “Every Long Islander knows Montauk and the Long Beach boardwalk.”
Alicea said that there is currently a proposal that calls for a wind farm — or a field of wind turbines — 30 miles off Montauk in the Atlantic Ocean, and with the support of PSEG-Long Island, Long Island Power Authority trustees and Gov. Andrew Cuomo, it could move forward this year and be completed by 2017. The wind farm could power over 120,000 homes on the East End. A separate but similar project in Long Beach is further from fruition, but Alicea said that the Sierra Club and the coalition of organizations supports a wind farm 15 miles off the coast of Long Beach, that would have the potential to power between 120,000 and 200,000 homes in Nassau and Queens.
“These are major projects that could power Long Island,” Alicea said.
Alicea said that Europe has become a leader in offshore wind, and projects there in the last few years have created 30,000 jobs in the wind industry. He thinks that Long Island could be a pioneer and a model for the rest of the nation in this field.
“This would be a good opportunity for Long Island to become a leader and bring those type of jobs here,” Alicea said.
