I am excited about the pioneering efforts of Vineyard Wind’s proposed offshore wind project. It is a large step toward Cape Cod moving away from fossil fuels.

Yes, there are impacts, but as so well expressed at a news conference last month by Andrew Gottlieb, executive director of the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, “The impact to the environment and to the human race will be catastrophically more significant if we choose to do nothing.”

Over the past two years I have watched the Vineyard Wind staff educate, listen and work with all stakeholders. The town of Barnstable and Vineyard Wind have created thorough safeguards in a host agreement. There will be some road inconveniences in Barnstable, but nothing compared with the long-term benefits to the town and our future. We need to quickly develop alternatives to carbon-based fuels and keep the Earth’s temperature to a livable level as soon as possible.

We have the answers to climate change, we just have to develop the political will to make these needed changes happen ASAP. This project is a fantastic start.

Gordon Starr

West Barnstable