Distant Winds Already Power the Statue of Liberty’s Torch

By Sam Roberts

The New York Times

Hailing the Statue of Liberty as the nation’s greatest symbol of freedom, Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg warned this week that America’s freedom was being undermined by the country’s dependence on foreign oil. As he outlined a strategy for energy efficiency, the mayor said he envisioned a day when Lady Liberty “not only welcomes new immigrants, but lights their way with a torch powered by an ocean wind farm.”

In fact, an answer to the mayor’s vision may already be blowing in the wind.

Not directly and not offshore, but close. Since 2006, the federal government has been buying about nine million kilowatt hours of wind power annually from Pepco Energy Services to light the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. Pepco, in turn, gets the electricity from wind farms in West Virginia and Pennsylvania. The power costs about a half-cent per kilowatt hour more than the government would otherwise pay.

“The National Park Service strives for environmental excellence by using alternative energy and fuels at many of our parks,” said Cynthia Garrett, superintendent of the statue and Ellis Island. “Lady Liberty’s green runs more than skin deep.”

Stu Loeser, the mayor’s chief spokesman, said that local wind power was still preferable. “Unless we in New York try to build wind farms in our own backyards,” he said, “we’ll continue to have to say, ‘Give us your tired, your poor, your wind power from 400 miles away.’ ”