The North Sea is bustling with offshore wind development that includes plans for energy islands to gather and send the cleaner electricity inland.

By tapping abundant ocean breezes, turbines can support power grids with air pollution-free energy that's cheaper to develop than dirty sources, as noted by experts at Yale and elsewhere.

But at least one Redditor has a beef with the offshore progress, posting, "Messing With The Environment 'To Fight Climate Change' … Wind Farms Are Altering The North Sea."

The mostly misguided three-year-old post has drawn a wave of comments, some in agreement and many in opposition.

At issue is the potential impact the turbines will have on ocean ecosystems. But wind and other cleaner energy are far less harmful to the environment than the 16.5 billion tons of fossil fuels that Sustainability by Numbers reported we haul from the Earth each year and burn, releasing heat-trapping air pollution.

Nature published a study into how the growing number of ocean-based turbines could impact the North Sea, which has a shallow shelf. Concerns about how the structures will interact with marine life, currents, and tides are legitimate and should be analyzed. The BBC reported that as more wind catchers are added, they may steal the usable breeze from each other, a situation experts have dubbed "wind theft."

But the perks are plentiful, including the prevailing fact that without a shift to cleaner energy, worst-case overheating scenarios — higher chances for deadly heat waves and wildfires among them — will be realized, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology reported.

The structures can also aid ocean creatures by providing abodes as part of the anchoring architecture needed on the sea floor.

"We have an incredible opportunity to expand habitat for marine life through the creation of turbine reefs," per experts at The Nature Conservancy. A video clip highlighting the potential noted that planned offshore farms in the United States could provide "the largest expansion of underwater habitat in U.S. history."

Data collector Statista reported that America has three offshore farms. China is the world leader at 138, and England is second at 51.

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Stateside projects face uncertainty under President Donald Trump's fossil fuel-friendly energy plan, though Empire Wind 1 off the New York coast was given government permission to move forward after being suspended. The deal with state leaders includes an "apparent" compromise to green-light a gas pipeline, too, all per NBC News. The story noted that three other offshore wind projects are under construction along the East Coast.

While any energy technology will have an environmental impact, the dirty sector has billions of dollars for messaging in its corner, often used through misinformation geared to influence regulations, according to the Kleinman Center for Energy Policy.

Turbine-related bird deaths are often cited by wind detractors. SBN reported that cats kill far more birds each year than windcatchers. But some simple changes, such as painting the blades black and adjusting operation times to match bird habits, can reduce that number.

Exploring critical environmental issues is important to hold energy developers of all types accountable for making sure their operations aren't doing more harm than good. Sometimes, detrimental plans are masked by greenwashed marketing. Taking action even in your neighborhood to promote planet-friendly initiatives can help.

And as experts at Yale and elsewhere have noted, the transition to cleaner energy sources is crucial to limiting harmful overheating.

"It's pretty damn settled," one Redditor commented.

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