Gasoline prices in Rhode Island have climbed to $2.80 a gallon, and they’re forecast to go higher.

The cost of electricity, whether generated by oil, natural gas or coal plants, spikes and slips with the volatility of the energy markets.

And burning fossil fuels has more people than ever worried about greenhouse gases, global warming and damage to the environment.

All that makes the timing right to enact a serious plan to create sources of alternate energy.

One serious study commissioned by Governor Carcieri came out last week and found that 15 percent of Rhode Island’s electricity needs could be met by developing wind farms off the state’s south coast.

It makes sense.

Now, however, I’m waiting for the objections and the excuses about why capturing the wind to create energy is a bad idea. There will be people who will argue that wind turbines spoil the view of Narragansett Bay, or the turbines will affect boat navigation or hurt the tourism industry.

We’ve heard it all before, when the Cape Wind project was proposed for Nantucket Sound off Cape Cod. Protesters howled that the windmills would be built in the wrong place at the wrong time. The opponents have delayed that project for years.

It’s time to get serious in Rhode Island. Our dependence on foreign fuels weakens our country and its security, damages the state’s business climate and economy, and saps the buying power of consumers.

Doing nothing is no longer an option.

Carcieri’s report identified 10 sites offshore and one onshore in Little Compton that could be developed. They cover about 98 square miles. The study showed, however, that there is enough consistent wind at those locations to achieve five times the state’s goal of generating 15 percent of the state’s electricity. That will allow picking only the most appropriate, environmentally sound sites for the wind turbines.

Further, about three-quarters of the wind capacity under consideration is in areas under state control, making permitting easier to achieve. That will avoid the tangle of federal red tape that has tied up the Cape Wind project.

Experts say the cost of electricity generated by the wind turbines would be less than electricity generated by fossil fuels, under forecasts that project the cost of crude oil and natural gas to stay high. Also, the price of wind energy is stable and predictable, unlike fossil fuels.

There are side benefits.

New state revenue could be generated from leasing the sites.

Jobs could be created to build the turbines and develop the wind farms. Already, Rhode Island is home to TPI Composites, in Warren, which employs 300 people at a research and development office and builds wind turbine blades for power giants such as Mitsubishi Power Systems and GE. And why couldn’t the underused Quonset Commerce Park, located on the ocean, be used as a staging area for the construction and assembly of the turbines? There will be more work when other East Coast states follow Rhode Island’s lead.

All that would fit a goal of Carcieri’s economic development team to create a national reputation for Rhode Island as a model of innovation and creativity. Why couldn’t Rhode Island lead the way in the renewable-energy sector by creating the country’s first offshore wind farm?

Carcieri set in motion the process to study wind energy last year. In January, he created the Office of Energy Resources to find a way to generate 15 percent of the state’s electricity from wind power. He highlighted the project in his State of the State address.

But he didn’t announce the study results at a State House news conference, surrounded by supporters to focus the public’s interest. Rather, there was only a two-page release. Is he getting cautious?

And he plans to form a group of stakeholders, including environmentalists, community leaders and power experts, to help decide where the wind turbines should be built. There will be loud voices in opposition, especially from homeowners and vacationers on the coast who don’t want their ocean views disturbed. How strong a role will Carcieri play during his second term, which ends in a little less than four years, to ensure the wind farms get built? And where are the voices of the General Assembly’s leaders, who respond to influential constituents?

Remember, there was a stakeholders’ process set up to consider a cargo container port at Quonset. Some of the same influential residents of South County who opposed the cargo container port will also oppose the wind farms. On the port, Carcieri embraced the “No Port” crowd. Those opponents helped him get elected in 2002.

Rhode Island doesn’t have many natural attributes left to make the state a world leader. But it’s clearer now from Carcieri’s report that among the state’s advantages are the breezes that blow off the Ocean State’s coast.

Rhode Islanders will soon know whether the new proposal is all wind, or a real public priority to move the state toward energy independence.

jkostrze@projo.com