Birds, sharks and unexploded bombs from World War II are being blamed for holding up offshore wind farms, raising doubts about the costs of the technology.

Three utilities yesterday scrapped an expansion of the world’s biggest offshore wind farm in the Thames estuary, east of London. That capped three months when each of the six largest U.K. utilities retreated from marine energy projects.

While developer EON SE highlighted concerns about disrupting the wintering grounds of the red-throated diver, the broader threat to the industry is its failure to bring down costs quickly enough in nations that are increasingly concerned about the price of electricity.

Each energy source/production facility seems to run into these type of hurdles and sometimes it is the public that helps shape the decision on what to allow and what not to allow in terms of the environment, and sometimes it is the government regulators. Either way we have to make tough choices sometimes. Back in the day the public did not really have the chance to over see some of the big energy production facilities (such as refinerys). What do you think should be done in this case? Comment below to share your thoughts.