Is Maine willing to pay up for the good of the environment? We should be.

As we reported last week, talks are underway about how to price the financing, building and operation of offshore wind power. Numbers are being floated so that wind turbines will eventually be floated in the Gulf of Maine. The pricing and paying determination falls to state-level utility regulators; the public advocate, Bill Harwood; and the offshore wind developers.

A good deal is required for ratepayers – that’s not at issue (in fact, it’s a legal requirement). What might be up in the air, in spirit, is the degree to which we are willing to “buy in,” to recognize the long-term value of an investment that will pay handsome environmental and economic dividends.

According to the Maine Research Array, the offshore wind project, as envisaged – comprising 10 turbines about 40 miles offshore – would strip as much carbon dioxide from the atmosphere each year as if we took more than 100,000 gas-powered cars off the road. If the carbon benefits aren’t enough to drive a bargain, hopefully the promise of solid jobs in manufacturing, construction and transportation, or an anticipated $1 billion in economic activity for the state of Maine, are persuasive factors.

The environmental case alone is screamingly urgent. The dilly-dallying on show in recent years sets us back unacceptably. The longer we continue to wring our hands over cost, the location of terminals and other variables, the more Maine loses out.

“If this falls apart,” Jack Shapiro, climate and clean energy director of the Natural Resources Council of Maine warned last week, “it will send a message that Maine is not the place you want to invest.”

It’s a message we can’t afford to send.