are wind and wave energy really renewable resources?

There's something 'off' about that piece. It 'leaves me with a sour taste in my mouth'. I suspect it's more to do with the authorship and the agenda as exemplified by the title, than by the original work the article is about.

For a 'next level higher' look at what Kleidon's work is about, where it will be applied view Lester R. Brown's video:

Journey to Planet Earth Plan B: Mobilizing to Save Civilization:
http://video.pbs.org/video/1864227276/

Kleidon's work is essential to take inventory of where we are. The thing that strikes me about the OP article is it is not offering any recognition of 'what instead'. This seems to be a 'hit piece'. I'm careful about New Scientist in general, and will keep an eye out for further developments of the original work versus the tone that New Scientist uses in this piece.

I won't dispute slant...I wasn't really paying attention, but in all likelihood there was. I was just pleased to see an article verifying my personal concern that messing with wave action, and covering the earth with solar panels and wind farms would have to have some kind of effect, at least in the areas where it is being done...the laws of physics make it pretty clear. We humans tend to go overboard on everything we do, instead of using moderation and care in how we mess with the environment.
I agree with you....what instead? Responsible consumption, and limiting wretched excess would go a long way toward answering that question. "Business as usual is no longer a viable option." Exactly!
I am all for alternative energy,but done responsibly. I am even more in favor of energy reduction, mass transit, and no more of this growth for growth's sake crap. I do not want to be considered a consumer! Some day in the not too distant future, I hope to be off the grid, with my own solar panels, and maybe even a windmill- but if I do, I will be one of the few around here.
Thank's for the link by the way, that was a good video.

I see the Zinn quote in you sig - have you watched the pbs hosted BU tribute to Zinn with Bill Moyers tribute speech ?

I am tentatively concluding all centralized energy production solutions are inherently greedy. The place for centralized solutions I think has passed in the context of civilizations development at this point.

That leaves a distributed solution as an alternative in the implementation phase.

However I don't think the status quo will allow themselves to be superseded. As a result out generation will have to die off first. The next generation will have to build it's own status quo and I suspect their will be various pressures pointing them in a less greedy direction.

The operative assumption is that 'The Clock' (of the environment degradation) has that much time on it.

I have watched it now Very cool.
You are right about the status quo..."they" will not give up without a fight...or they will find a way to control the alternatives, as some big companies have already done: Chevron already owns the lithium ion car battery patents, and BP is a big player in the solar market (BP Solar has something like a 20% world market share).
Where we live, many cities had their own power generation (mostly hydro-electric) as far back as the 1880s . Maybe we will see a return to that kind of model in the future...

In the US the Navy is involved in LENR (low energy nuclear reaction) . DARPA is involved in ZPE (zero point energy). Those two approaches are poster children for 'Fringe Science' !

The US Gov. as solitary holder of a (assuming it happens) breakthrough technology on the scale of fossil fuels does not bode well in any way I can imagine.