Offshore Wind: Right or Blight?

by Emily Gertz · 2009-02-25 20:45:00 UTC
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Wind power has the potential to supply a big chunk of our energy needs -- all the light and heat with none of the climate-destabilizing carbon dioxide. But some communities object to potential wind farms as blots on their scenic horizons.

One of the most prominent battles over coastal, offshore wind turbines is still being fought on Cape Cod in Massachusetts. -- where the developer of Cape Wind first applied in 2001 for a permit to put 130 turbines (capable of generating up to 420 megawatts of power), about 16 miles off the shore of Nantucket.

Stop Global Warming reader Michele Brennan may be encountering a similar situation on the Jersey Shore. "CO2 perils?" she commented on one of my posts this week:

My partner and I own farm land in Ocean City County NJ, located in the city of Cream Ridge. Hardly a city,  I might add, but it is beautiful country!  We have 10 acres and would like to install wind turbines.  We just found out today from the Planning Board of Ocean County that this will not be possible.  "They don't want them here" according to a rep from the office of the planning board.  Does anyone out there know how to persuade the planning board into accepting the idea of wind turbines?

Help!!!!!!!

Is keeping the viewscape pristine a reasonable objection to siting wind farms on mountain ridges or off seaside communities? Or is it the worst form of NIMBYsim? And what should Michele do to bring some wind turbines to Ocean City County, New Jersey?

Video: Trailer for the documentary "Wind Over Water" about the Cape Wind controversy.

Emily Gertz
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