America’s First Wind Farm
Posted: May 25, 2010 by Lindsay, Category:Sustainability
America, and more specifically Massachusetts, will be joining the ranks of Europeans countries such as Spain, Denmark and Germany as it begins work on the nation’s first wind farm. The wind farm will sit off the coast of Cape Cod, MA in the Nantucket Sound and consist of 130 wind turbines that stand around 40 storied tall. The project dubbed Cape Wind has been in the works for close to a decade and was the focus of serious political and environmental debate.
The battle over Cape Wind included a great deal of passion from both sides arguing clean energy, the impact on shipping and fisheries, and of course the aesthetic appearance of some of New England’s most popular vacation destinations. On one side were the opponents including Mass Governor Mitt Romney, American Indians (arguing that the project would cause disruption of sacred ceremonies), current Senator of MA Scott Brown and most distinguished the late Mass Senator Ted Kennedy who was well known for supporting green energy. The project was backed by MA Governor Deval Patrick, Greenpeace, the Sierra Club and of course the CEO of Cape Wind, Jim Gordon.
Nine years after the politicians, citizens and community activists took their sides the dust settled and showed the Cape Wind Project to be the winner. Although the project is projected to add a good deal of new jobs to New England as well as supply MA companies and homes with renewable energy, the billion dollar question lies at is it enough? While we realize that something must be done, is wind power the saving grace for our energy crisis or just a quick 1 billion dollar solution that doesn’t even out with the sacrifices required?
