The 2011 edition of Island Journal is out, including my feature on how various European countries have negotiated (or failed to negotiate) the inevitable conflicts between offshore wind farms and fishermen. It has particular valence for the Gulf of Maine region, where numerous offshore projects are in the works.In short, the European experience points to the need to plan ahead and for potential developers to engage the fishing community early on, well before they start thinking about where they want to put their turbine arrays. Countries that haven't done this -- Germany among them -- have regretted it, while those that have (Denmark jumps to mind) have managed conflicts reasonably well.
The article isn't available online, but New Englanders can find Island Journal at better bookstores, or can order a copy from the Island Institute, which publishes it, as well as the monthly newspaper Working Waterfront, where my Parallel 44 column runs.
As an aside, I've covered wind energy for fifteen years now, filing stories from Denmark and Prince Edward Island along the way.
A friend told me I had to read The Lobster Coast, and he was right. I've read a lot of Maine history, heard a lot of it, too, from my parents (Aroostook County exiles, living as Pratt & Whitney refugees in Connecticut) and many other family members, and even majored in it at Bowdoin, but I've never read a better synthesis. Keep it up, terrific writing!
ReplyDelete@David - Thanks much for the compliment. My new book - out Sept. 29 - is sort of The Lobster Coast writ large: http://www.amazon.com/American-Nations-History-Regional-Cultures/dp/0670022969
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