On the eve of the highly-anticipated public hearing on the increased height of the proposed offshore wind turbines off the resort coast, the Maryland Public Service Commission (PSC) this week approved the town’s petition to intervene and also changed the hearing’s site within the convention center to accommodate the expected crowd.

Impact on Landscape Offshore Wind Delaware Maryland

Eighty-four percent of respondents to a survey on offshore wind are primarily opposed to two things, said the Caesar Rodney Institute's David Stevenson. "One is visible wind turbines off the shore, and the second is using Fenwick Island State Park as place for landfall for the transmission line, 

Impact on Landscape Offshore Wind Delaware Maryland

One of the foremost concerns voiced by residents was that the MOU had been signed in July and notice of the public presentation wasn’t made till September. “I’m frustrated that it got to this point and we didn’t even know about it,” resident Marlene Quinn said. ...Each of the Fenwick Island council members who spoke at the council meeting expressed opposition to the project, although the council as a whole has not taken a position either way. All were present except council member Richard Mais.

Impact on Landscape Offshore Wind Delaware Maryland

The public was effectively shut out of the process. While the university hosted several public meetings where they explained the proposal and answered questions, there was never an open and independent regulatory review or hearing where the public could ask questions, raise concerns or protest the plan.

Impact on Landscape Delaware

Firestone and his research colleagues began surveying public opinion on the Cape Wind project in 2004. He quickly learned that opposition to offshore wind farms is not a classic "not in my backyard" reaction. Instead, opposition mainly to the visual impact of turbines seen from land or from boats causes a psychological reaction known as "place attachment." Basically, it is an emotional attachment to surroundings that are familiar.

Impact on Views Impact on Landscape Delaware Massachusetts Michigan

The City of Lewes might place a one-year ban on the construction of wind turbines while city council devises a policy to govern them. Mayor Jim Ford said the installation of a research turbine at the University of Delaware's (UD's) College of Earth, Ocean and Environment made apparent the need for a formal stance regarding residential, commercial and light-industrial turbines.

Impact on People Impact on Landscape Delaware

New Jersey and Delaware environmental officials say a wind farm planned for the Delaware Bay could disturb an important flyway for birds. Delsea Energy of Toms River, N.J., has a plan to construct 106 turbines in the upper Delaware Bay, on the New Jersey side of the shipping channel that divides Garden State waters from those controlled by Delaware.

Impact on Wildlife Impact on Landscape Delaware New Jersey

A project that could involve the town in the Bluewater Wind offshore wind farm project has been proposed, and officials and residents are looking at possible plans with careful eyes. Bluewater is planning to construct a wind farm several miles off the coast of Rehoboth Beach in the coming years.

General Impact on Landscape Delaware

Environmentalists are divided over the merits of a Pepco Holdings plan to string a 500-kilovolt power line through the heart of Delaware to better connect southern power plants with growing demand in the mid-Atlantic region. ...Clean-air advocates say it could help carry clean wind power to the homes and businesses that need it, even as they worry it will also import dirty coal-fired power from the South and Midwest. Wildlife and property-rights advocates are afraid the line will be a blight on the landscape, running through fragile areas along the Delaware River and Bay.

Impact on Wildlife Impact on Landscape Delaware