Like much of the Northeast, Maine wants to clean up its electricity supply with offshore wind power. It’s planning to build turbines far off the coast, and in May announced a plan to build a port on Sears Island where wind turbines could be assembled and then towed out to sea. The island, connected to nearby Searsport via a causeway, is largely protected from any development, and it’s a popular spot for birding and other outdoor activities.
The proposed site has sparked a uniquely nuanced local debate — less polarized and more personal than the pitched battles playing out over clean energy permitting in other parts of the country. Even some offshore wind supporters and climate advocates are conflicted and say Sears Island isn’t the right spot for a 100-acre wind facility, Annie Ropeik reports for the Energy News Network.
That includes Belfast, Maine, resident Julianne Dow, who thinks the facility is better suited for a nearby oil and logistics terminal known as Mack Point.
“I’m very pro-union, I’m pro-offshore wind and pro having it here, and for the economic benefits for the region,” Dow said at a community listening session about the project. “But I’m also very pro maintaining Sears Island as a precious Midcoast resource.”
Birders, union workers, fishermen, and other coastal Mainers are similarly torn. Read the whole story, which we co-published with Grist and the Maine Monitor, here.
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