"Massachusetts blown away in wind power development race" says the Boston Herald, "Stop delaying the process of approving Cape Wind" shouts the Cape Cod Times, "National Grid rejects power offer from Deepwater Wind" reports the Providence Business News.  What is all the fuss about? It is quite simple actually, without precedent, brace yourself for chaos.

This week the Boston Herald highlighted Massachusetts' thorny reception for this renewable energy alternative. The article cited the state's reputation for being a hard place to build wind as a result of their extensive local control and permitting processes. Despite the fact that other countries, who have advanced leaps and bounds in the world of offshore wind, have experienced a "snowballing effect" where wind has become vastly more acceptable once citizens have had the opportunity to get comfortable with several projects and shaken the all too familiar and often crippling impact of fearing the unknown. 

Earlier this week the Cape Cod Times focused on the most recent roadblock in Cape Wind's enduring eight year challenge of bringing offshore wind to the United States. Timely approval of this project runs parallel to the Administration's aggressive objectives for addressing global warming and energy security through the development of renewable energy. As they continue to await direction from MMS, despite their demonstration that its environmental benefits will likely outweigh its impacts, Cape Wind has failed to move forward. In order for this project to move forward, the pending National Historic Preservation Act (NHPA) Section 106 process needs to be entered with a favorable Record of Decision.

At the heart of Cape Wind's most recent setback for approval are claims from two Indian tribes, the Wampanoag and Horseshoe Shoal.  These tribes are alleging that Section 106 requires that the 440 ft tall turbines must be abandoned to comply with NHPA in order to protect artifacts and areas where their cultural ceremonies are held.  In a letter to MMS this summer, the Wampanoag Tribe has said that the agency is "failing miserably" to involve these tribes in the Section 106 process. All the same, Cape Wind notes that the tribe has received $50,000 from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative to conduct a small wind farm construction feasibility study. Furthermore, many find the timing of these new allegations strategically inconvenient as these cultural concerns were not previously raised, despite Cape Wind's extensive and notorious pursuit of approval. This process should be closely watched as it will set the precedent for future renewable energy sites if the designation of sacred lands as tribal cultural properties is upheld.

Finally, the Providence Business Times covered National Grid's rejection of Deepwater Wind LLC's initial proposal to supply electricity from a wind farm planned off the coast of Block Island.  While there seems to be encouragement from the Governor of Rhode Island and the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation to continue these talks, it was very apparent that National Grid did not believe that Deepwater's proposal was "commercially reasonable" at this time.  This is particularly disappointing to both Deepwater and Rhode Island as Deepwater's project could serve as a mechanism to make Rhode Island essentially a Northeast offshore wind industry hub; naturally this translates into domestic jobs and enhanced domestic energy security.

As chaotic as this week has been in the world of domestic offshore wind, there is no negating the promise of this technology. Other countries continue to forge ahead while we continue to hope for federal leadership and support for viable renewable alternatives to dirty fuels at scale. In the interim, today's frustrations will hopefully materialize and become tomorrow's examples of offshore wind in the United States.