America’s first offshore wind farm went online just over a year ago, and three developers have plans to put hundreds of turbines in the waters south of Massachusetts and Rhode Island in coming years. Not everything has gone perfectly with Deepwater Wind’s Block Island Wind Farm. But scientists have found no evidence of negative environmental impacts, and neighbors, fishermen, and the tourism industry have been praising the project. Jennifer McCann is the director of U.S. Coastal Programs at University of Rhode Island’s Coastal Resources Center and director of Extension Programs for Rhode Island Sea Grant. She says the main reason it has gone well is that all the stakeholders were involved in the decision making process.
