Fox Islands Wind Groundbreaking Ceremony

Before the turn of the 20^th century, there were some 300 year-round island communities off the Maine coast; today there are 15.

The primary reason that island life was so vibrant then is easy to understand: everything that Maine produced or needed came over the water on ships rigged to catch the wind.

Wind built island communities during the 19^th century.  And, by harnessing the wind, we can build island communities of the 21^st century.

Many people - certainly in the wind-power industry - have firmly believed that no one could build a commercial wind farm anywhere on the New England coast, especially where there are significant numbers of well-connected summer people.

Vinalhaven and North Haven, which voted overwhelmingly last summer - 382 to 5 - a 98% margin - to proceed with this project, proved that this calculation is wrong.

Islands everywhere are small pieces of land surrounded by water; they are also everywhere surrounded by oceans of wind - not just little cat's breath wind, but everything from snappy southwesterlies to full-on gales.  And, the further offshore you go, the more the wind blows.  Because the amount of power produced from wind turbines varies with the cube of wind speed, relatively small differences in velocity make huge differences in power output.

I believe that the Fox Islands Wind project will prove to be a turning point in Maine-island history - and perhaps in Maine history itself.

If we can muster the political and financial resources to build this project, we can build not just more island wind projects but build ocean wind projects as well, and in the process, change the way we heat our homes and run our vehicles.

Today we are looking at the future; today we are changing a part of history.