Monday, May 07, 2007

Delaware Wind Farming

The Volokh Conspiracy is covering effort to construct a large windfarm off the Delaware coast near Bethany or Rehoboth:
As the Delaware shore is where many Beltway-types spend their weekends during the summer, this could be a real test of Washington's willingness to promote — or even allow — alternative energy sources.
Honestly I think efforts to get this off the ground will involve not only politicos in Washington but also our own politicians in Dover. I have to wonder what kind of problems the Delaware Coastal Zone Act is going cause. It was already used to scuttle New Jersey's plan for Liquified Natural Gas (LNG) pier in the Delaware River. Would a windfarm be considered Heavy Industry and if so wouldn't it be prohibited under the terms of the Coastal Zone Act?

Not that particularly like the Coastal Zone Act. The current wording of the Act essentially prohibit any redevelopment along the Delaware waterfront for industrial use. I don't consider this a good thing. We're killing off coastal industry through unreplaced attrition. Reforming the law to allow new industry to occupy old sites is a good idea.

Cross posted on the DCBA Blog.

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