There is a fine line between building consensus and dithering. In the case of picking sites for large-scale wind energy projects, Rhode Island is perilously close to the latter.
On Halloween, the stakeholders group met for the fourth time to choose among 11 potential locations to house the windmill farms proposed by Gov. Donald L. Carcieri. Although Oct. 31 was their self-imposed deadline, no decision was made.
The stakeholders plead an embarrassment of riches – there are so many good sites that they just can’t choose. You don’t have to be a cynic to wonder what’s really behind the delay.
Could it be that the two best sites – in terms of sustained wind velocity; location in state waters, which allows the projects to sidestep federal bureaucracy; and avoidance of shipping lanes – are off Little Compton and Block Island, whose well-to-do residents like their towns the way they are?
There’s no evidence of an organized opposition from those quarters. And certainly the stakeholders process, which includes business people, environmentalists and community leaders, is designed to listen to the concerns of the various interests and make a decision that they can all buy into.
But one need only look at the Cape Wind project in Massachusetts, first proposed in 2001, to see what happens when you don’t build consensus. The answer is, nothing.
The stakes are too high to accept the status quo. With oil hovering around $100 a barrel and the need for clean energy options growing more apparent and urgent every day, it is time to move forward and to make the hard choices.