Saturday, 8 December 2012

Delaware Appalachian State And Wind Power

Delaware Appalachian State And Wind Power
Professor John Whitehead of Appalachian State University (the same ASU the University of Delaware plays tomorrow for the NCAA 1-AA football championship) takes note of Delaware's wind power debate and the upcoming game in the blog, Environmental Economics:

A mighty wind: part XIX

On the eve of the big Mountaineers vs Chickens I-AA championship game, Delaware is considering the country's first offshore wind farm. Keep up to date on the wind issues over at Tommywonk and the football game at Gameday Central.

I don't know anything about the issue but it appears that there is little resistance and it might actually happen. This likely means that:

a) there are no rich people in Delaware that own massive beach cottages (e.g., DuPont)

b) the rich people in Delaware that own massive beach cottages aren't as bratty as the rich people that own massive beach cottages in Massachusetts (ahem, ASU beat UMass for the 206 I-AA national championship)

c) Rehoboth Beach sucks anyway

d) all of the above

Here is the official FCS website. I posted this response:


You are right that there is little popular resistance to the proposed wind farm. As for why, it is not because Rehoboth Beach sucks--it's a beautiful place. One possible factor is that the wind turbines would be located 11.5 miles off the coast, much farther away than the proposed Cape Wind project.

If you're looking for a good guys vs. bad guys narrative, the local utility, Delmarva Power, is fighting it every step of the way.

Perhaps the fact that Delaware's residents aren't so bratty will be a factor in our favor in the game. FYI, we're called the Blue Hens, not the Chickens. The professor replied, asking:

Isn't a hen a chicken, much like a mountaineer is a hillbilly?It seems that some matters take precedence over using sound economic analysis to save the planet.