Cape Wind, the first-ever U.S. offshore wind farm, off Cape Cod, was finally given government approval Wednesday after being hotly contested for nine years. The approval, however, won't be stopping those who oppose the project. A coalition of groups that oppose the wind farm announced they will sue "immediately" to stop the project from going forward.
The wind farm will provide up to 75 percent of the area's energy needs, decreasing their dependence on fossil fuels. So what's there not to like?
Plum TV spoke to the leaders of local groups, who both oppose and favor the project.
Audra Parker, director of strategic planning at Save Our Sound, an organization opposed to the wind farm, argued that the wind farm symbolizes an "industrialization" of Nantucket.
"We support wind energy, we support renewable energy," Parker continued. "But Nantucket Sound has so many conflict of uses, it's not an appropriate place."
However, Cape Wind Associates, the developers of the farm, say that Nantucket Sound is actually the ideal location for a wind farm.
"We have a lot of wind here, in the Cape and Islands, a lot of wind on the Sound, so this would be a project that would almost always be producing energy, and I think it would be a great boon for the region," Laura Wasserman, director of Clean Power Now countered.
Aesthetics also are a point of contention for opponents, as they fear it will harm the tourism industry and be a blot on the landscape. For supporters, the wind farm is easier on the eyes.
Find out all the reasons why Cape Wind was held up for so long: