Wind energy: Developing energy, wealth, and change

Wind energy has emerged as one of the fastest growing energy sources in the United States over the course of the last decade. It is the renewable energy type most readily defining clean economy leadership. An uncertain policy context, public conflicts over the impacts of turbine installations, and unsorted connections to a national green development strategy raise questions about the continued viability of wind power in the U.S. This thesis attempts to document and question some of the issues raised by wind energy expansion in the U.S. generally, but in Maine in particular, in order to explain how environmental, social, and economic benefits accrue to places hosting wind projects. The available information combined with a targeted inquiry produce insights into how the state of Maine can improve its wind development policies and outcomes.