Environmental Impact Communication: Cape Wind EIS, 2001–2015

Abstract

“Cape Wind” is a proposed wind-energy project off the Massachusetts coast. Its environmental effects are detailed in an Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Writers of an EIS must address rhetorical challenges posed by the complexity of how the “environment” is characterized by many statutes and regulations. These requirements include guidance on the document’s style, and because the text is hundreds of pages long, they also include rules on its arrangement (its genre), and its online delivery. Partly as a result, the writer’s stance is that of an impersonal, corporate author. The EIS is required to address multiple audiences that include decision makers and elected officials; public participation in the process is encouraged. Evidence about the actual audience shows that the public finds out about the project through media reports, web sites, and press releases, rather than studying the EIS. Finally, sustained opposition by a fossil-fuel lobbying group has led to the project’s apparent demise.

Off-Target Impacts: Tracing Public Participation in Policy Making for Agricultural Biotechnology

“…In addition to examining public participation broadly, TC scholars have investigated the EIS as a site for public participation in decision making (Dayton, 2002; Killingsworth & Palmer, 1992; Ross, 2018; Simmons, 2008; Waddell, 1996). These scholars, while optimistic about the EIS’s potential to advance public interests, have largely found public participation to be inconsequential.…”

Standardizing the factors used in wind farm site suitability models: A review

“…There are also non-physical barriers to siting wind farms, ranging from investment and maintenance costs [ 53 , 54 ], to setback distances and other regulations [ [55] , [56] , [57] ], to public opinions about wind energy [ [58] , [59] , [60] ]. Improper wind farm siting decisions can have real-world consequences, such as high bird mortality rates in California's Altamont Pass [ 61 ] and Northern Portugal [ 62 ], as well as public opposition leading to project cancelations in Greece [ 63 ], Canada [ 64 ], and, famously, the United States' Cape Wind project [ 65 , 66 ]. As the wind energy sector grows in the coming decades, competition to construct commercial wind farms in profitable, low-impact locations will increase, thereby also increasing the salience of careful wind farm site selection.…”