Cape Spin! - An American Power Struggle

Streaming video - 2011

Cape Spin! An American Power Struggle is a tragicomic tale of the 10-year battle over America’s largest proposed clean energy project – and a microcosm of the obstacles the country faces in the larger struggle to move towards more sustainable forms of energy on a broader scale, or build any large-scale project. When energy entrepreneur Jim Gordon first proposed Cape Wind, a project to put 130 wind turbines in fabled Nantucket Sound, he had no idea that a huge firestorm of opposition would erupt. Cape Spin! tells the incredible tale of how America’s first proposed offshore wind farm triggered an unexpected schism in this idyllic coastal region. Neighbor was pitted against neighbor, environmentalist against environmentalist, and unexpec...ted alliances were forged – including Kennedys and Kochs on the same side. Cape Wind supporters claimed that the project would launch a new American clean energy industry, while opponents countered it would ruin a natural treasure and enrich a private developer. Shot over five years, the filmmakers enjoyed unprecedented behind-the-scenes access to the key players on both sides of the controversy. As a result, the film shows it all -- the hearings, the protests, the science, the complexity of the debate, the passion, and often the absurdities that went into each sides arguments. After 10 years, 70 million and 8,000 pages of analysis the Federal Government approved the wind farm, but the project is still not up and running, as the controversy and debate continues.. more