Big wind on the Cape.

Cape Wind Associates, the company that proposed a wind farm in Nantucket Sound, has often pointed to a similar project off the coast of Denmark as a poster child for the industry (see "Legal Eagle," features, November/December 2003). Jan Toftdal, director of business development and tourism for a seaside resort near the Danish wind farm, reports that property values and tourism have gone up in the town since the turbines were constructed, contradicting the arguments of skeptics. The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound responded with its own Danish expert--an outspoken critic of offshore wind development who claims that the two sites can't be compared because they support different types of tourism. The New England project also faces a probable loss of congressionally mandated federal tax credits for wind power. However, Cape Wind President Jim Gordon says, "I believe plans for the wind farm will more forward," and he is counting on Congress to extend the tax credit retroactively, as it has twice in the past. CONTACT: Cape Wind Associates, [phone], www.capewind.org.--B.C.