Blown Away: An analysis and discussion of the battle over Falmouth’s public wind turbines

2013: The Falmouth Board of Selectmen is suing its own Zoning Board of Appeals, an agency filled and funded by the Selectmen, over their classification of the town run wind turbines as a public nuisance, requiring the Zoning Board to petition to the Selectmen for funding for their own legal defense. While initially granted public support, the Town owned wind turbines at the Falmouth Wastewater Treatment plant have since become embroiled in a tremendously complex multi-year legal battle, pitting the Town against it’s own constituents. This paper aims to analyze the controversy surrounding the publicly operated wind turbine facility in Falmouth, Massachusetts. After an in-depth analysis of the timeline of events pertaining to the situation, the paper will argue that the opposition is in fact using a “NIMBY” argument to achieve its gains, placing the controversy within the larger NIMBY debate surrounding wind energy.