They were built close in so permitting could be done without Federal approval, which was perceived to be too slow. It was slow anyway.

(1) Where the distance cited is 30 miles, it should read 'less than 3 miles' off the shore of Block Island. (2) Block Island Power Company's existing diesel generates are rated at about 4.3 MW total, so the 30 MW turbines produce quite a bit more than needed for the island.

Did the so called political scientist offer any data that suggested the magnitude of the problem? Poverty, not algebra, is behind whatever educational problems the Hacker dreams of engineering away.