Faculty Advisor
craig.condella@salve.edu
Abstract
Offshore wind farms will have beneficial long-term effects on Rhode Island's industry and employment. While locals have expressed mixed opinions about the wind farm projects, fishermen have been the most concerned. Many of their fears are not founded in the reality of offshore wind farms. Impacts on the fishing industry could be slightly negative during construction with disruption from the pipeline (Becker 2024). After implementation, they should increase biodiversity with the artificial reef effect (Gill et al. 2020; Perry and Heyman 2020; Van Hoey et al. 2021). In the long-term, the fossil fuel industry has and will be more harmful to the fisheries (IPCC 2022). Despite misinformation from the natural gas industry, workers' skills and methods can be transferred to the wind energy (Almegaard 2023, Hattam et al. 2015). In addition, there will be positive long-term economic impacts as employment opportunities grow. Unfortunately, no evidence suggests that plans for diversifying the domestic workforce promote equitable job creation in the local community. Studies into established wind farm projects are needed to understand how they affect Rhode Island industries and employment. It is critical to reference other successful offshore wind farm projects to replicate methods that benefit all areas of the economy. This research suggests that offshore wind farms will positively affect job creation and fisheries in Rhode Island. Still, attention should be paid to equitable hiring practices during future projects to ensure environmental justice.
Recommended Citation
Benoit, Sarah M.; Dwyer, Anna; Senecal, Andrew; Tucker, Aidan; and Keating, Michael, "Employment and Industry Implications of the Offshore Wind Projects in Rhode Island" (2024). ENV 334 Environmental Justice. 5.
https://digitalcommons.salve.edu/env334_justice/5
Included in
Rights Statement
In Copyright - Educational Use Permitted. URI: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC-EDU/1.0/
This Item is protected by copyright and/or related rights. You are free to use this Item in any way that is permitted by the copyright and related rights legislation that applies to your use. In addition, no permission is required from the rights-holder(s) for educational uses. For other uses, you need to obtain permission from the rights-holder(s).