Offshore wind farms in the United States are the new flying car. We keep saying that it's just around the corner but somehow practical results never manifest. Europe has 2,488 offshore wind turbines up and running, with 408 installed in the last year; this nation has a grand total of zero. (U-S-A! U-S-... ah, forget it.) However, a plucky new company could soon change that.

This publication has long considered Cape Wind, a 130-turbine project off the coast of Massachusetts, a frontrunner in the race to get America's first offshore wind farm up and running. But during the past decade it's met protests from residents worried about what the turbines might do to their coastal view. Earlier this year, Cape Wind ran aground again when two utilities withdrew commitments and the shipping terminal in New Bedford, Massachusetts terminated its lease with the company.