Catching the Offshore Wind Wave and the Beneficial Ripples

by Bruce Goodman

Michigan’s best wind resources are in the Great Lakes; a natural resource that can be “used” but not depleted.  Wind is a fuel that cannot be spilled, does not create waste, and has no emissions. Offshore wind provides an opportunity for Michigan to establish a new manufacturing, technical, and industrial support system for which it is well suited and well prepared.  However, this manufacturing opportunity requires that Michigan be both “first-in-the-lake” and offer strong economic incentives for offshore OEMs to locate in the Great Lakes State.  Michigan has a history of being able to leverage its natural resources to stimulate manufacturing.  Now is the time to do it again.  But it must be done quickly, fairly, and unequivocally.  It needs to be easy, not hard, to develop our lake wind resources.  The ripples from rapid lake development could become a manufacturing tsunami.  We should be so lucky.