From the well-perched deck of her hilltop home, Nina Brodeur finds solace in the vast horizon, etched by the changing patterns of the sky and the varying hues of Vineyard Sound.
The view remains a significant reason why her family has lived for 21 years in this remote enclave of old cedar-shingle homes on the most westward of the Elizabeth Islands. Unlike other seaside homeowners, including a vocal group of protesters about 8 miles to the east on Martha’s Vineyard, Brodeur and her neighbors have decided they are willing to give up some of their serenity at the state’s behest.
They say they can live with a wind farm.
In a few years, the view from Brodeur’s deck may include a passel of 450-foot wind turbines, with their massive blades glinting as they rotate in the sun and aircraft warning lights atop them blinking through the night. As part of its efforts to promote wind power, the Patrick administration is backing a proposal to erect 166 wind turbines in the waters off the milewide island.