WHO: Jim Walker

WHERE: Provincetown

Walker, 72, doesn't own the historic Race Point Lighthouse in Provincetown, but he's been its de facto guardian for decades. Thirty-six years ago, as a Coast Guard member, Walker helped automate the structure so it wouldn't require a live-in keeper. And when the American Lighthouse Foundation converted the property's keeper's house into a guest home in 1995, Walker became its off-site caretaker. Unfortunately, because all electric power lines were removed when the lighthouse was automated, only a noisy diesel generator was left to supply electricity. So in 2003, the stewards of the property, called the Race Point Committee, replaced it with a photovoltaic panel system. That solution, however, couldn't power both the original keeper's house and the second rental property, Whistlehouse. The eco-minded committee decided to install a wind turbine to transform the near-constant coastal breeze into electricity. To build the turbine, the Race Point Committee had to navigate an arduous permitting process, requiring buy-ins from the National Parks Commission, the Coast Guard, and the Federal Aviation Administration. Finally, after the Civil Aeronautics Board okayed the plan, the other agencies signed on. Last year, the turbine went online, designed and built by volunteers directed by Walker.

The Setup

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