Case Presentation

Issue:  Does it make sense to invest in wind farms?

Conclusion: For consumers – yes.  For business – yes.

Editors’ note:  Our Love Affair with Green has quotes from James Gordon, Cape Wind’s Chief Executive on the day of his legislative victory

Despite public posturing for a clean environment, the families with names such as Kennedy,  Melon, and Welch have become NIMBYs – not in my backyard.   Using the legal system to deprive residents of energy alternatives, they have used the courts to preserve their private playground in public waters.

On May 4th it was reported that the majority of legislators in the state are a swift Cape Wind approval. And then by the end of May Jim Gordon and his Cape Wind team won a stunning victory.

What is Cape Wind?

Their website says:  Cape Wind is proposing America’s first offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. Miles from the nearest shore, 130 wind turbines will gracefully harness the wind to produce up to 420 megawatts of clean, renewable energy.  In average winds, Cape Wind will provide three quarters of the Cape and Islands electricity needs.

Is wind energy a good choice?  Here are the pros:

Reduced air pollution:  Wind energy means clean air resulting from reduced air pollution emissions from burning fossil fuels.

Problem with pollutants:  The American Lung Association reports that Cape Cod has the worst air quality in Massachusetts.

Reduced global warming effects:  Cape Wind will reduce global warming greenhouse gas emissions by 734,000 tons per year.
Problem with global warming:  It contributes to rising sea levels and more frequent storms that erode beaches, cause coastal property damage, and climate change presents the greatest threat to birds and sea life and their habitat.
Clean, renewable energy: Cape Wind will have the capacity to replace 113 million gallons of oil per year.
Problem with energy dependence: Since 1973, America has transferred over seven trillion dollars of its wealth to OPEC countries. Our dependence on foreign energy leaves our economy and national security at risk.

Cost savings to residents:  Cape Wind will help reduce energy costs. Cape Wind can provide Cape and Island residents a way to stabilize their electricity prices through fixed priced electricity contracts. The United States Department of Energy stated that Cape Wind and renewable energy will also conserve natural gas and help lower rising natural gas costs.

Problem with rising costs: Natural gas prices have more than doubled over the last five years. The Cape and Island electric prices have more than doubled over the last five years.

Job creation:  Cape Wind will establish Cape Cod and Massachusetts as a world-wide leader in offshore renewable energy technology. Cape Wind will create up to a thousand jobs in manufacturing, assembly, and ocean construction, boosting our local economy and creating 150 permanent jobs thereafter, including 50 highly paid maintenance and operations jobs based on Cape Cod.

The endorsements:
Maritime Trades Council and the Seafarers International Union, the largest fleet of commercial fishermen in New England
The down side:
The wind turbines will be spaced six to nine football fields apart,  allowing plenty of navigational room for shallow draft boats that pass through or fish Horseshoe Shoal.

Environmental Review
The project has received national support from National Environmental Policy Act and the Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act. In November 2004, these agencies released a very positive Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) reporting numerous project benefits at minimal impact In February, 2007 Cape Wind filed a Final Environmental Impact Report with the Commonwealth of Massachusetts.  The MMS issued Cape Wind a favorable DEIS in January 2008 and a favorable Final EIS in January, 2009.  The project has gained the support of national and regional environmental, health, labor and citizens advocacy groups.

The downside:
In the book called Cape Wind: Money, Celebrity, Class, Politics, and the Battle for our Energy Future on Nantucket Sound by Wendy Williams and Bob Whitcomb (vice president of the Providence Journal) – we learn how the rich and super rich that appear to be led by the fearless Ted Kennedy have manipulated the legal system to deprive the residents of clean air so that they might preserve their playground in public waters.

Despite our attempts to be impartial –In the spirit of full disclosure, I love the idea of a wind farm — and we are happy to hear from those of you who are opposed.  As such, here is a piece from my blog containing the press release on Victory Day for Cape  Wind/ Rita E Watson

Cape Wind Gets Unanimous State Agency Approval Despite Kennedy Roadblocks

Posted on May 21, 2009
Filed Under Green |

Despite opposition from the rich and famous, as was so well documented in the book Cape Wind, visionary Jim Gordon received long awaited news today. Even when the Kennedy clan mobilized their troops,  Jim persevered.

As I noted last September,  “How committed are we to alternative sources of energy?”  The answers depend upon the people with whom we speak.  Try putting a new source of energy on Cape Cod and watch the Kennedy response.  No money is spared to keep windmills from spoiling their view.  Apparently they have never been to Holland where windmills are sculptures in motion.  The Big Drill with Nancy and Sarah

Today’s news is so exciting that those of you still wondering why I am interspersing love and money with GREEN news — read this Cape Wind press release.

State Agency Unanimous OK of Cape Wind Completes State and Local Permitting

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

BOSTON, MA, May 21, 2009 - Cape Wind completed its State and Local permitting process today with a unanimous vote of the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board to grant Cape Wind a ‘Certificate of Environmental Impact and Public Interest’ that rolls up all State and Local permits and approvals into one ‘composite certificate’.

Cape Wind President Jim Gordon welcomed the news: “Today’s vote marks not just a successful conclusion to a seven-year state regulatory review of the Cape Wind project but the beginning of a new era of clean energy jobs and renewable power from the endless wind resources off our shore.”

Completion of the Federal Permitting process for Cape Wind is expected soon when U.S. Secretary Ken Salazar issues a Record of Decision on Cape Wind. The Minerals Management Service of the U.S. Department of Interior issued Cape Wind a favorable Final Environmental Impact Statement in January.

Environmental impact energy facilities:The Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board (Siting Board), was created by the Legislature to ensure the siting of needed and least environmental impact energy facilities and was granted the statutory authority to issue a comprehensive approval to an energy facility it has previously approved, where that facility has been denied a permit by any other state or local agency in the Commonwealth. The Siting Board exercised their statutory authority in their vote today which was necessitated by a procedural denial issued from the Cape Cod Commission in 2007.

Documentation of 50,000 pages: In 2005, the Siting Board approved Cape Wind’s electrical interconnection at the conclusion of a 32-month review of unprecedented length that included 2,900 pages of transcripts, 923 exhibits and 50,000 pages of documentary evidence. The Siting Board found that Cape Wind would meet an identified need for electricity and would provide a reliable energy supply for Massachusetts, with a minimum impact on the environment. The Siting Board’s approval of Cape Wind’s electrical interconnection was upheld by the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court.

Opinion polls: Two independent public opinion polls have found statewide support for Cape Wind to be 86%.

The nation’s first offshore windfarm: Cape Wind’s proposal to build America’s first offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal would provide three-quarters of the electricity used on Cape Cod and the Islands from clean, renewable energy - reducing this region’s need to import oil, coal and gas. Cape Wind will create new jobs, help stabilize electric costs, contribute to a healthier environment, increase energy independence and establish Massachusetts as a leader in offshore wind power. For more information visit www.capewind.org.

Copyright 2009 Rita Watson