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A 386-foot, 1.5 megawatt wind turbine at Jiminy Peak Mountain Resort in Hancock. (Stephen Rose for The Boston Globe/File 2007) |
Enough regulatory hurdles for Cape Wind project
July 5, 2009
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ALEX LAWTON could not be further off-base in stating that Cape Wind hasn’t received a “full and fair hearing’’ (Letters, June 28). As a former Barnstable town councilor, 38-year Cape Cod resident, and longtime Nantucket Sound ferry boat captain, I can vouch for the fact that this badly needed renewable energy project has jumped over more regulatory hurdles than any previous coal, natural gas, or nuclear electricity-generating facility has ever had to endure.
While it is true that state and local governments have limited jurisdiction because Cape Wind will be in federal waters, the US Minerals Management Service has sought substantial input from the state and Cape towns, and has accumulated thousands of pages of testimony and dozens of studies over eight years, showing that the benefits of Cape Wind will substantially outweigh any potential detriments.
While local communities should certainly have input in the process of siting electricity-producing projects such as Cape Wind (which they have had in spades), they should not have the power to deny them based on parochial reasons that aren’t supported by the facts or science. The need to reduce our reliance on fossil fuels and increase our production of so-called green electricity is so important to the security of our state and nation that unfounded local concerns and aesthetic considerations should be given only limited consideration.
Richard Elrick
Mashpee
The writer is president of Clean Power Now.
© Copyright 2009 Globe Newspaper Company.
