Cape Wind: The legal challenges

I support the construction of the wind turbines in the Nantucket Sound. The use of the turbines, will help reduce our dependence on fossil fuels. It is time that folks understand that the all have to start looking at ways to conserve fossil fuels, and having windturbines reducing ones view is a lot better then living in a world with no elecricity etc. Enough with the NIMBY's, who want everything but are not willing to give a inch.

MMS is a federal agency, not a state agency.

I can't stand these elitist hypocrites that live on the shores of the cape in this state. On the one hand they're against big oil, for renewable energy, but on the other hand they don't want a wind farm to damage the view from their waterfront mansions. This is the most obvious case of NIMBY (not in my backyard) I have ever seen! We all need to wake up in this country and do what is right for us now and in the future. Like it or not, sooner or later, wind farms are here to stay. We should all embrace this technology today so that we may benefit and become less dependent on foreign oil sooner rather than later.

What is the case for those opposed to this wind farm? Other than the protection of wildlife and the preference not to have it in their backyard. I live in Fall River, where there is a proposed LNG facility. I would much rather invite a wind farm on the river than an LNG facility

I agree with Governor Patrick on this one. There are definitely down sides to the proposal, such as the views from the Cape and Islands that were shown in a past Boston Globe front page piece. But taken as a whole they're outweighed by the benefits.

The earlier blog regarding the NIMBY attitude was right on target, as a huge segment of those against Cape Wind, including Senator Kennedy, are exibiting that quite remarkably. But another segment has been largely ignored: the commercial fishing industry. Their opposition is based purely on greed, and not on anything factual. Let's face it, the only thing that's been killing the commercial fishing industry since the development of motorized trawlers is THE COMMERCIAL FISHING INDUSTRY! Maybe they should wake up and smell the coffee. Maybe having a place where stocks can't be overfished might be a good thing for both the commercial fishing industry as well as recreational fishing.

Of course, you would rather a wind farm off Cape Cod rather than and LNG facility in Fall River. You won't have to look at the LNG facility and won't have to worry about the wind farm becasue it doesn't affect you. I is easy for all of you to be critical of the opposition to the wind farm but the truth is once it is built the only people that will have to deal with it is the people living on the shore. Obviously they have the most at stake and therefore should have the most say.

And exactly how are the "shore dwellers" harmed? With a disruption to the "view"? Without any substantial complaint, this project should have been approved years ago. This is yet another case of Massachusetts politics getting in the way of progress.

Jeff - a very selfish comment....you're only stake is the view off your back porch...everybody else has a stake in moving towards alternative energy solutions in this country. Personally, if I owned waterfront property and eventually saw the windfarm in sight of my home...I would be thankful to see some actual results in this move toward alternative energy sources...

No person owns ocean water, just land up to the high tide mark. It's ok for people to have opinions on things, but frivolous lawsuits against a project that's supposed to work in the state's favor is just wasting more taxpayer's dollars.

Jeff, the poster clearly stated that he would rather have a wind farm in fall river than an LNG facility there.

"I would much rather invite a wind farm on the river"

Unfortunately, the people of Fall River aren't given the option of which they want, and no one is talking about other energy plants in Cape Cod. What type of power plant would the opponents of Cape Wind like in their town, if not wind? Would they rather Coal or natural gas?

I live on the coast in California but grew up in the Boston area and spent many summer's down on the Cape in Falmouth. Out here on the west coast, we have oil derricks right off of the shore looking for oil. Every time I drive along the coast and look at it, I always shake my head...not because my view of the ocean is impaired but because that derrick is polluting the ocean and contributes to our continuing addiction to foreign oil.

Cape Wind will allow the people of Cape Cod and Massachusetts to take a stand against oil dependency and be looked upon as innovators in the alternative energy movement in this country. With turbines that emit 0 pollution and I think everyone would agree are much more attractive than an oil derrick, I don't understand how residents of Cape Cod can oppose this. They are living on the Cape because they enjoy the ocean and the environment around them...yet they oppose a project that will allow generations of residents to continue to enjoy this amazing place. It truly boggles my mind...

And to Jeff's comment...my question is that you stated that there is something that residents will have to deal with. What would that be? Is it real estate prices? Is it the view? Wouldn't residents on the shore be proud to look out on that and say that they were the first community in the country to utilize this abundant, renewable source of power?

To Jeff...

What exactly do you have at stake? What exactly will you have to deal with? Why should the views (pun intended) of a few be worth more than the clear needs of the many? Wind, especially offshore wind (would you prefer onshore turbines on the Cape, perhaps?) Is clean, efficient and relatively cost-competitive. Many people find the turbines beautiful, the same way you admire passing sailboat sails, perhaps.

I have yet to hear a single argument or consequence of merit (NIMBY isn't merit) or scientific backing agains them (Birds in europe, where offshore is more prevalent, don't hit the turbines as often as they hit buildings, and both are very rare... maybe American or Cape birds are just more stupid?)

So Jeff... tell us what you will have to deal with?

I know it's easy to dismiss people who oppose the Cape Wind Project as rich NIMBYs who don't want the views from their McMansions disturbed, but that only serves to stifle debate on the subject, and totally ignores the valid concerns of the vast majority of the Project's opponents. I live in Waltham, far from Cape Cod, and I'm an enthusiastic supporter of green technologies. At the same time, I am completely opposed to the Cape Wind Project, and have been for years, for a host of reasons that have little at all to do with how it'll affect the view from the beach.

First of all, how do we even know it will work? Offshore wind plants are a lot harder to maintain than those on land. The largest to date was a plant with 80 turbines, off the coast of Denmark, which was put into operation in 2002. Two years later, it was shut down because they could never get it functioning properly. Cape Wind, whose known partners have but little experience at all with offshore wind systems, wants to build a plant with 130 turbines. That seems not only egregiously grandiose, but a terrible gamble. At that unprecidented scale, Cape Wind could easily become the next Big Dig.

Worse, they want to build it in Nantucket Sound, an area havily used every day by ferries, tourboats, fishing boats, and lots of other human traffic. Zoning laws for offshore wind plants don't exist yet in the United States, but if European studies of boating safety around wind plants is any indication, any zoning laws that do get proposed will require the number of turbines in the Cape Wind Project to be reduced to the point where the project will no longer be economically feasible, and you can bet on Cape Wind to fight them tooth and nail. On top of this, there's the question of how the electricity produced by the turbines will affect the electronics of airplanes coming in to land at the airports in Hyannis and on the islands. The impact to the tourist and fishing trades could jeopardize the local economy, which would affect thousands of lower- and middle-class people who live on the Cape year-round.

As for the environmental impact that the Cape Wind project will have, what are we really expecting? Yes, we desperately need to reduce, or better yet, eliminate, our dependence on fossil fuels. But only a tiny fraction -- less than ten percent -- of all the fossil fuels consumed in the US are used by power plants. Even if Cape Wind's predictions all come true, which is highly unlikely, it won't put a dent in our fossil fuel use. The control platform will still require a diesel-powered engine to keep the turbines turning when the wind isn't strong enough. In the meantime, the seabed will have been ripped up, over a hundred huge turbines, each one taller than the Statue of Liberty, will have been erected in the migratory path of thousands of birds, and the lighting requirements at night will make it look like a floating city. The Cape Wind Project could actually do more environmental harm than good.

Whether Cape Wind goes ahead won't affect my back yard. But the practical and safety concerns are too big to ignore. And the idea of risking the destruction of one of Massachusetts' great natural treasures in order to build an industrial plant as a token of our commitment to the environment just makes my head hurt.

Yes, we need clean, renewable energy sources. But we also need to approach the construction of such sources with a practical, logical frame of mind, and not let ourselves get swept away by political correctness. The Cape Wind Project is a bad idea from every angle, and it should be abandoned in favor of other projects which could actually benefit Massachusetts and the environment.

Dave,

Nice copy and paste job from the Cape Wind opposition brochure. Plain and simple we need to start somewhere in this country before it is too late. Technology has come a long way since 2002 when those turbines where installed in Denmark and more studies have been put into this project than the US invested in putting a man on the moon. Wake up and realize that this is going to happen sooner or later whether you like it or not. The alternatives are far worse.

I am a Massachusetts resident, but not on Cape Cod. Some of my thoughts...

-Dave mentions hurting tourism. I disagree. I think that there will be boat tours to go see the windmills close up. The ferries and other large boats can't travel on the shoals anyways because the shoals are not deep enough.

-Dave mentioned hurting birds. The Mass Audubon Society did in an depth study of which birds pass through the area, (especially at night) and gave an estimate of bird deaths caused by these windmills. They concluded that the number of birds harmed from pollution at fossil fuel plants would be greater.

- Boating and fishing. If you can't miss a windmill, you shouldn't be on the water! And if you boat because disabled, tie up to one and call the Coast guard to meet you at windmill 47B.

- To say you shouldn't do anything because it is only a small change is stupid. You need to start somewhere.

- Fisherman do not pay any fee to use any fishing grounds. I also think that small pockets of sea bed that can't be dragged will hopefully be a nursery for area fish and shell fish. If anyone has ever seen the draggers going back and forth, you can hardly talk about the seabed being ripped up by the windmills...

- My one concern with this project is very similar to the mining, drilling and logging rights on public land. Are the private companies paying enough for making a profit on public land???

I'm all for the Cape Wind project and have lived here all my life. Just so that people can be put at ease, why not start with a couple of dozen turbines and see how it goes. I really think the opposition is from a select few NIMBY's who could care less what the price of oil or gas is. If you can afford a place on the waterfront on the Cape, I don't think you're worrying about the price of gas.