Towns Vote in Favor of Wind Projects

Voters in 11 Massachusetts towns voiced their approval of offshore wind energy yesterday, by voting “yes” to a non-binding ballot question in support of wind farms, including the controversial Cape Wind project proposed in Nantucket Sound.

The non-binding question on ballots in Braintree, Holbrook, Randolph, Cohasett, Hingham, Hull, Marshfield, Scituate, Hanover, Norwell, and Rockland read:

Shall/Should the state representative from this district be instructed to vote in favor of legislation that would support the development of Cape Wind in Nantucket Sound and other possible future onshore and offshore wind power developments in Massachusetts?

According to Cape Wind, the developer of the 130-turbine project on Horseshoe Shoal, 87 percent of those who voted on the question in the South Shore towns voted in favor of it. Each of the towns individually passed the question. For complete results, look here.

Save our Sound, the advocacy group that has opposed the Cape Wind project, said the results were misleading because the ballot item bundled the Cape Wind project with other “future” and “possible” wind projects, offering voters no chance to vote in favor of wind energy while opposing near-shore projects like Cape Wind’s.

What do you think about offshore and onshore wind projects? Does your view of the Cape Wind project in particular differ from your opinion of state wind projects, in general?

Read more at the two organizations’ websites:

Cape Wind: www.capewind.org/index.php

Save our Sound: www.saveoursound.org/site/News2?page=NewsArticle&id=6203