Posts Tagged ‘cape wind’

MMS Receives 40,000+ Comments On Cape Wind

offshore_wind_dreamstime__520_200.JPGAgency permanently extends comment period for alt. energy leases

In the fall of 2001, Jim Gordon of Energy Management Inc. (EMI) announced his intentions to build a 420 megawatt wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts - the nation’s first. Now, the long permitting process that was made even longer by powerful opposition groups, is nearing resolution…finally.

More than 40,000 individuals and organizations have submitted comments on an environmental review of the wind farm proposed for Nantucket Sound, according to an article in the Cape Cod Times.

“I’ve never seen anything like this before,” said Rodney Cluck, Cape Wind project manager for the U.S. Minerals Management Service, the lead federal agency to review Cape Wind Associates’ plan to build 130 wind turbines in Nantucket Sound, off the coast of Massachusetts. Originally, the comments were set to be released last Friday, but officials at the Minerals Management Service postponed the release to give agency staffers more time to organize the overwhelming public response to the proposed wind farm.

As a result of the scoping process’ popularity, the MMS announced that they would be preemptively extending the comment period for all of the remaining “Alternative Energy Leases” from 30 to 60 days.

Survey Says: Support for Cape Wind Surging

offshore-wind, wine-energy, cape-wind, civil-society-institute, mms, public comment, eisA recent survey (pdf) found that 87 percent of Massachusetts residents say they are now “more likely to support Cape Wind” in the wake of the recently issued draft environmental impact statement (EIS) that found no major environmental harms resulting from the project. It seems that the growing public consciousness of climate change is actually producing measurable shifts in the public mood. Time is clearly running out for Cape Wind opponents. And despite the recent 30-day extension of the public comment period granted by the U.S. Minerals Management Service (at the behest of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound), it is my firm belief that this project will soon get the federal stamp of approval it has been seeking (to go along with the federal approval it already got back in 2004). In what should make for a pretty entertaining roadshow, the MMS is beginning a four-night run of public hearings starting on Monday March 10th in West Yarmouth, MA. The hearings will then rumble through Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard before concluding in Boston on March 13. If you are not lucky enough to attend, what will certainly be “spirited” events, you may submit an e-comment no later than April 21.

(D)emocracy: Tell the Feds What You Think About Cape Wind

d_picker_offshore_wind.jpg (Author’s Note: As I write this, the current weather conditions in Nantucket Sound [Wed Feb 13 16:41 EDST] are ideal for wind power generation. With wind speeds of 38 knots and gusts of up to 45 knots at the location of the proposed offshore wind energy installation, Cape Wind would have produced 422 megawatts of clean, renewable energy local in the last hour).

1. Do you have an opinion about offshore […]

Controversial Wind Farm Takes Step Forward

399152781_b341c934ba It comes as no great surprise to many of us that there will always be a roadblock to a good step forward; especially if it’s a green step. People often do not like new technology. They’re scared of it, or fearful of the jobs it will take away/create. This is very much the case for wind-power, and wind-farms in particular. People are upset because they feel that their lovely views are worth more than the environment itself.

Does someone really need to point out that, if we continue down the road we are on, their views will be spoilt regardless?

A report by the Minerals Management Service in the US gave preliminary environmental approval to a proposed wind-farm off Cape Cod. Plans by developer Cape Wind Associates describe a wind-farm encompassing 25 miles of federal waters in Nantucket Sound, with 130 windmills generating power for thousands of households.

The findings showed that the plans would pose no significant threat to the environment, despite claims to the contrary by locals and politicians.

Stakeholders React to Cape Wind Report - Kennedy Clan Still Quiet

cape wind, wind farm, offshore wind, nantucket sound, kennedy, renewable energy, wind energy, politicsAs I reported yesterday, a proposed wind farm near Cape Cod cleared a major hurdle when the US Minerals Management Service issued a favorable report in their Draft
Environmental Impact Statement.

The agency indicated that, in nearly all of the issues they studied, the project would have minimal impacts. The report did say that some birds would have “moderate” impacts, but that those problems could be mostly mitigated. Believe it or not, the only “major” impact cited in the MMS report was the view from boats. You can judge for yourself how those turbines might look by taking a look at the image above, which is a simulated view of the turbines from Nantucket created by the Cape Wind folks (link to more below). It seems to me that if the only major problem with the project is based on…

Breaking: MMS Releases Favorable Report on Cape Wind

cape wind, nantucket sound, cape cod, map, cape-and-islands, mms, offshore wind, wind energy, renewable energyLast week, the epic political battle over a proposed wind farm off the shores of Cape Cod, MA, was in the news once again. The news that Charles Vinick, head of Cape Wind opposition group, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, was going to step aside struck many observers as an indicator of things to come. When the Minerals Management Service’s released their offshore wind-siting guidelines one day later, I knew a decision was imminent. And lo and behold, there it was, a headline in today’s Boston Globe that many folks (including yours truly) had been waiting for…

Dept. of Interior Establishes Offshore Wind Guidelines (sort of)

The U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS), a division of the U.S. Department of the Interior has formally established an interim adaptive management program called the Alternative Energy and Alternate Use Program (imho, a very bad name). The program will regulate any future development of offshore wind projects on the outer continental shelf. The new program puts forth 52 “best management practices to minimize potential adverse impacts of future projects” but has no impact on the imminent decision in […]

Cape Wind Opponent to Step Down

offshore wind, cape-wind, renewable energy, charles-vinick, alliance to protect nantucket sound, energy, politicsCape Wind opposition leader, Charles Vinick is preparing to leave his post. Vinick, president of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, the well-funded opposition organization of the proposed Cape Wind energy project, has indicated that he would “transition” out of the position within a month.

Even if you haven’t closely followed the protracted political saga swirling around the proposed offshore wind farm in the shallow waters off Cape Cod, Massachusetts, you probably know that it has been going on for a long, long time. Unfortunately, the case has been filled with enough juicy political fodder over the last seven years to keep people from dwelling upon the fact that the regulatory review has already brought seven years of scrutiny by seventeen state and federal agencies.

However, an end may be in sight as a final decision from the U.S. Minerals Management Service (MMS) is imminent. That is why the timing of Vinick’s announcement strikes me as odd, and quite possibly a harbinger of things to come.

How To Say A Lot While Saying Nothing At All

In a recent Wall Street Journal article entitled ‘Wind Jammers," the Journal manages to take both sides of the Cape Wind issue, without really taking either, while at the same time firmly sticking their foot into their mouths. If you are not familiar with Cape Wind (or I should say the war over Cape Wind), here is a brief update. A company wants to install a

[…]

Get a Journal now!
Web 2.0 Expo San Francisco 2008

Advertisement