Green Options » cape wind

Ted Kennedy’s Environmental Legacy

Joe Walsh — Thu, 27 Aug 2009 20:39:36 +0000

Americans of a certain age grew up with a very common stock political caricature as part of our culture: he (invariably a man) was a Southern Gentleman with a quick wit and syrupy drawl, never without his vested suit and pocket watch, and—at least in popular satire—always with one hand cradling a well-chomped cigar and the other out for a bribe. To some extent, he was epitomized by Boss Hog. But, that was then.

Today, one political caricature resonates in American pop culture like no other, and he is the Simpsons’ Mayor Quimby. Rarely if ever has an animated character drawn so many of traits, mannerisms and context from one living person so directly. Mayor Quimby is Senator Edward Kennedy, making the late Liberal Lion from Massachusetts the most well-known and widely-recognized political figure in generations.

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Texas Taking Lead in Race for US’ First Offshore Wind Farm?

Timothy B. Hurst — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 11:54:10 +0000

Texas start-up Baryonyx awarded two offshore wind energy leases

Which state’s waters will be the home of the United States’ first offshore wind farm? Will it be Massachusetts, where an eight-year battle for a wind farm near Cape Cod seems like it may never end? How about a little further south, in Rhode Island or New Jersey? Will it be Delaware, where Bluewater Wind hopes to develop a project that would provide almost 1/3 of the energy needed by Delmarva Power? What about other Mid-Atlantic states like North Carolina or Virginia, where the Department of Interior says sites with easily-developed shallow water wind resources dot the coastline?

Well, if you answered none of the above, you may be on to something.

Texas General Land Office last week awarded leases to Baryonyx, authorizing the company to develop wind farms on three sites, two of which are offshore, with a total potential capacity of 3,000 megawatts.

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Massachusetts Scouting for Wind Power Sites to Meet Goal

Dave Tyler — Mon, 15 Jun 2009 16:04:24 +0000

The state of Massachusetts is hunting for unusual places to put wind turbines as it looks to meet an ambitious goal of producing 2,000 megawatts of windpower by 2020.

The Associated Press reports that state officials are encouraging municipal planners to look at using capped landfills as potential wind farm locations. Plans were also just announced for a military reservation on Cape Cod.

The state is hoping to jump start development, because right now, the AP reports, there are only 11 commercial scale turbines in the state. But, ther are dozens of smaller ones installed and nearly 200 other projects in various stages of planning.

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Emission Free: 5 Huge Renewable Energy Projects to Watch For

Dave Levitan — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 14:51:21 +0000

In February, President Obama called for a doubling of the US renewable energy capacity within three years. Yesterday, Obama visited a wind energy company in Newton, Iowa and again emphasized the importance of new forms of power generation:

“Now, the choice we face is not between saving our environment and saving our economy. The choice we face is between prosperity and decline. We can remain the world’s leading importer of oil, or we can become the world’s leading exporter of clean energy.”

With billions in stimulus dollars heading toward improving the electricity grid and building sustainable energy infrastructure, emission-free power may be coming to your neighborhood sooner than you think. Here are five of the biggest, most ambitious projects that are in the pipeline, both in the US and elsewhere.

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Favorable Breezes for Cape Wind

Sean Sullivan — Sun, 18 Jan 2009 00:02:34 +0000

Someday, the Cape Wind story will become a major Hollywood blockbuster.

Or at least a two-part television miniseries starring Ed Begley Jr. On the Discovery Channel.

The effort to build an offshore wind farm - it would be the US’s first - has thus far been a roller coaster ride for advocates and opponents alike.

If that movie is ever made, this Jan. 18 will occupy a turning point in the story’s script, the day the jury levees its verdict before a rapt courtroom. Here and now, the date stands as a milestone in the life of the Cape Wind drama, marking the release of the farm’s final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS).

The report is an exhaustive seal of approval of sorts, the final official analysis of how the wind project would likely affect its environment.

The federal Minerals Management Service assembled the report, an 800-page tome touching on every aspect of the wind farm - from expected effects on local economies and energy supply to its influence on bat and bird populations.

Adverse effects according to the report, would be mostly negligible or minor with a few moderate effects expected.

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Cape Cod Offshore Wind Farm Cleared for Take Off

Timothy B. Hurst — Sat, 17 Jan 2009 03:40:33 +0000

The Cape Wind project in Massachusetts cleared its biggest hurdle to date on Friday when the U.S. Minerals Management Service gave final environmental approval to the 450 megawatt offshore wind farm.

The eight year-old battle for what would be the country’s first offshore wind farm may finally be nearing an end as the long-awaited Final Environmental Impact Statement reported negligible to minor impacts across all but one of the 27 resource areas studied. The impact on marine birds was the only one judged to have anything above negligible to minor environmental impacts. Taken in full, MMS found the project would have no significant environmental impacts.

Needless to say, Cape Wind supporters enthusiastically welcomed the decision. The project’s developer, Jim Gordon the CEO of Cape Wind Associates said “Massachusetts is one major step closer to becoming home to America’s first offshore wind farm and becoming a global leader in the production of offshore renewable energy.”

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The Twelve Days of sustainablog: Bees, Stimulus Checks, and Biodynamic Wine

Jeff McIntire-Strasburg — Fri, 19 Dec 2008 23:21:11 +0000

2008 was a banner year for sustainablog, and we want to end it as strongly as we started. So, for the next twelve days, I’ll take a look back at some of the best and most memorable posts from the past year.

Let me start off, though, by expressing my immense gratitude to all of the writers who contributed during 2008. This was our first full year as a multi-author blog, and I couldn’t have been more pleased with the way it turned out. Some of the writers I’ll mention have moved on; others on coming on board. I’m grateful for the inspiration you’ve all brought to the blog over the past year, and look forward with anticipation to what the new year brings us.

January 2008

Like New Year’s fireworks, January started off with a bang. Here are a few great posts to remember:

Jason Phillip’s post on Chicago’s bottled water tax was one of our most popular ever… it’s still getting pageviews!
Maria Surma Manka wrote a very thorough (and also very popular) review of Scientific American’s “Solar Grand Plan.”
I took a look at an innovative South African whose developed a low-cost, high-yield method of generating energy from chicken poop.

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Is Kennedy Behind Latest Cape Wind Delay?

Timothy B. Hurst — Sun, 14 Dec 2008 21:25:13 +0000

I grew up in Massachusetts where the Kennedys—for all intents and purposes—are treated like royalty. I do hold Senator Ted Kennedy in very high regard for all the excellent work he has done in his 46 years in the U.S. Senate. That is why I am especially troubled by the senator’s long-standing opposition to the proposed offshore wind farm in Massachusetts. As news broke late last week that there might be yet another delay in the eight year battle to get Cape Wind approved, I had to wonder if Kennedy’s hand was somehow behind it. And according to reports, that is at least plausible.

As I reported yesterday**, Minnesota Rep. Jim Oberstar sent a letter to Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen asking for a delay in the Guard’s final recommendations on Cape Wind. Acting as Chair of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, Oberstar’s letter demanded a delay for public comment on the project’s potential impact on marine radar.

Well, apparently it worked.

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Congressman Asks Coast Guard to Delay Offshore Wind Farm

Timothy B. Hurst — Sat, 13 Dec 2008 08:40:11 +0000

In what must have triggered a collective moan of ‘are you kidding me?’ from environmentalists and renewable energy advocates across the country and the world, Minnesota Representative Jim Oberstar, a Democrat, has asked the United States Coast Guard to delay its final recommendations on the proposed Cape Wind project. If built, the project would be the first offshore wind farm in the United States.

Oberstar, Chairman of the Transportation and Infrastructure Committee sent a letter to Coast Guard Commandant Thad Allen this week requesting an extension of at least 60 days to conduct a public comment period to gauge opinion on the wind farm’s potential impact on marine radar and safety.

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MMS Receives 40,000+ Comments On Cape Wind

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 06 May 2008 07:07:18 +0000

Agency 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.

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Survey Says: Support for Cape Wind Surging

Timothy B. Hurst — Sun, 09 Mar 2008 09:47:59 +0000

A 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.

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

Timothy B. Hurst — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 23:59:07 +0000

(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 wind energy development?

2. Are you an American citizen?

3. Do you give a s#!t about this planet?

If you answered yes to all of the above, then you might be interested to know that the comment period for the Cape Wind project, the proposed offshore windfarm near Cape Cod, MA, is open to the general public until March 20th. This project is proposed for development in Federal waters, so it is open to all American citizens. You can submit an e-comment via the Department of Interior’s Minerals Management Service Public Connect system. Since the release of the draft EIS last month, most seem to think the report is generally favorable on the Cape Wind proposal. But the process is far from over. The anti-Cape Wind effort is still well-funded and persistent. The public commenting period can have a significant impact on the final determination in an EIS, so go ahead and speak your mind.

Post E-Comment via MMS Public Connect

From the MMS Website:

The 60-day comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement is about half way through, assesses the physical, biological and social/human impacts of the proposed project and all reasonable alternatives, including action not taken (i.e., the project is not built), in an objective fashion in order to determine if the proposal is environmentally sound. A final decision will be made, which will account for the regional, state and local benefits and impacts as well as for the overall public interest of the United States. A final approval will be granted only if, after consideration of both environmental and non-environmental issues, the MMS finds that the proposed action is in the public interest.

Post E-Comment via MMS Public Connect

Photo: dpicker via flickr

Controversial Wind Farm Takes Step Forward

Joshua S Hill — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 19:25:58 +0000

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.

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Stakeholders React to Cape Wind Report - Kennedy Clan Still Quiet

Timothy B. Hurst — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 10:47:40 +0000

As 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…

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Breaking: MMS Releases Favorable Report on Cape Wind

Timothy B. Hurst — Mon, 14 Jan 2008 20:43:06 +0000

Last 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…

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

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 21:44:13 +0000

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 the proposed Cape Wind project.In a bit of bureaucratic reorganization, the Energy Policy Act of 2005 authorized MMS to regulate offshore wind development, thus pulling the carpet out from under Cape Wind, America’s first proposed offshore wind energy project. The proposal was awaiting final approval in 2005 when Sen. Edward Kennedy was able to place a moratorium on offshore wind development until the permitting process was relocated out of the jurisdiction of the Army Corps of Engineers and into the jurisdiction of the MMS, an arm of the Department of the Interior that deals primarily with offshore oil and gas leases.

For some background on the very contentious Cape Wind saga:

Cape Wind Opponent to Step Down

Timothy B. Hurst — Fri, 11 Jan 2008 09:36:45 +0000

Cape 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.

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How To Say A Lot While Saying Nothing At All

Shane Jordan — Wed, 29 Aug 2007 15:09:24 +0000

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 big wind farm off the coast of Cape Cod; they say it will produce 75% of the areas power. It has passed every major environmental and government review process so far. Some very rich opponents of the wind farm claim it will ruin the aesthetic value of the cape (their view), and some fisherman think it might interfere with fishing. If built, it will be America’s first offshore wind farm. Even the Daily Show weighed in on the project. (warning: highly funny)

I have lived in the trenches of this battle for the last four years, and the "war" has been going on for the last 6 years. Getting a large renewable energy project built in the backyard of some of the nation’s richest, and most politically-connected people, is not an easy task. The Wall Street Journal (supposedly one of the nation’s best newspapers) has some interesting, and in my opinion foolish, things to say about the issue.

"But advocates often tout renewable energy not for its economics, but because it’s virtuous. Many of those who are willing to impose the costs of various environmental schemes on other Americans based on "ideals" suddenly have started looking more closely at the tradeoffs when something they hold dear would have to be sacrificed, like a nice view. Wind energy is never going to be anything but a bit player in meeting the world’s energy needs. The Nantucket tempest is useful mainly as a real-world test of whether some of the world’s most privileged liberals wear their ideals all the time, or only when it suits them."

That’s a lot to chew on so lets break it down.

"Renewable energy is only about virtue and not money"

Advocates of renewable energy certainly look at the economic impacts of green energy projects. Wind farms often cost hundreds of millions, even billions of dollars. No investor in their right mind would ever build one if it wasn’t going to make them money. You might say "Aha! But renewable energy gets subsides from the government to make it profitable." I would respond, "So do big oil, gas, and coal companies, even though they are making hundreds of billions of dollars in profits each year (meaning they don’t need the subsides), whereas renewable energy gets far less in subsides, and is still the fasted growing market in the energy sector." When you factor in the massive economic damage that will be caused by continuing to burn fossil fuels (global warming, pollution, destruction of the environment to get them, etc), you will see that coal, oil, and gas are really the options with the large price tag.

"Liberals like renewable energy, and are hypocrites because they don’t want it near their home"

It is true: many progressive people do like renewable energy. It is also true that Ted Kennedy and Robert Kennedy are against the Cape Wind project because they don’t want to have to look at it from their sprawling oceanside mansion. But it is also true that the opponents of Cape Wind have been funded heavily by people with ties to the oil, gas and coal industries, and by many a staunch Republican. The Kennedy opposition to Cape Wind is a shameful example of hypocrisy; Robert Kennedy in particular is a long-time fighter against pollution, and a supporter of renewable energy in the past.

The statement overlooks the heavy opposition from wealthy oil/coal/gas magnates that have also opposed the project. The article didn’t mention that this is yet another example of big carbon trying to keep its strangle hold on the energy market by crushing any and all new comers. Instead, it tried to focus on the hypocrisy of a couple of liberals. Some of the most conservative people think renewable energy is a good idea because it will allow us to become free of Middle East oil, thus allowing us more choices in our foreign policy. In only focusing on what I will readily admit is hypocrisy of a few, it ignores the equally shameful actions of the rest.

So we know that rich Democrats, and rich Republicans, don’t want the project, but what do the majority of the people who live in the area think? A recent study showed that over 80% of Massachusetts residents are in favor of the project, and that 58% of Cape and Islands residents (the people closest to the project) support it. So in both cases, strong majorities of the people who will actually benefit from the project are for it.

"Wind power sucks, and will only ever be a bit player in the industry"

I felt this was the most shocking statement of all in the entire article. For one, the wind industry is growing at record speed worldwide. AWEA, the American Wind Energy Association, puts American wind industry growth at a staggering 27% in 2006, and an estimated 26% growth this year. This rapid growth is expected to continue: this year alone, over 4 billion dollars were invested in just the American wind industry. Similar growth is happening worldwide. For examples of what wind power can do, look to some European countries: Denmark for instance gets 15% of its power from renewable energy. German, Portugal (they are trying for 45% by 2010!), and the other European nations are also getting significat portions of their energy from renewable sources, much of it wind power.

With the specter of global warming on the horizon, the problems that "oil diplomacy" has caused in our relationships with other parts of the world, the diminishing supplies of cheap oil, the pollution caused by burning fossil fuels, and the high cost (money, environmental and regrettably lives) of securing these fuels, renewable energy not only makes sense, but it seems like the only option. Wind alone will not solve our problems, and neither will one wind farm. There is no silver bullet that will solve our climate problems. There is, however, silver buckshot: wind power, combined with solar and other renewable energy technologies, efficiency, and shifting the way we live our lives, can.