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NOMES

Tam

Well-known member
Remember the NIMBY stories about the pipeline well meet the NOMES, Not Off My Elitist Shore
Wind farm off Massachusetts meets strong resistance

By Juliet Eilperin,February 08, 2010


ABOARD THE IDA LEWIS -- Interior Secretary Ken Salazar journeyed out into Nantucket Sound on a Coast Guard vessel last week to signal the Obama administration's readiness to put some muscle behind wind energy. To do that, Salazar has to resolve a battle over building a wind farm on 25 square miles of open water that has driven a rift between environmentalists, infuriated local Native Americans and threatened one of the administration's cherished priorities.

The nearly decade-long fight over whether to construct a 130-turbine offshore wind farm near Martha's Vineyard has spurred numerous state and federal regulatory reviews. It has cost millions in lobbying fees and has prompted an intense political debate on Cape Cod and in Washington, setting those who back renewable energy against those who want to preserve the natural beauty of Nantucket Sound.

"The worst thing we can do for the country is to be in a state of indecision, and this application has been in a state of indecision for a very long time," said Salazar, who came to see the proposed site of the Cape Wind project and to meet with tribes that oppose it.


With many other obstacles resolved, including the wind farm's potential hindrance to navigation and fishing and harm to birds, the tribes represent the project's latest challenge: They practice a sunrise ritual every morning on the sound and say they may have artifacts buried beneath the seabed. They have managed to qualify the sound for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which could restrict its commercial use.

Salazar got up before dawn Tuesday to observe a site where the Mashpee Wampanoag's sunrise ceremony takes place before meeting with representatives of the Aquinnah and the Mashpee tribes.

He said that although his department is trying to broker a deal between the tribes and Energy Management, the company seeking to build the farm, "I'm not holding my breath for a consensus." And if the two sides cannot resolve their differences, he said, he will do it himself by April.

The venture stands as a critical test of whether the Obama administration, which views investing in renewable energy as key to reviving the economy and combating climate change, can launch the clean-energy revolution it has promised voters.

Ian Bowles, the Massachusetts energy and environmental affairs secretary, called the Cape Wind project "symbolic of America's struggle with clean energy. Its symbolism has risen above the number of megawatts."

Both sides agree that this offshore wind project, which would be the first in the United States and would furnish about 75 percent of Cape Cod's energy, shows just how hard it will be to construct wind farms off America's coasts.

"The tortured history of Cape Wind is not just a not-in-my-backyard story of fisherman and wealthy people on the Cape," said Michael Moynihan, director of the Green Project at NDN, a centrist think tank. "It is emblematic of the difficulty of getting wind online, anywhere in America, with a system designed a century ago that is frankly hostile to renewable energy."

Wind energy still remains a tiny player, providing less than 2 percent of the nation's supply. Although the United States leads the world in total wind capacity to its power grid, it ranks fifth on a per-capita basis. Last year, China outpaced it for the first time in terms of new installations and manufacturing of wind turbines.

In the short term, land-based wind projects represent a better investment because they can win federal approval faster than the roughly dozen offshore ventures pending, according to Sanjay Shrestha, a senior analyst for Lazard Capital Markets. "If you can do it onshore and do it quicker, why wouldn't you do it?" he asked.

Under Salazar, the Interior Department has launched a concerted effort to streamline approval for offshore projects. In April, the Minerals Management Service finalized rules for placing offshore wind farms, allowing states to decide where and under what terms they will accept bids for wind projects. Salazar has invited the governors of every East Coast state to meet with him Feb. 19 to devise a regional strategy for wind development off the Atlantic Coast.

But these moves have not resolved some of the structural problems facing renewable energy, including utilities have little incentive to gamble on cutting-edge technology that will raise the costs to consumers in the short term. Even under the new permit system, any project must be vetted for compliance with the Endangered Species Act, the National Historic Preservation Act and several other federal laws.

"It's not going to happen overnight," said MMS Director Liz Birnbaum.

I heard a story about what that energy is going to cost and it sounds to be a fair bit more than other energy sources due to the expense of building the hundreds of wind towers out in the ocean.

And funny how Salazar can make the decision by April on the Off Shore project but the Pipeline has to have OBAMA's APPROVAL. :?

Will Obama side with his green energy buddies and destroy the Martha's Vineyard Shore Line View or will he appease his millionaire friends and save their Skyline View for Michelle's next tax payer bought and paid for vacation? :?
 

Steve

Well-known member
at times it is almost humorous watching the liberals get mired in the muck of regulations they stifled US with...



ok it is funny watching them whine about their pet projects being stopped by the very regulations they cherish..
 
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