Klaus Daimler (I love the blogger’s pseudonym) wrote:

As someone who lives on the Cape and has followed this project since its conception, it is refreshing to read a thought out argument for this project. However, I disagree with you, and believe that Cape Wind is an ill-conceived project that violates the public trust and will do far more damage then the limited liability developers would have the public believe.

You are right, the developer has given a lot of thought to this project, and he is proposing to place it in an area where he stands to make the most profit. Admittedly, he is a good businessman. But telling the taxpaying residents of Massachusetts that Horseshoe Shoal is the only place for this project is wrong, and presents us with a false choice. Other alternative sites have been identifies, yet Jim Gordon wants to place this project in the heart of Nantucket Sound.

It is important to note that Nantucket Sound has twice been nominated as a national marine ocean sanctuary, and was formally the Cape and Islands Ocean sanctuary – protected from utility scale developments just like Cape Wind….

I have not seen any evidence that Cape Wind is ill conceived, but there is a perception that the wind turbines will destroy the “pristine” seascape and cause various types of disturbances, but these possible disturbances can be mitigated and monitored as Cape Wind is built, used, and maintained. However, pristine nature is not the reality of Nantucket Sound, since the Sound suffers from negative anthropogenic influences. Both recreational and commercial boaters  pollute, since tourists have a great impact on the Sound as does the ferry and shipping industries.  The ferries that pass through Nantucket Sound dump their waste directly into the Sound. The reality is ironic (refer to sewage concerns shake sound). Furthermore, the area is fished by commercial and recreational fishers, and pollutants from coal powered plants and other industries can be found in the waters and within living organisms that make Nantucket Sound their home. If we do not build the renewable infrastructure, more of these polluting nonrenewable energy plants will have to be built.

Once a group is targeted, rights agreements are made, or there is something to loose, people naturally become defensive, since  any rights agreement produces both winners and losers. But what are we loosing collectively, or what decision is best for the collective?

Given our dilemma and need to metabolize resources versus the actual availability of these resources to make goods, it can be argued that it is in the government’s interest (or everyone in Massachusetts) to develop clean energy. The benefits received by people collectively if Cape Wind is built compared with the perceived detriment suffered by a few will decide this controversial issue.

How can we accurately predict that Cape Wind will be a failure? There is no convincing evidence that Cape Wind will be a disaster. There is more evidence that Cape Wind will benefit many, and where there will be negative impacts (as there is with any project or any action), these impacts can be mitigated and monitored. So much attention has been given to the project that arguably it should not fail. Furthermore, I am sure the developer of Cape Wind is not maliciously placing the turbines in the heart of Nantucket Sound without having good reason.

If Nantucket Sound is special enough to be nominated twice as a national marine ocean sanctuary, then perhaps we should use fortress style conservation to preserve the area and exclude all anthropogenic activity including fishing and Cape Wind.  However, realistically, commercial fishing and commercial wind production can exist concurrently.

A place can give special meaning to our lives, but whether you are a commercial fisher or extracting timber in Madagascar, the use of a resource is driven by profit, so I believe it is dishonest for fishers to try and exclude Cape Wind when the project can benefit many. If the Sound has environmental value, and keeping it pristine is an important priority, then Cape Wind is far from the problem, since there are numerous other factors that the people of Cape Cod need to address in order to preserve Nantucket Sound, the state of Massachusetts, America, and the world.

On the Net: Thoughts From Horseshoe Shoal
On the Net: Cape Wind :: America’s First Offshore Wind Farm on Nantucket Sound
On the Net: Sewage concerns shake sound
On the Net: 3 in 5 on Cape Cod & Islands now approve wind farm