CAPE COD'S BIG WIND
By David Gallagher
Originally published in E Magazine, March 2002
Alternative energy sources such as wind and solar power can sound ideal -- they are clean, efficient, and renewable ways to produce energy. Plans to implement them, however, often meet unanticipated opposition. A proposed 170-turbine wind park off the southern coast of Massachusetts has been greeted with such opposition.
The proposed wind park on Horseshoe Shoals in Nantucket Sound has drawn criticism from two groups: local officials who feel that the site will detract from the natural beauty of the region, and commercial fishermen who fear that the wind park would destroy a prime fishing area.
Natural aesthetics is no small consideration in a region where 44 percent of the local economy is tourism-based. The area is well known for its beaches, ocean views, and quaint villages. The town of Barnstable, while having no regulatory control over the shoal, has passed a resolution opposing the wind park. The resolution calls the plan “devastating to the incredible beauty of Nantucket Sound – for beach-goers, boaters, visitors to Cape Cod, and shoreline residents.”
Cape Wind Associates LLC, a partnership of Energy Management Inc. and Wind Management, has proposed the $500 million wind park, and feel that wind park could generate 420 megawatts of electricity annually. The proposed site lies five miles off the southern coast of Cape Cod, over an area of approximately 25 square miles. The project is currently in the permitting phase. Construction could begin as early as 2003. It would be the first offshore wind park in the U.S.
Brian Braginton-Smith, Vice President of Project Development at Wind Management, and founder of the Conservation Consortium, believes he understands the criticism. “People react differently to change. Some people react with fear. We feel that the positive advantages of this plan will overcome these fearful reactions.”
Local commercial fishermen also oppose the plan. Ron Borjeson, Vice President of the Massachusetts Commercial Fishermen's Association, states that the towers would obstruct fishing on the Shoal. "We are 100 percent for the energy concept, but the location is all wrong. Horseshoe Shoal has been a prime fishing area for hundreds of years. This plan would destroy our livelihood."
Borjeson has started a petition against the wind park, and the group plans an extensive letter campaign targeting legislators. "We are adamantly against this plan," states Borjeson, "and we will fight it tooth and nail."
“The issue of fisheries is really just a red herring,” counters Braginton-Smith. “In the long-term, this plan may be beneficial to fish populations. The visual impact on the Sound is the only real issue.”
Most public opinion has been in opposition of the plan. William Nye is a resident of Centerville and a retired civil engineer. He likes the idea of wind power, but also questions the location of the project. "This is a very popular fishing spot. This Sound is property owned by all of us; it should not be used by private industry. There are land sites that would make better locations. They would be easier to build and to maintain."
The partners of Cape Wind expect to win over the skeptics. “We are in the process of detailed environmental analysis,” states Braginton-Smith. “Everyone will have the opportunity to participate. We feel that education is the tool we will use to allay people’s fears.”
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© David Gallagher 2005.
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