Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound

The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit environmental organization dedicated to the long-term preservation of Nantucket Sound. Alliance membership includes many dedicated environmental and business professionals who have long ties to the Cape. Allies include some local towns, Chambers of Commerce, several environmental groups, many fishing and recreation groups, and prominent public figures including former candidate for U.S. President and former Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney, U.S. Senator Ted Kennedy, Attorney General Tom Reilly, Congressman Bill Delahunt, [citebook|title=Case Studies in Environmental Ethics |author= Edward M. McNamara, Patrick George Derr|year=2003|publisher=Rowman & Littlefield|pages=78|id=ISBN 0742531376] and billionaire oil heir William Koch. [citation|last=Doyle |first=Tim |title=Koch's New Fight |date=2006-09-21 |journal=Forbes magazine |url=http://www.forbes.com/2006/09/21/koch-gordon-nantucket-biz_cz_td_06rich400_0921nantucket.html] Its current president is Charles McLaughlin of Harwich. Among its directors have been Dan Wolf, President and CEO of airline Cape Air, along with former candidate for Massachusetts governor and convenience store baron Christy Mihos (source: public records at the Massachusetts Division of Corporations).

History

Although they claim to be an environmental group, the Alliance was formed in 2001 to oppose a proposal to build a 130 turbine renewable energy wind farm in Nantucket Sound called Cape Wind. It suffered an embarrassing setback in 2003 when its prominent spokesperson, retired news anchor Walter Cronkite in a change of heart, requested that all of his ads in support of The Alliance be pulled, and said he will withhold further judgement until an environmental impact statement is complete. [citation|last=Ebbert |first=Stephanie |title=Cronkite urges full review of wind farm proposal |date=2003-08-29 |newspaper=Boston Globe |url=http://www.boston.com/news/local/articles/2003/08/29/cronkite_urges_full_review_of_wind_farm_proposal/]

Position

The stated goal of the Alliance is to protect Nantucket Sound in perpetuity through conservation, environmental action, and opposition to inappropriate industrial or commercial development that would threaten or negatively alter the coastal ecosystem. The Alliance supports formal designation of Nantucket Sound as a marine protected area.Fact|date=February 2007

The Alliance supports wind power as an energy source, and promotes many forms of renewables. However, the organization is opposed the proposed wind power plant in Nantucket Sound due to potential adverse economic and environmental impacts, as well as the lack of an appropriate review and permitting process and the absence of federal guidelines for offshore wind energy development.Fact|date=February 2007

Specific reasons the Alliance is critical of the Cape Wind project include:

1. Public Trust violationThe proposed plant represents seizure of convert|24|sqmi|km2 of public trust lands in Nantucket Sound by a private for-profit venture, with no discussion or permission from the state and federal agencies that serve as the guardians of public trust and no associated payment.Fact|date=February 2007

2. Economic ImpactThe project is a net cost to the public in terms of subsidies and tax credits and poses calculable economic losses in business, taxes, and property values for Cape Cod, and potentially Nantucket and Martha’s Vineyard. These costs greatly offset the developer’s potential best case electric bill savings scenario of 10 cents per month per residence.Fact|date=February 2007

3. Environmental harmNantucket Sound is a well-recognized rich ecological resource area that qualifies for and deserves federal protected status. A power plant in the midst of this sensitive ecosystem could degrade or destroy vital habitat for birds, fish and other marine life, and pose a serious threat to the near-shore fishing industry.Fact|date=February 2007

4. Aesthetic pollutionThe wind energy plant is an expansive industrial complex of 130 wind turbines, each convert|417|ft|m tall with a nacelle larger than a school bus (48 ft) and a rotor sweep area significantly larger than a Boeing 747 Jet (340 ft). Each turbine will have four flashing lights, for a total of 520 flashing red and amber lights, and the corners of the complex will be marked with fog horns. This will cause visual, noise and light pollution.Fact|date=February 2007 5. Safety hazardThe project poses a potential danger to air and sea navigation, and to the thousands of recreational boaters and commercial fishermen that use Nantucket Sound for leisure or their livelihood. The project is directly adjacent to a major shipping lane which serves as an alternative route to the Cape Cod Canal. One of the many vessels to travel through this area is an oil barge that regularly visits Nantucket. If a barge were to run into trouble and drift into the turbines with the prevailing southwest winds, the result could be an environmental disaster.Fact|date=February 2007 6. Technical constraintsSoutheastern Massachusetts is an electricity exporter. Nantucket Sound is a poor location for a new power generation facility given documented congestion problems for grid connections.Fact|date=February 2007

Criticism

While The Alliance to protect Nantucket sound is an environmental organization, some note that its co-chairman Bill Koch has a business empire based on oil refining. [http://www.a3.org/koch_full_bio.html] Some of the other members have coastal properties with a direct view of Cape Wind's future site and consider the windmills an eyesore. That has led at least one major environmental group, Greenpeace (which supports the project), to believe that the Alliance to protect Nantucket sound is just a front group for wealthy landowners who don’t care about environmental issues and do not want to have to look at windmills from their houses on Martha’s Vineyard. [http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/campaigns/global-warming-and-energy/copy-of-wind-power/in-support-of-cape-wind/greenpeace-support-s-cape-wind]

In February 2006, John Donelan, the co-founder of the group settled a [http://www.capecodonline.com/special/windfarm/capewind14.htm defamation case] for $15k brought by Cape Wind because he sent a press release with false information from a Hyannis company he did not represent. Cape Wind will donate the money to Housing Assistance Corporation of Cape Cod.

ee also

*Cape Wind
*US Army Corps of Engineers
*Wind Over Water

References

External links

* [http://www.saveoursound.org/ Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound]
* [http://www.capewind.org/ Cape Wind Project Page]
* [http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/projects/ma/ccwf/deis.htm Draft Environmental Impact Statement] - Produced by the US Army Corps of Engineers
* [http://www.nae.usace.army.mil/projects/ma/ccwf/deiscomments.htm Comments on the DEIS] - Nearly 5,000 Written Comments
* [http://www.windstop.org/ Windstop.org] anti-wind project group
* [http://www.cleanpowernow.org/ Clean power Now] pro-wind project group
* [http://www.offshorewind.net OffshoreWind.net- Offshore Wind energy information]
* [http://www.windoverwater.org/ Wind Over Water] - a documentary film about the Cape Wind Project by Ole Tangen Jr.