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A Letter to Congress

04/13/06 · 10:19 am :: posted by Walter Brooks     

Katrina today, Cape Cod tomorrow

A
s an editor and publisher on Cape Cod where the highest point of land is but 70 feet above sea level, I am deeply concerned about global warming and the immediate effect of insurance companies stopping home coverage for fear of the next hurricane season.

I am even more troubled about a provision in the Coast Guard Reauthorization Bill that would effectively kill the future of America’s first offshore wind farm, Cape Wind.

I strongly urge members of Congress to oppose the provision that gives veto power for any wind farm project in Nantucket Sound to the Massachusetts Governor, a highly political office with no qualifications in renewable energy.

My online newspaper has this month published documents proving that it was lobbying by Big Oil to kill our nation's first offshore renewable energy project which directly lead to the covert inserting of that amendment in the Cape Wind "kill-bill".

What a slap in the face to Senator Pete Domenici and the Senate Energy & Natural Resources Committee.

This veto provision is a blatant example of the Abramoff illegal lobbying scandal, the very kind of back door politics that Congress has been claiming it is against. The amendment had to be secretly added in a closed-door committee because it would never have passed in open committee debate.

This provision is a sneaky attempt to shutdown America's move toward a clean energy future.

I ask you to join with Washington Senator Maria Cantwell and New Hampshire Congressman Charles Bass to stop this travesty immediately.
 
I urge you to stand up and reject this egregious language in the Coast Guard Bill.  Our country needs more renewable energy and less special-interest politics.

Search my newspaper site CapeCodTODAY.com for the names "Senator Stevens",  "Don Young" and "Bill Koch" if you wish to see the proof of my assertions.

Walter Brooks, Editor & Publisher
CapeCodTODAY

16 comments
Blog posts and comments are entirely the thoughts and ideas of the people who write them and in no way represent the views of CapeCodToday.com, eCape, Inc., or its employees or owners.

04/14/06 @ 10:38 am
RFM P.E. [Visitor] writes:
Have you considered what a 'Katrina' hurricane would do to the wind farm?
Over 70 oil/gas platforms destroyed in the Gulf of Mexico, these platforms purportedly designed for such winds.
It's wishful thinking to believe the Islands would protect a wind farm.
Who cleans up the devastation?
Hopefully your deeply concerned about that also.
04/14/06 @ 11:20 am
CCToday [Member] writes:
Yes. They might be toppled, but if so, they won't spew crude oil on beaches like the oil rigs in the Gulf did.

Who cleans up your car when it gets scratched? You do, as Cape Wind or any other private company will.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
04/14/06 @ 11:59 am
Wedge [Member] writes:
I thought that I had read awhile back about a boat yard owner on the Cape that was fighting CW. Then I read that the boat yard had a serious fire that leached thousands of gallons of toxics into the river or bay where they were located. Think of the chemicals, bottom paints, thinners etc that went into the bay. These hugh boats are cruising around Nantucket Sound spewing crap into the water all summer. Why no opposition to this?
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
04/14/06 @ 9:18 pm
Cape Cod Cacher [Visitor] writes:
Somehow I doubt Cape Wind will clean up after themselves, at least as far as paying to salvage 130 hazards to navigation goes. I think they will clean out their personal bank accounts and move on. I'm still waiting for the new jobs they will create (none). Cape and Islands Steel was so confident about being a supplier to Cape Wind they no longer exist. Basic facts. Just like the highest point on Cape Cod is 70 feet above sea level (my house). Scargo Hill is 160 ft. above sea level, and it's still not the highest, not by a long shot. (USGS Dennis Quad) The facts just don't add up. Cape Wind = right idea, wrong place.
04/15/06 @ 7:40 am
Brian [Visitor] writes:
The earth stopped warming in 1998, and has cooled since then, how could global warming effect anything when the globe isn't warming?
04/15/06 @ 9:22 am
Jack Coleman [Member] writes:
How about backing up that claim, Brian?
In response to RFM P.E., it is no more wishful thinking to suggest the islands would provide shelter to Cape Wind's turbines, to be situated leeward of the islands and sheltered from the brunt of the open ocean, than it is to believe the southern coast of Cape Cod has been protected by the islands - because it has.
If a powerful hurricane is barreling toward us, where would you rather be - South Beach on the Vineyard or Craigville Beach in Centerville?
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
04/16/06 @ 7:40 am
Magical Eye [Member] writes:
PP probably because the proponents resort to the same tired old fear tactics that are simply not true... whiich are, as you say, raised and answered and then raised again. I agree it does get tiresome.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
04/17/06 @ 9:18 am
Brian [Visitor] writes:
Back what up? It's a fact that no year has been warmer than 1998. So if no year has been warmer then every other year must have been cooler!

I found this interesting reading.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/opinion/main.jhtml?xml=/opinion/2006/04/09/do0907.xml&sSheet=/news/2006/04/09/ixworld.html
04/17/06 @ 8:15 pm
anon [Visitor] writes:
we on cape cod are moderated by the gulf stream but as the polar caps melt, salinity and temperatures in water change, the gulf stream and north atlantic current don't create the trough and ridge and, well, it's technical but we may see some monster storms, like catagory 4 and 5, and maybe some mineral oil used on these beautiful seabirds might leak but NOTHING like a tanker full of crude or a melt down at Plymouth or brayton point off line or no electricity on cape cod. when the world is running down, you make the best of what's still around. STING
04/19/06 @ 11:03 am
Magical Eye [Member] writes:
anon, it is completely arrogant to think that we have ANY control over global warming. but we DO have control over how we treat the earth and our own backyards. We simply cannot have our cake and eat it too. We all make decisions every day that have to do with the health, wellness and beauty of our community. There is simply NO excuse to continue to foul our nest and excpect some entity to come along and provide the magic bullet.
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
04/23/06 @ 10:09 pm
Maverick [Visitor] writes:
WB...sorry you didn't have time to get past the funnies in today's paper.

http://www.boston.com/news/globe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2006/04/23/the_proposal_is_reckless/
04/25/06 @ 5:22 pm
Maverick [Visitor] writes:
WB...why do you delete heartfelt innocent comments of mine on PP's blog?
04/26/06 @ 7:32 pm
anon [Visitor] writes:
peter-
i was scanning your site that day and there was some rude talk from your fellow registered bloggers about spamming, being censured, and limitation of to posting each week. It was gracious and right of you to accept responsibility. Others don't seem to realize that you have done them a kindness.

I do, and have new found respect for you.

Hagical, fouling of nests is in the eye of the beholder.

Brian, the clouds of pollution are dimming the sunlight. nova has a great site, check it out dude. change IS in motion.
05/08/06 @ 6:00 pm
ekzept [Visitor] writes:
The comment from Brian has been debunked at

http://tinyurl.com/ederm

Sea level rise resulting from gradual warming might threaten the Cape in time, as might increases in the number of mega hurricanes it encounters. However, that's not what the Cape needs to worry about. What it needs to worry about is nearly instantaneous sea level rise due to collapsing Antarctic ice shelves. By some estimates catastrophic collapse would raise sea level in excess of 9 meters. This has already happened to smaller pieces of Antarctic ice described at, e.g.,

http://www.meteor.iastate.edu/gccourse/ocean/collapse.html
05/08/06 @ 6:26 pm
ekzept [Visitor] writes:
BTW, if you'd like the history of the science relating ice sheet collapse to global warming, check out

http://www.aip.org/history/climate/floods.htm

That's from the American Institute of Physics. It's a nice piece, because it shows how historically scientists traditionally "soft-peddle the alarm factor". It also shows how long they've been studying and worrying about this. The suggestion that warming might lead to ice sheet collapse was first made seriously in 1964-1970 by Robin, Adie, Mercer, and Emilani.
09/04/06 @ 12:19 pm
tatum [Member] writes:
I'm a member of the leisure class, but I beleive in renewable energy. Leisure class is not for the masses.

xoxo.
Tatum
popwhoreleisure.com
 [ Show all comments by this user ]
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About This Blog

Blogeto, ergo sum.
I blog, therefore I am.

Walter Brooks is the cctoday publisher & editor and a lifelong journalist who has worked in media on Cape Cod since '65.
Julie Brooks is the president & founder of eCape.com. She is Walter's daughter-in-law.

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