Cape & Islands News

Clean Power Now passes into history

Wind War won, Clean Power Now to withdraw troops from field
Nothing left for 12,000 member grassroots organization to accomplish

By Walter Brooks

Clean Power Now, that grassroots group of Cape Wind supporters here on Cape Cod and the Islands, is disbanding now that the project has its approvals and lease.  Apparently, it's hard to keep up the energy of the clean energy group when the fight seems to have been all but won.  Clearly, they were there when it mattered most, countering what they viewed as misinformation being put forward by the opposition group and in helping give an organized voice to the majority of folks here who support this project at public hearings and with the media.

A postcard from the Cape's biggest-ever environmental organization was one of many such clean power efforts.This 'battle fatigue' can be seen with the opposition group too.  They recently reported that the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound (APNS) ended the year 2010 nearly a million and a half dollars in debt, their donations just weren't keeping pace with their ongoing and increasing legal expenses. 

It's hard to keep a fight going into its second decade.  Yet when you look Jim Gordon at Cape Wind, he seems like the 'energizer bunny', a true believer who is willing to continue to put his company's time and money into making America's first offshore wind farm a reality in Nantucket Sound.

In a statement from CPN Director Barbara Hill published in full below, she says, "This decision is bittersweet, but both the governing board and the staff feel that our core mission has been accomplished through our work as citizen advocates for America's first fully permitted offshore wind farm - Cape Wind. "

How the wind blows

While there is only one approved offshore wind farm in the U.S., Cape Wind, many are planned.
   The industry has the support of the Obama adminstration, which is working to reduce regulatory hurdles that dragged on for 10 years developing Cape Wind. “We’re very optimistic and bullish about the future of offshore wind,” said U.S. Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar, also on the conference call. Salazar also announced the bureau would begin taking comment on Atlantic Wind Connection’s plan to build an underwater transmission line from Virginia Beach to New Jersey. The multibillion project is headed by Internet giant Google and several other companies.No one we spoke to thinks that anti-wind farm group, the Association to Protect Nantucket Sound (APNS), will last as an ongoing entity and that they too, once they accept the fate of this project going forward, will finally disband.

Their one-time leader, Susan Nickerson, jumped ship when things got nasty several ytears ago, lasted at the Cape Cod Commercial Hook Fisherman's Association for a few months, and is now back at APNS at a low level job as "Development officer." The organiozation she once ran when she was an environmentalist, the Association to Preserve Cape Cod, supports Cape Wind.

The group's co-president Christy Mihos had his usually hip rneaction saying, "I am looking out of my office window, and I just don't see anything spinning except this piece today."

The complete statement from Barbara Hill at CPN:

After eight years of working hard to inform, educate and empower citizens to support viable renewable energy projects and policies, Clean Power Now will be closing its doors at the end of 2011. This decision is bittersweet, but both the governing board and the staff feel that our core mission has been accomplished through our work as citizen advocates for America's first fully permitted offshore wind farm - Cape Wind.

Today, a strong majority supports the Cape Wind project, and the project has cleared all local, state and federal reviews, with help from Clean Power Now at each step along the way.

The challenges to non-profits these days are well known and the offshore wind space has changed dramatically since the success with Cape Wind with a host of larger non-profits filling the space and competing for limited resources.

Over the years we have gained a tremendous amount of knowledge and are exploring ways to maximize the ongoing value of this intellectual capital to advance citizens voices in supporting the need for offshore wind projects and their significant public interest benefits. 

We can not begin to express how grateful we are for the years of support from you and members like you. All that Clean Power Now has accomplished would not have been possible without our members who continued to volunteer, donate and support the mission. The results of your support are overwhelmingly evident - from the signing of the lease for Cape Wind to new regulations and citizen efforts to support other proposed offshore wind farms up and down the Atlantic seaboard and in the Great Lakes.

Thank you all for your tireless efforts over the years. If you would like to continue to receive information regarding the offshore wind industry we recommend that you sign up to receive Offshore Wind Wire. If you are interested in supporting local renewable energy initiatives we recommend that you join Cape & Islands Self Reliance, Cape and Islands Wind Information Network as well as CIRenew for news and updates within the Cape Cod community.

Thank you again for all of your support.

On behalf of the CPN Governing Board of Directors,

 
Executive Director

PS:  On behalf of all of us here at Clean Power Now, I'd like to wish you and yours a healthy and happy holiday season and a wonderful clean energy filled 2012 and future.