Wind Power & the '06 Governor's race

Wind project needs a fresh set of eyes

By Wayne Woodlief, Boston Herald,  Thursday, March 24, 2005

Deval Patrick has an opening to make his apparently imminent entry into the governor's race with a splash, one that would separate him instantly from both Republican Gov. Mitt Romney and Attorney General Tom Reilly, Patrick's likely foe in a Democratic primary. 

Deval Patrick graduated from Milton Academy and Harvard and served as Asst. Attorney General in the Clinton administration 
All Patrick needs to do is jump into the controversy now roiling Cape Cod and side with Cape Wind in urging an end to the stalling in that company's efforts to build a $700 million, 130-turbine wind farm in Nantucket Sound - a project Romney and Reilly both oppose.

It makes sense for Patrick - or Secretary of State William Galvin or any other Democrat who enters the governor's race - to at least stick a toe into those political waters. They should demand the state Energy Facilities Siting Board quickly convene - after an eight-month hiatus - and approve a key element in the wind project: Underwater transmission cable that lets the wind turbines connect with power grids. 

Romney and Reilly oppose the project despite a conclusion by the Army Corps of Engineers (in a draft environmental impact statement) that the wind turbines would be a boon for clean energy, lead to lower electric costs, improve public health as an alternative to pollution-producing fossil fuels and enhance national security through less reliance on foreign oil.

Almost all the opposition to the project, though loud and well organized, is centered on the Cape, Nantucket and Martha's Vineyard, where locals insist it would be a blight for those who sail, boat, fish and otherwise use Nantucket Sound.
 
An independent statewide poll, taken in February indicates overwhelming support for the wind project across the state. That's a real opportunity for someone willing to break from the Romney-Reilly mantra of total opposition. 

63% of Massachusetts voters said they favor the project

Reilly has said that even if the Army Corps of Engineers eventually decides to issue a permit to Cape Wind, that he, as attorney general,  "will challenge (in court) any effort to authorize what amounts to construction of a massive power plant in the center of Nantucket Sound. "  And Romney said that though he appreciates the wind farm concept,  "Let's not do the first one " in a location that is an  "extraordnary " tourist magnet and  "a national treasure."  

Yet 63 percent of Massachusetts voters said they favor the project in the January Mass. Insight survey. 
 
Pollster John Gorman said the wind farms aren't a huge issue like health care or education.  "But it could become a class issue; that could allow a Democrat to argue that Romney cares more about wealthy people on the Cape than those who have to work hard for a living elsewhere " - and face big bills from polluting sources of energy. 
 
Any new Democratic challenger would not necessarily have to embrace the whole Cape Wind package at this point. The issue is too complex. Too many people are asserting their right to peaceful enjoyment of Nantucket Sound without having to see, or sail close to, those big towers. And they include powerhouses like Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, a Cape resident who opposes the turbines and on whom Patrick has counted for advice
 
     Yet the debate should not go on forever. State Environmental Secretary Ellen Roy Herzfelder has given the project initial state approval, as Cape Wind agreed to relocate 8 to 10 turbines from within state waters. Time now for the Energy Facilities Siting Board to stop its stall, and accept its staff recommendation. A project with such potential should not be delayed to death.