Lehman Brothers joins Cape Wind

Theodore Roosevelt's great-grandson will assist project

Theodore Roosevelt IV will be Lehman's managing director on this assignment

By Walter Brooks

Cape Wind has engaged Lehman Brothers to provide financial advisory services to America's first offshore wind farm which will provide 75% of the electric needs for Barnstable County.

Lehman Brothers (see D&B report here) will work with Cape Wind to structure the optimal financing for the 468 megawatt renewable energy project through a mix of equity, commercial bank debt or capital markets debt.

Cape Wind's President, Jim Gordon said, "Several investment banks competed for our business. We chose Lehman Brothers because they are one of the world's premier energy project financiers and because Lehman's managing director on this assignment, Theodore Roosevelt IV, is a committed environmentalist and long time Martha's Vineyard resident.  As Chair of the Pew Center on Global Climate Change, Ted and the Lehman team understand the unique energy, environmental and economic challenges facing Massachusetts and the nation and how Cape Wind can contribute to addressing those challenges."

Lehman's managing director on this assignment, Theodore Roosevelt IV, is a committed environmentalist and long time Martha's Vineyard resident.

The 155 year-old investment firm's web site describes itself as "an innovator in global finance, serves the financial needs of corporations, governments and municipalities, institutional clients, and high net worth individuals worldwide."

Martha's Vineyard resident's Great Grandfather created our National Park system

The great granson of our first "Environmental President", Theodore Roosevelt IV remarked, "Global climate change is the most serious environmental and economic issue that we face.  It is important that the United States diversify its energy sources, so that electrical generation is not as dependent on a dwindling natural gas supply or on coal.  The Cape Wind project is a necessary step forward in addressing these issues."

One of Mr. Roosevelt's great-grandfather's most lasting and significant contributions to the world was the permanent preservation of the some of the most unique natural resources of the United States.

According to the National Geographic, the area of the United States placed under public protection by Theodore Roosevelt, as National Parks, National Forests, game and bird preserves, and other federal reservations, comes to a total of approximately 230,000,000 acres or about 84,000 acres for each day he was in office!

The Cape Wind project recently received approval from the Massachusetts Energy Facilities Siting Board to link its renewable energy via electric transmission cables to the electric grid.

It is also nearing the completion of a multiyear permitting process under the National Environmental Policy Act and Massachusetts Environmental Policy Act.  The United States Department of Energy recently urges the quick approval of the project as important to our national interests."

And we just got a "F" for our air

The project is one of the largest single greenhouse gas reduction initiatives in America and will provide 75% of the Cape and Islands' electricity demand with zero pollution emissions, zero water consumption and zero waste discharge.

This comes in the same month that the American Lung Association ranked Cape Cod as having the dirtest air quality.