CHATHAM --- Is wind power an important element in weaning the country away from its reliance on fossil fuels, or a boondoggle that will do nothing more than line the pockets of investors and power companies? And where does the proposed Cape Wind project fit into all of this?

EASTHAM — The town’s efforts to erect up to four 400-foot wind turbines in North Eastham were swept away by a mighty squall this week. At a public hearing held Monday by the planning board, more than 70 property owners successfully opposed bylaw that would have permitted the turbines’ construction on a town-owned, 12-acre site off Nauset Road. The planning board ultimately agreed to shelve the proposed bylaw regulating commercial turbines until the town had done at least another year’s worth of planning. However, members did vow to revise a residential turbine bylaw, in time for this spring’s Annual Town Meeting, that would regulate the conditions under which property owners could erect turbines. Overall, the atmosphere of the two-and-a-half-hour hearing was angry and accusatory on the public’s side, rife with allegations that the town — in particular, the ad hoc energy committee charged with developing a wind energy proposal — had not adequately studied potentially deleterious noise and environmental impacts that the commercial turbines would have on the abutting residential neighborhood.

Mayor John Bell, pushing a major private wind-power proposal, has committed his island city to a climate protection agreement aimed at reducing global warming. Bell announced the city would join 320 others across the country that have signed the agreement developed by Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels and endorsed by the U.S. Conference of Mayors in Chicago last year.

In March, Massachusetts Environmental Affairs Secretary Ian Bowles ruled that the project complies with the state's Environmental Policy Act, allowing Energy Management Inc. -- the company developing Cape Wind -- to pursue state permits. But Cape Wind is still waiting for a go-ahead from the federal government. Horseshoe Shoal, the shallow bank where the turbines and transformer platform would be located, is federally controlled. To lease that land, EMI has had to submit an extensive environmental impact study, detailing every stage of the project from construction to decommissioning. The Minerals Management Service, the lead federal agency responsible for assessing Cape Wind's environmental impact, is set to release its draft report later this summer, delaying the federal permitting process until at least 2008.

New England Energy Alliance Survey Finds Consumer Concern about Future Electricity Supplies, Desire to Choose Electricity Supplier and Support for Addressing Global Warming

Along with federal recognition comes a seat at the table for members of the Mashpee Wampanoag, who will have a voice in determining the future of a proposed wind farm in Nantucket Sound. Members of the tribal council have made their views clear: While emphasizing support for alternative and renewable energy projects, they oppose Cape Wind Associates’ plans to build 130 turbines on Nantucket Sound. They’ve asked that alternative sites be considered.

As part of the environmental impact statement it is preparing on the proposed Cape Wind project, the U.S Department of the Interior's Minerals Management Service is accepting written comments until July 14.

It doesn't matter which side you're on in the wind farm debate - because whether you're for it or against it everybody is sure to enjoy this hit musical that will have you tapping your feet and whistling aloud (not unlike the faint whistle of a well-oiled wind turbine!). Singing and dancing abound in this much, much larger than life theatrical production - with such songs as "Somewhere on the Horizon," "Four Hundred Feet High," "I'm Spinning Around in Circles for You," "Once Upon a Windy Shoal," and the show-stopping tune "Not in My Backyard!" Whatever you do, don't miss the finale - when two dozen piping plovers are released onstage ... and are then swiftly chopped to bits by the rotating propeller blades! Pure, clean, fossil fuel free fun for the whole family from start to finish!

Efforts to put a wind turbine on the campus of Holy Name Central Catholic Junior Senior High School earned a major boost last week with the award of $575,000 from the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative. The grant will cover a big chunk of the project’s $1.6 million cost, and Stephen A. Perla, superintendent of the Diocese of Worcester Catholic Schools, says he is optimistic about raising the remaining $1 million.

Maurizio Caparrotta is proposing what would be another pioneering effort for the state, a $57 million, 12-turbine, 24 megawatt wind farm to be built in Douglas. His brother, who is president of Weymouth real estate development company Seven Hills Corp., is helping negotiate the permitting process.

MATTAPOISETT - There will be no wind turbine off Brandt Island Road, due to the Mattapoisett Wind Power Committee's decision that it would not be economically viable. The committee voted last week to not pursue a feasibility analysis for a turbine because data from the meteorological tower in the area indicated it would require two turbines in order to generate enough electricity to break even. "It does not make economic sense to pursue that," said Selectman Jordan C. Collyer, who is also a wind power committee member. "We don't have room there for two turbines anyway. It just wasn't going to be worth the effort."

A major report just released in Denmark finds negligible impacts to birds, fish and mammals from the two largest offshore wind farms in the world at Horns Rev and Nysted.
Editor's Note:Jack Coleman is a freelance writer, editor, blogger and former media adviser to the pro-wind farm Clean Power Now non-profit based in Hyannis. A link to the original report is available at the end of this article.

MARSHFIELD - The wastewater treatment plant on Joseph Driebeck Way and the school complex off Forest Street are the best potential sites for what would be Marshfield’s first wind turbine. But the wind turbine generator study committee still has some work to do before it recommends one or two locations, members told selectmen last night. ‘‘The best economic payback is if you can locate the wind turbine generator inside a large area and consume power,’’ said member David Carriere, a public works department engineer. Committee members said having a turbine at the wastewater treatment plant would give the town the biggest bang for the buck, because electricity from the generator could directly supply the plant 24 hours a day.

BOSTON — Sixty-nine state legislators have signed a letter to Congress in opposition to a proposed federal amendment that would allow the Massachusetts governor to veto the Nantucket Sound wind farm.

A day of legal wrangling was punctuated with a victory yesterday for a small religious community that took on a massive communications company for a dream to build a monastery and wind farm in Paxton. The Community of Teresian Carmelites, based at 30 Chrome St., officially signed paperwork to acquire 99 acres of undeveloped land on Asnebumskit Hill, where it plans to build a "green monastery" that will serve as a center of social teaching.

The Teresian Carmelites, a tiny religious community in Worcester, have won their lawsuit against American Tower Corp., which the monks had accused of breaching its agreement to sell them a 99-acre site in Central Massachusetts where they want to build a monastery and wind farm.

Local environmentalists say rules changes proposed by state regulators would cut ordinary citizens out of the democratic process and leave the environment vulnerable to ill-considered development projects. They point to cases where citizen involvement has made a crucial difference in heading off developments, such as a plan to build houses on wetlands adjacent to Silver Lake in Kingston. The environmentally sensitive area ultimately became the Silver Lake Sanctuary, after residents appealed to the Department of Environmental Protection under the state's Wetlands Protection Act. The Department of Environmental Protection last month proposed changes intended to speed up environmental decisions that leave developers hanging for two years or more and imperil financing for worthwhile projects. The new rules would eliminate the right of any 10 residents of a community to appeal a DEP decision to the department's administrative law division for a hearing before an administrative law judge. But state officials say the new rules would retain essential protections.

Sagamore Hill, part of Hanscom Air Force Base, is home to a radio observatory and Geophysics Laboratory and is also the final resting place of Masconomo, a 15th century chief of the Agawam Sagamore Native American tribe. Two years ago, Capt. James Bono of the Air Force approached the Hamilton Board of Selectmen about installing a wind turbine on the hill and using the electricity it generated to power the base as well as town buildings. Moe Olmsted, a former GE engineer, reported on the results of a preliminary study conducted by the University of Massachusetts Renewable Energy Research Lab to measure the site's viability. The study found Sagamore Hill to be a suitable location for a 220 ft., 660-kilowatt wind turbine based on statistical evidence.

In 2000-plus pages, filled with studies, statistics and opinions galore, the federal Minerals Management Service concluded that building a wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal was not only better than nowhere, but better than a good many other spots. The Final Environmental Impact Statement released last week didn't say the site in Nantucket Sound was perfect, but that it met a series of physical, biological and social/human benchmarks.

But Ernie Corrigan, a spokesman for the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, said the renewable energy industry can survive without windmills on Cape Cod. "They act as if this is somehow going to halt the entire alternative energy movement in the United States," Corrigan said. "That movement is going on, with or without Cape Wind."