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Unbiased inquiry into the facts of Cape Wind do not support any value to the project other than its profit to Mr. Gordon. Perhaps the most serious false claim in behalf of Cape Wind is that it will bring jobs to Massachusetts. New Bedford is the unfortunate setting for this claim.
The impetus for the escalation of health concern is born from inadequacies of zoning regulations recommended by wind energy promoters. The Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, a quasi-state agency focused on renewable energy development, has authored a state supported Wind Turbine Model Bylaw for municipalities considering wind energy projects. This is heralded as the state standard, yet more and more local boards of health are in a quandary.
It is unfortunate for the citizens of Massachusetts generally, and likely devastating to many residents of Florida and Monroe specifically, to witness the ill-conceived commitment of Gov. Deval Patrick and his administration to industrial wind turbines.
There will also be a panel composed of people who live near wind turbines here in Southeastern Massachusetts. I consider them the true experts in this matter, for they have accumulated many hours of exposure and can speak to its adverse effect on their health. I think everyone in the state of Massachusetts needs to listen to what they have to say.
Cape Cod Wind Farms - When agencies put business interest over public safety
June 15, 2012 in The Legal Examiner
June 15, 2012 in The Legal Examiner
We live in a world where agency approval is deemed the gold standard. ...If the agency is rushing to the business interests of its lobbying friends, and avoiding its mission of providing the safest product to the public, then what value, if any, does the approval of the agency mean to consumer safety?
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USA]
Energy policy in Massachusetts took a turn toward the absurd last month after the announcement that the state planned to saddle MetroWest ratepayers - and those across the commonwealth - with $4 billion in above market costs for a single project that provides just one percent of New England's electricity.
Without a doubt, the most vocal debate at Town Meeting this Saturday is likely to center around Article 13, which seeks to appropriate $3.9 million to erect a wind turbine at the landfill in Madaket to offset energy costs at that facility.
Locking in prices is supposedly desirable because it will protect NStar customers from price volatility. Yet we are in the midst of a natural gas boom that promises to revolutionize America's energy picture. Natural gas prices have plummeted from near $5 per MMbtu last summer to around $2.60 per MMbtu. According to the EIA, the energy equivalent of $3 natural gas is $18 oil. If our current prices are high, why would we want to lock them in?
The Patrick Administration can continue to ignore the green bubbles bursting around us, while it's in the public interest that they provide us with an honest accounting and some painful acknowledgments.
The problem at this point could not be clearer: the town's wind turbines have intruded on the lives of residents in that area. The community must now find a solution. More bickering, more accusations of unfairness, of conspiracy will do nothing, nothing whatsoever, to help get to that solution.
We understand the distress of the residents in the neighborhood of the turbines. It is clear something has to be done.
And yet the DPU - controlled by the pro-Cape Wind Patrick administration - determined that the contract is both in the public interest and "cost-effective," as required by the Green Communities Act. The court essentially confirmed that the state board had the legal authority and the expertise to make those determinations.
If common sense prevails, Salem will abandon this out-of-scale, clearly inappropriate location for such an enormous commercial-industrial wind turbine immediately. If not, then the City Council should exercise its legislative authority and vote it down.
Contrary to the claims of the developers, wind turbines are not quiet and they are not benign. They are not environmentally responsible and they are not cost effective.
Wind turbine noise is highly intrusive and disruptive.
Most people will agree that renewable energy is a wonderful thing. But wind turbines only produce energy when they are working, and the town should have a clear knowledge of the upcoming regulations before it decides to invest in any wind turbine project.
No matter how high-minded, well-intentioned or politically correct wind power is, the siting of such a massive, commercial turbine on this historic property is legally and morally wrong, and a gross misuse of invaluable, limited shoreline open space in the small and dense city of Salem.
Clearly the turbine is too high, too wide, too loud and too dangerous for this small island park.
In 2010, Town Meeting eliminated the need for a special permit for turbine construction, along with legally required notification of immediate abutters, and the holding of public hearings. The amended bylaw essentially makes it easier for turbine construction in locations that residents would likely oppose, namely, close to their homes.
The Bourne residents get no quantifiable benefits from these generating towers. Are you going to pay less for electricity? I'm not. This proposed green-energy project is strictly a for-profit proposal that enables a few people to make bundles of money. Is this a "fair and balanced" local development effort?
Turbines to the north, turbines to the south - a bad bargain
July 20, 2011 in Martha's Vineyard Times
July 20, 2011 in Martha's Vineyard Times
Mr. Kennedy's warning is no surprise, but it's urgent. The state of Massachusetts, by its administrative and legislative policies favoring uneconomic wind power generation, is putting sharp upward pressure on electricity costs.
The price of Cape Wind power comes in at well over $1 billion above market averages, according to Cape Wind's own regulatory filings about its contract with National Grid, the utility company that has agreed to buy half its power. ...it is safe to deduce that National Grid customers would be getting fleeced.
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USA]
If a corporation is going impose their project into a public space that is already providing valuable uses, I would hope that they would at least pay for the damage themselves. With the DOE decision to halt the loan guarantee, Cape Wind now has the chance to really puts its sales skills to work in finding more dupes to buy really expensive, but unreliable power.
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