Massachusetts Could Decide Fate Of Cape Wind Project
by Aaron Margolis, April 1st, 2006 at 01:35pm
Key members of a congressional conference committee yesterday worked on a deal that could ultimately kill the Nantucket Sound wind farm, numerous sources confirmed yesterday.
While the lawmakers have apparently backed off a ban of all offshore wind turbines within 1½ miles of shipping and ferry lanes, they now are considering language that would allow state leaders to veto a project if they believe it would obstruct navigation.
In Massachusetts, where Gov. Mitt Romney and all but one gubernatorial candidate openly oppose the Cape Wind proposal, the policy could mean trouble for a project already under heavy regulatory scrutiny.
With a full conference committee vote still not taken - and the exact language of yesterday’s closed-door bargaining subject to change - Cape Wind officials last night were uncertain about what happens next and project opponents were not quite ready to celebrate. The day began with Cape Wind issuing e-mail alerts urging supporters to lobby congressmen and ended with few concrete answers.
”Right now we don’t know where we stand,” said Mark Rodgers, a spokesman for Cape Wind.
The language discussed yesterday by four ranking members of the conference committee negotiating an $8.7 billion Coast Guard reauthorization bill stands in marked contrast to an amendment originally inserted into the bill by U.S. Rep. Don Young, a powerful Alaska Republican, that would ban all turbines near shipping lanes.
The new language, floated by U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens, R-Alaska, would target the Nantucket Sound project specifically, sources say. In particular, the proposed compromise would grant Massachusetts officials authority to approve or deny the project even though all 130 turbines would be built in federal waters.
Yesterday, Young and Stevens were joined by other ranking transportation officials on the conference committee - U.S. Sen. Daniel Inouye, D-Hawaii, and U.S. Rep. James Oberstart, D-Minn. - to resolve outstanding differences on the Coast Guard bill.
Advocates of the proposed Cape Wind project said the emerging deal confirms their suspicion that Young’s initial amendment was not about maritime safety but the Nantucket Sound project.
”It exposes that this really is a direct attack on the Cape Wind project,” said Sue Reid, staff attorney for the Conservation Law Foundation. ”It’s directly against the specific provisions of the Energy Policy Act that addressed Cape Wind … that had been in the pipeline a long time.”
Despite the repeated concerns that the United State must find alternative means of energy, many in this state, and the country, oppose many of the options for alternative energy. Of all the gubernatorial candidates, only Deval Patrick has endorsed the Cape Wind Project, something rather uncharacteristic for a Democrat. Heck, even Tom Reilly is vowing to sue if the project is approved.
Senator Ted Kennedy has voted time and time again in favor of alternative energy sources, but vehemently opposes Cape Wind, which while sober could be seen from his home. Senator John Kerry has yet to definitively voice support of the Cape Wind Project, though has gone on the record supporting the pursuing of offshore wind projects “across the nation” and “pursuing renewable energy.”
Entry Filed under: Election 2006
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