CAPE WIND ON THE EDGE

Mass. wind farm that Obama administration might support meets strong resistance
Juliet Eilperin, February 8, 2010 (Washington Post)

"Interior Secretary Ken Salazar journeyed out into Nantucket Sound on a Coast Guard vessel…to signal the Obama administration's readiness to put some muscle behind wind energy. To do that, Salazar has to resolve a battle over building a wind farm on 25 square miles of open water that has driven a rift between environmentalists, infuriated local Native Americans and threatened one of the administration's cherished priorities.

"The nearly decade-long fight over whether to construct a 130-turbine offshore wind farm near Martha's Vineyard has spurred numerous state and federal regulatory reviews. It has cost millions in lobbying fees and has prompted an intense political debate on Cape Cod and in Washington, setting those who back renewable energy against those who want to preserve the natural beauty of Nantucket Sound…"

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"With many other obstacles resolved, including the wind farm's potential hindrance to navigation and fishing and harm to birds, the tribes represent the project's latest challenge: They practice a sunrise ritual every morning on the sound and say they may have artifacts buried beneath the seabed. They have managed to qualify the sound for listing on the National Register of Historic Places, which could restrict its commercial use.

"Salazar got up before dawn Tuesday to observe a site where the Mashpee Wampanoag's sunrise ceremony takes place…[and] said that although his department is trying to broker a deal between the tribes and Energy Management, the company seeking to build the farm… if the two sides cannot resolve their differences…he will do it himself by April."

For the U.S. to achieve its goal of 20% wind by 2030, it needs 305 gigawatts offshore so Secretary Salazar needs to get this mess cleaned up. (click to enlarge)

"The venture stands as a critical test of…[the Obama administration’s ability to] launch the clean-energy revolution it has promised voters…Both sides agree that this offshore wind project, which would be the first in the United States and would furnish about 75 percent of Cape Cod's energy, shows just how hard it will be to construct wind farms off America's coasts…

"In the short term, land-based wind projects represent a better investment because they can win federal approval faster than the roughly dozen offshore ventures pending…Under Salazar, the Interior Department has launched a concerted effort to streamline approval for offshore projects…No other renewable-energy project in America has followed as convoluted a path as Cape Wind. Unveiled in 2001, the roughly 25-square-mile proposal has soured longstanding friendships and opened political fault lines within the Democratic Party. The late Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), whose family compound overlooks the sound, fiercely opposed it, while Gov. Deval L. Patrick has pushed for it as part of an ambitious plan to generate 20 percent of the state's electricity with renewable energy by 2025…And all of the recent talk about the importance of clean energy has done little to shift entrenched attitudes on the project…"