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THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER!
YOUR DONATION IS CRITICAL! CONTACT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
Statement from Audra Parker, President and CEO of The Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound
Hyannis, MA (July 30, 2010) -“While the Attorney General deserves praise for attempting to control the damage to consumers that will be caused if Cape Wind is ever built, a 10 percent savings over 15 years will not do nearly enough to protect ratepayers and businesses from the huge cost of the project. The fact remains that Cape Wind will still cost ratepayers more than $4.5 Billion in additional energy costs. Overburdened taxpayers and struggling businesses simply cannot afford it.
“Even after the Attorney General’s intervention, we still do not know the final cost of this project and businesses are lining up to say ‘no thanks’ and demanding to be left out of any contract that includes this overpriced and misguided project.
“Good clean cheap green energy is available to us at half the cost of Cape Wind. Ask Governor Patrick and Secretary Bowles why they are blocking the purchase of cheaper green power from Maine and other states.
“This state is already paying for one Big Dig. Let's not build another.”
HOME RULE THREATENED BY WIND ENERGY SITING REFORM ACT
The bills represent a radical and unprecedented assault on the fundamental rights of communities to control industrial development within their borders. Control over wind projects will be given to a single agency, the state Division of Green Communities, which reports to Ian Bowles, who is nothing less than a cheerleader for the wind power industry. The bills will now head to a House-Senate conference committee for further discussion. Link to Cape Cod Times Editorial Please email Speaker of the House Robert Deleo @ Robert.DeLeo@state.ma.us and tell him to oppose the Wind Energy Siting Reform Act!
FOLLOW THE MONEY
THE GREAT WIND POWER BAIT AND SWITCH! For years Cape Wind told us that it would save ratepayers $25 million a year. The inconvenient truth is that if it happens, ratepayers are going to end up paying $82 million annually more than what they currently pay for the power to be supplied by Cape Wind. That is far cry from paying the $25 million less that Cape Wind originally promised. It’s a case of bait-and-switch: Promise something at a cost saving. Then reveal at the last minute that the cost will be greater, not less. It’s a practice that would have the authorities swooping down on any retailer that tried it. Boston Globe - David Tuerk and Jonathan Haughton
MORE POLITICS! The more I see of Cape Wind — the astronomical costs to electricity ratepayers and taxpayers that have only recently come to light, the continued attempts by the developer and the Patrick administration to hide additional cost information and silence the detractors — the more I'm reminded of time spent fighting the powers at the Big Dig. The similarities are troubling." Christy Mihos - My View, Cape Cod Times
IT TAKES YEARS FOR A WINDMILL SIMPLY TO PAY BACK THE ENERGY USED TO MAKE AND DEPLOY IT People look at windmills and see free energy. What they do not look at is what went into making the windmills, the aluminum tower, the concrete base, the copper wire, etc. Production of the input materials put a burden on the environment. Link To Gerson Lehrman Group
RECENT STUDY SHOWS ADDITIONAL HIDDEN COSTS OF CAPE WIND Report Details High Costs of Cape Wind Construction, Power Purchase Agreement: Martha Coakley is taking the right steps by demanding more answers about the true cost - and true profits - of this beleaguered project. Link to APNS Press Release
AT WHAT PRICE? Check out yet another clip exposing the high cost of Cape Wind to National Grid ratepayers and ultimately all Massachusetts residents! WBZ: Cape Wind More Expensive Than Anticipated http://wbztv.com/video/?id=91210@wbz.dayport.com
CAPE WIND'S PLAN B? YOU PAY! National Grid customers could be on the hook for hundreds of millions of dollars in extra payments. Jay Fitzgerald - Boston Herald 5/18/2010
 HIGHER RATES BLOWING IN THE WIND Cape Wind contracts could generate $6B tab over 15 years
Link to Boston Herald Article
BILLIONS FOR BIG WIND Cape plan feeds fear of costly boondoggle
Link to Boston Herald Article
BIG DIG/ CAPE WIND COMPARISON
Link to Boston Herald Article
PLEASE TAKE A MINUTE TO WATCH THE UTUBE VIDEO “Cape Wind Revelation segment on WFXT”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiAHeEmxZnw Fox 25 commentator Doug VB Goudie reverses his positive stand on Cape Wind – calling the project a massive blunder. He accuses the developers of lying about the cost to build the project after they revealed (in less than a week after meeting with the governor) that it will cost three times their estimate. Furthermore, Goudie says they lied about the cost to ratepayers, whose rate per kWh will more than triple. As word spreads about the exorbitant cost of this massive project, many more people will be reversing their pro Cape Wind opinions!
WALL STREET JOURNAL ADVISES CAPE WIND OPPONENTS : "SIMPLY POINT OUT WHAT A LOUSY DEAL IT IS." Taxpayers will be required to pay to build Cape Wind and then required to buy its product at prices twice normal rates.
WE'RE OVERPAYING FOR THIS ELECTRICITY Jonathan Haughton, professor of economics at Suffolk University: What a pity so many environmentalists favor devoting scarce resources to such a wasteful white elephant. Boston Globe
OPPONENTS CRITICIZE CAPE WIND OVER POTENTIAL ENERGY COSTS Associated Industries of Massachusetts, the group of state businesses, said the Cape Wind power deal represented “the most expensive renewable power imaginable.” Its senior vice president Robert Rio said the project would burden ratepayers “for years to come.” He said: “At a time when we are being promised that renewable prices are coming down this contract has a guaranteed increase. It does not make any sense.” Link to Article
NATIONAL GRID AGREES TO $442 MILLION RATE HIKE TO PURCHASE CAPE WIND POWER
Evidence shows consumers and businesses unwilling to pay higher rates
Hyannis, MA (May 7, 2010) – National Grid today announced that its ratepayers would purchase half of the power from the embattled Cape Wind project at a premium for ratepayers of $442 million over the course of the 15 year agreement. The total cost of the project’s power would cost Massachusetts residential and commercial ratepayers an additional $884 million in energy costs over the next 15 years. Link to APNS Press Release
FAA FAVORS CAPE WIND OVER PUBLIC SAFETY
Politics Trumps Pilots, Airports and Passengers
Hyannis, MA (May 17, 2010) – Ignoring the warnings of airplane pilots, airport commissions and airline owners, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) today issued Determinations of No Hazard for Cape Wind’s proposal to construct 130 440-foot wind turbines directly in the path of thousands of flights per year. Today’s FAA decision confirms that the proposed turbines would interfere with radar, but relies on unproven theoretical mitigation to resolve this serious safety issue. FAA has also dismissed the known impacts to the many flights in the area operating by Visual Flight Rules (VFR) and, in so doing, has failed to follow its own clear rule dictating that structures causing VFR flights to change their regular course or altitude, are in fact a de facto hazard. Link to Press Release
NO-BID SWEETHEART DEAL BETWEEN CAPE WIND AND NATIONAL GRID
NSTAR TO BUY ELECTRICITY FROM CHEAPER LAND-BASED WIND FARMS! As a result of the competitive bidding process - which should have been employed during National Grid negotiations - NStar, Cape Cod's and Martha's Vineyard's electricity supplier, considered 50 projects that submitted bids. Protecting the consumer, they chose the best deal - electricity from three land-based, smaller Western MA wind farms. Expensive, massive, and destructive offshore wind is not necessary to fulfill our renewable energy obligation! Cape Wind Not Among NStar's Contracts - Boston Globe - Erin Ailworth
NO-BID CONTRACT UNFAIR - UNLESS IT'S FOR A WIND FARM? Governor Patrick says no-bid racetrack slots are unfair, but supports Cape Wind - a massive no-bid contract. 7/13/2010 Cape Cod Times, Letter to the Editor - Marcia Llewellyn
THE POLITICS! "Late last year, Gov. Patrick handed National Grid one of the biggest rate hikes in the history of the state — $44 million more from Massachusetts ratepayers. The next day, National Grid agreed to buy expensive power from Cape Wind, earning itself a $120 million signing bonus in the process. What happened next? National Grid held a fundraiser for the governor where its top executives doled out tens of thousands of dollars to his political campaign." Cape Cod Times, My View - Christy Mihos
LAWSUITS FILED BY ALLIANCE TO PROTECT NANTUCKET SOUND & STAKEHOLDERS
WIND POWER DEAL FACES SCRUTINY The DPU will hold hearings August 30 through September 17 to take testimony from intervenors (including the Alliance) at One South Station, Boston. The list of 16 intervenors includes opponents and proponents of Cape Wind, state Attorney General Martha Coakley, utilities, environmental groups, and business associations. Cape Cod Times - Patrick Cassidy
JUNE 28 – APNS FILED SUIT UNDER MULTIPLE FEDERAL LAWS to bar the Cape Wind industrial wind project from Nantucket Sound. Link to Press Release
A COALITION OF ENVIRONMENTAL GROUPS FILED LAWSUITS including Public Employees for Environmental Responsibility (PEER), Cetacean Society International, and Three Bays Preservation – against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the successor to the Minerals Management Service, the BOE, for violations of the Endangered Species Act and other environmental laws. Link to Press Release
THE TOWN OF BARNSTABLE AND MARTHA’S VINEYARD/DUKE’S COUNTY FISHERMEN’S ASSOCIATION also filed suits.
RECENT NEWS
ONCE MORE INTO THE BREACH WITH CAPE WIND Link to a very informative article, avowing that it is virtual certainty that the battle over Cape Wind will continue into a second decade. Akin Gump
THEY HATE WINDMILLS OFF THE COAST OF CAPE COD (CONTRARY TO CAPE WIND PROPAGANDA) "When it comes to offshore wind farms, they pretty much love them off the coast of Delaware but hate them off the coast of Cape Cod.That is the conclusion of a study by a specialist on public perception of offshore wind turbines. University of Delaware associate professor of marine policy and legal studies Jeremy Firestone spoke recently to a Grand Valley State University research team studying wind industry developments in West Michigan. Strong opposition to the Cape Wind project off the shores of Massachusetts in Nantucket Sound was due to what Firestone describes 'place attachment.' And a majority of Cape Cod residents oppose the decade-old plan, Firestone's research shows." Link to Muskegon Chronicle - Dave Alexander
SMART ENERGY THINKING IS BLOWN AWAY BY WIND POWER ENTHUSIASM The state of Massachusetts, in its loopy devotion to wind-powered generating plants deployed, in cooperation with the federal government, in a strangling circle around the Vineyard, does not feel your pain. Indeed, the state's aim is not only to conspire over the Cape Wind project, but to elbow aside valid economic and environmental concerns. Editorial - Martha's Vineyard Times - 7/15/2010
CAPE WIND OPPONENTS DRAW ENVIRONMENTAL AND POLITICAL PARALLELS TO GULF OIL DISASTER, WARNING THAT ANOTHER DISASTER IS LIKELY TO HAPPEN IN THE WATERS OFF CAPE COD! Link to Indian Country Today
FOES CHARGE REGULATORY BOARD FULL OF CAPE WIND SUPPORTERS Critics of Cape Wind question whether three regulators - hand picked by one of the biggest backers of the project - can render an impartial verdict. Boston Herald 5/20/2010
READ AUDRA PARKER'S OP-ED IN USA TODAY OPPOSING VIEW ON ENERGY: FIGHT FAR FROM OVER
LISTEN TO OUR RADIO ADS Radio Ad #1 Radio Ad #2
ADVISORY COUNCIL DEFENDS CAPE WIND DECISION The federal Advisory Council on Historic Preservation has shot back at the six state governors who warned Secretary Salazar that rejecting Cape Wind could limit similar projects up and down the east coast. May 3, 2010 Cape Cod Times
SENATOR SCOTT BROWN BLASTS CAPE WIND APPROVAL In response to Secretary Salazar's approval of Cape Wind, Sen. Scott Brown issued a statement voicing his strong disapproval: "I am strongly opposed to the administration's misguided decision to move forward with Cape Wind." Cape Cod Times
In a letter to one of our supporters, Senator Brown says, "I also believe that Nantucket Sound is a national treasure that should be protected from industrialization. Further, with unemployment hovering near ten percent and energy prices in Massachusetts continuing to rise, I am concerned about the additional costs associated with Cape Wind and their impact on businesses and individuals. We must encourage the spirit of ingenuity in Massachusetts, and develop responsible, cost-effective, community-oriented methods for harnessing alternative sources of energy."
PLEASE DONATE TO THE NANTUCKET SOUND LEGAL DEFENSE FUND
CLICK HERE - YOUR IMMEDIATE SUPPORT IS CRITICAL TO WIN THE FIGHT!
or call 508-775-9767, or mail a check to:
Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound
4 Barnstable Road
Hyannis, MA. 02601
With your help we can and will win in court to preserve our beloved Nantucket Sound!
Make an online donation today of $100 or more and receive a set of four Save Our Sound Coasters. “Millions of years in the making, these natural stone coasters are extremely porous, absorbing condensation from the bottom of glasses, bottles and cans. When a drink is lifted, these coasters will not stick.” Save Our Sound – don’t let Cape Wind stick!
FORTY FIVE REASONS TO DENY CAPE WIND
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