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THE FIGHT IS NOT OVER!
YOUR DONATION IS CRITICAL! CONTACT GOVERNMENT OFFICIALS
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National Grid honchos are seeking the biggest gas rate hike in Bay State history even as they have gouged consumers out of hundreds of thousands of dollars for outlandish executive expenses - from private school tuition and veterinary bills to a $1,200 charge to ship a private wine collection, newly released documents show. Boston Herald
THE DECISION BY THE SUPREME JUDICIAL COURT IS AND OUTRAGEOUS VIOLATION OF COMMUNITY RIGHTS
Statement from the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound: Hyannis, MA (August 31, 2010) – “The decision by the Supreme Judicial Court is an outrageous violation of community rights. The court has trampled the ability of residents of every city and town in Massachusetts to make their own decisions regarding large industrial projects, by granting the Energy Facilities Siting Board (EFSB) the ability to overrule community objections." Link to APNS Press Release
BOSTON HERALD: 9/01/10 EDITORIAL - OF RIGHTS AND WIND
“It is not our role,” , “to evaluate whether as a matter of sound policy the project should be constructed. Rather, we must determine whether the approval process of the Cape Wind project comports with the laws of the Commonwealth. It does not.”
Chief Justice Margaret Marshall wrote the court's majority “establishes a dangerous and unwise precedent, which has far-reaching consequences. A wind farm today may be a drilling rig or nuclear power plant tomorrow.” There are lots of reasons to oppose this project, including the increased costs to ratepayers in the years ahead.
But yesterday’s SJC decision points to yet another. In its efforts to ensure the future of this particular project the Patrick administration has run roughshod over the centuries-old public trust doctrine.
As the chief justice noted, “The stakes are high. As we have recently seen in the Gulf of Mexico, the failure to take into account in-state consequences of federally authorized energy projects in federal waters can have catastrophic effects on state tidelands and coastal areas, and on all who depend on them.”
There will be little satisfaction for the chief justice or anyone else in the years ahead to say “we told you so.” But this erosion of rights long held by the people of this commonwealth is now part of the lasting legacy of Cape Wind. http://www.bostonherald.com/news/opinion/editorials/view.bg?articleid=1278331
ILL WIND: THE TRAGEDY IN THE GULF IS THE MOST COMPELLING REASON YET TO RECONSIDER CAPE WIND
Compelling article by Eileen McNamara in Boston Magazine: "The fishermen who ply the waters of Horseshoe Shoal have long been skeptical about Cape Wind, and so should the rest of us. For almost a decade, the developer has dodged tough questions, massaged regulators with self-serving studies, and demonized critics. But asking questions of a private developer who wants millions in public subsidies to build and operate an energy plant in public waters is not a stealth attack on the national commitment to alternative enery. It's due diligence, the kind not done in the gulf."
THREE GUBERNATORIAL CANDIDATES VOICE STRONG OPPOSITION TO CAPE WIND
In the first gubernatorial debate, Charlie Baker, Tim Cahill and Jill Stein squared off against Governor Patrick and his support for Cape Wind. Baker angered the governor, calling the project a no-bid sweetheart deal. He also stressed the financial harm Cape Wind would cause and suggested we look to cheaper renewable energy like Hydro-Quebec. Stein criticized the lack of transparency and challenged the governor to refund his campaign donations from NStar, National Grid and Cape Wind, while Cahill strongly opposed the preferential treatment given to Cape Wind. Link to Debate: http://www.wbur.org/2010/08/17/mass-inc-debate
CONTACT GOVERNOR PATRICK
MA State House, Office of the Governor
Office of the Lt. Governor
Room 280
Boston, MA 02133
Phone: 617.725.4005
888.870.7770 (in state)
Fax: 617.727.9725
TTY: 617.727.3666
PLEASE EXPLAIN NO-BID SWEETHEART DEAL BETWEEN CAPE WIND AND NATIONAL GRID
If NStar must re-bid three wind farm contracts and include out of state projects that could yield even cheaper prices for consumers, why hasn't the DPU required National Grid to do the same? Expensive, massive, and destructive offshore wind is not necessary to fulfill our renewable energy obligation!
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.
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
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
FOLLOW THE MONEY
BAIT AND SWITCH IS ILLEGAL IN MASSACHUSETTS! Follow the link below. The audio quality is not very good, but you can hear Mark Rodgers reply to a question from the audience at the June 23, 2006, Cape Cinema debate between M. Rodgers and Charles Vinick.
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-2626077921426893717#
Mark Rodgers- “We will be making an announcement, I suspect later this year, that will provide a specific answer. I can tell you this- we are going to be able to come to the market with electricity priced lower than you pay today. And we’re going to be able to hold that price fixed, for a period of 15, maybe even 20 years....”
CAPE WIND WILL STILL COST RATEPAYERS MORE THAN $4.5 BILLION! Statement from Audra Parker: (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."
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
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.
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.”
 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.
Nantucket Airport's Scary Stuff The island airport makes the list of ten scariest airports in the world because of its propensity to fog, causing pilots to land planes relying solely on their instruments. Boston Globe
Why isn't anyone listening?
LAWSUITS FILED BY ALLIANCE TO PROTECT NANTUCKET SOUND & STAKEHOLDERS
WIND POWER DEAL FACES SCRUTINY The DPU will hold hearings September 7 through at least September 22 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.
JUNE 28 – APNS FILED SUIT UNDER MULTIPLE FEDERAL LAWS to bar the Cape Wind industrial wind project from Nantucket Sound.
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.
THE TOWN OF BARNSTABLE AND MARTHA’S VINEYARD/DUKE’S COUNTY FISHERMEN’S ASSOCIATION also filed suits.
TRANSCANADA TO TEST LEGALITY OF CAPE WIND PACT
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 are currently in limbo. 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!
INTERESTING NEWS
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." 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
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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!
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