Wednesday, April 26, 2006
Help End the Cape Wind Debate.
From the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound;
"The House of Representatives and Senate return to session this week and will vote soon on the Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation Act of 2006. This legislation contains a critical amendment concerning the Cape Wind project by giving the Governor of Massachusetts and the Commandant of the Coast Guard authority over wind energy projects in Nantucket Sound. This important Act protects public safety and the people most affected by the project."
"By giving the Governor of Massachusetts the authority over wind energy plants in Nantucket Sound, this amendment is an example of government working at a level closest to the people most affected by this project. The national organizations that have lined up behind this project do not care about Nantucket Sound, its wildlife, our tourism economy, a robust commercial fishery or the demonstrated threats to safe navigation. But we do care, and our highest elected leaders in Massachusetts also care. Please let your voice be heard today to protect Nantucket Sound."
"Please use our email submission form today and contact your federal legislators, urging them to pass this legislation in its current form without delay."
Here’s how:
"The House of Representatives and Senate return to session this week and will vote soon on the Coast Guard & Maritime Transportation Act of 2006. This legislation contains a critical amendment concerning the Cape Wind project by giving the Governor of Massachusetts and the Commandant of the Coast Guard authority over wind energy projects in Nantucket Sound. This important Act protects public safety and the people most affected by the project."
"By giving the Governor of Massachusetts the authority over wind energy plants in Nantucket Sound, this amendment is an example of government working at a level closest to the people most affected by this project. The national organizations that have lined up behind this project do not care about Nantucket Sound, its wildlife, our tourism economy, a robust commercial fishery or the demonstrated threats to safe navigation. But we do care, and our highest elected leaders in Massachusetts also care. Please let your voice be heard today to protect Nantucket Sound."
"Please use our email submission form today and contact your federal legislators, urging them to pass this legislation in its current form without delay."
Here’s how:
"Wind-Power Proponents Mostly Blowing Hot Air"
By Eric Peters
Knight Ridder / Tibune News Service
WASHINGTON — President Bush's bold call to dramatically reduce U.S. dependence on Mideast oil by boosting funds for alternatives like ethanol made from plant stalks rankled some conservatives who saw it as just another trip to the pork barrel.
Yet in calling for new and greener energy initiatives in his State of the Union speech, Bush barely mentioned one of the most egregious consumer boondoggles pushed by fervid environmentalists — wind power.
Even though it has been tried and found wanting at huge wind farms in Europe, wind power continues to be pushed as a premier alternative energy source by groups like the Sierra Club and blue-state politicians seeking to score well with politically correct voters.
Unfortunately, wind power at its best is expensive, ineffective, erratic and unsightly...
[Click headline for complete article.]
Knight Ridder / Tibune News Service
WASHINGTON — President Bush's bold call to dramatically reduce U.S. dependence on Mideast oil by boosting funds for alternatives like ethanol made from plant stalks rankled some conservatives who saw it as just another trip to the pork barrel.
Yet in calling for new and greener energy initiatives in his State of the Union speech, Bush barely mentioned one of the most egregious consumer boondoggles pushed by fervid environmentalists — wind power.
Even though it has been tried and found wanting at huge wind farms in Europe, wind power continues to be pushed as a premier alternative energy source by groups like the Sierra Club and blue-state politicians seeking to score well with politically correct voters.
Unfortunately, wind power at its best is expensive, ineffective, erratic and unsightly...
[Click headline for complete article.]
Monday, April 24, 2006
"Wind Power Looking Unattractive in Scotland"
By Alan Taylor
The Age, Australia, April 24, 2006
[Click headline for full story.]
[Excerpts]
"For the past week I have been staying in a cottage on an organic farm in Galloway in the south-west of Scotland... By any standard, this is an idyllic part of the planet... In an ideal world all of us would be energy self-sufficient but that seems pie-in-the-sky right now. At Whitehall, energy is the hot topic of the moment."
"None of the options is without its critics. Take wind farms, for example. On my way to Galloway, I passed signs protesting against the building of one in the Scottish borders. This is not uncommon. Across Britain, from the south-west of England to the isle of Skye, communities are fighting to prevent the construction of wind turbines. Mostly this is on aesthetic grounds. In the early days, fans of wind farms argued that they would enhance a landscape. Perhaps one or two did, since they looked like futuristic sculptures. As they become commonplace, wind farms are about as welcome in most backyards as electricity pylons or, for that matter, nuclear power plants."
"Because the amount of energy wind farms produce is limited there needs to be many of them. In contrast, nuclear power stations are relatively few. They are also, despite what their detractors say, relatively safe..."
The Age, Australia, April 24, 2006
[Click headline for full story.]
[Excerpts]
"For the past week I have been staying in a cottage on an organic farm in Galloway in the south-west of Scotland... By any standard, this is an idyllic part of the planet... In an ideal world all of us would be energy self-sufficient but that seems pie-in-the-sky right now. At Whitehall, energy is the hot topic of the moment."
"None of the options is without its critics. Take wind farms, for example. On my way to Galloway, I passed signs protesting against the building of one in the Scottish borders. This is not uncommon. Across Britain, from the south-west of England to the isle of Skye, communities are fighting to prevent the construction of wind turbines. Mostly this is on aesthetic grounds. In the early days, fans of wind farms argued that they would enhance a landscape. Perhaps one or two did, since they looked like futuristic sculptures. As they become commonplace, wind farms are about as welcome in most backyards as electricity pylons or, for that matter, nuclear power plants."
"Because the amount of energy wind farms produce is limited there needs to be many of them. In contrast, nuclear power stations are relatively few. They are also, despite what their detractors say, relatively safe..."
Friday, April 21, 2006
Keep Whining & the story behind the 2005 Energy Bill
"Wind Farm Is Favored in Bill"
"Special Interest Language Was Quietly Placed in Energy Act That Exempts Cape Wind From Public Bidding"
By JULIA WELLS
Martha's Vineyard Gazette, April 21, 2006
"The hotly debated Cape Wind project - its backers now basking in the role of wounded underdog over a recent amendment to the U.S. Coast Guard authorization bill - was the direct beneficiary of a special interest provision slipped quietly into the federal Energy Policy Act before it was signed into law last year."
"Carefully crafted and written in seamless legislative language, the provision exempted the Cape Wind project from competitive bidding requirements that would apply to all other projects like it, once the bill became law. The special interest language, which was added to the bill after it had been approved by the House but before it was voted on by the Senate, saw no public hearings and virtually no debate. The amendment was authored by Sen. Pete V. Domenici, chairman of the Senate Natural Resources and Energy Committee."
"Last week Senator Domenici made headlines when he publicly blasted Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska for his amendment to a Coast Guard bill that would hand veto power over the Cape Wind project to the Massachusetts governor. Senator Domenici openly criticized Senator Stevens for introducing the amendment behind closed doors with no public debate."
"But the ranking senator from New Mexico had done something quite similar last June when he inserted language into the Energy Policy Act that was a huge boost for developer Jim Gordon, who wants to build the nation's first offshore wind farm on Horseshoe Shoal in Nantucket Sound. Exempting Cape Wind from public bidding requirements knocked down a high hurdle for Mr. Gordon and his project. Offshore energy leases with private companies are generally required to go out to bid..."
[Click Headline for full story.]
Monday, April 17, 2006
"What Happened to Wind Power?"
The Independent, U.K. April 16, 2006
"Beset by high costs, the Government's great hope for clean, sustainable electricity is drifting out to sea."
[Click headline for full story.]
By Tim Webb
"Earlier this month, over 300 company executives, consultants and advisers gathered at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre in Westminster for the annual offshore conference of the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA). Delegates say the mood was not as upbeat as in previous years. During coffee breaks, wind farm developers cornered turbine manufacturers to ask them when supply problems would be eased and the promised, more powerful models introduced. Talking among themselves, the developers agreed that many of the larger projects were no longer viable without more government support..."
"Offshore wind, like much of the policy on renewables trumpeted in the Energy White Paper three years ago, is floundering. Onshore wind isn't doing much better. Both are central to the Government meeting its targets for renewables."
"The current energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, is the third since the last review.... Before he decides whether to sanction the building of more nuclear reactors, the Government is being warned that its last favoured technology, wind power, is in trouble..."
"Rather than becoming cheaper with experience and economies of scale, as the industry and Government had hoped, building offshore wind farms has got more expensive..."
"In the past two years, the cost of building offshore farms has increased from around £1.2m per MW to £1.6m - almost twice as expensive as onshore projects. The soaring cost of steel, and the demand from Asia and the US for wind farms, have pushed up the price of turbines and limited the availability of the equipment needed to install them. Turbine makers like General Electric and Danish firm Vestas are concentrating on the much larger, and more proven, global market for onshore farms. Indeed, while the UK is planning to build at least half its wind farms offshore, the EWEA reports that only 2 per cent of wind-generating capacity in Europe is offshore and this is unlikely to rise significantly...."
"In 2001, in the first phase of the Government's planned development of offshore wind power, it released licences for 13 sites to generate a total of 1,500MW. Of these projects, three are in operation, one is being built and two have been put on hold indefinitely because they are no longer economically viable...'
"The prospects for the much larger second round of projects, slated to deliver between 5,400MW and 7,200MW, are worse still, although they are at a much earlier stage. Once all the planning consents have been received, over the next 12 months, developers will have to decide whether to go ahead, and the signs do not look encouraging."
"Alastair Gill, development manager for "npower renewables", part of Germany's RWE, says: "We are seeing other companies put projects on hold because they can't make the economics work. I cannot say we would definitely go ahead with round two without more government support..."
"Simon Currie, energy finance specialist at law firm Norton Rose, says: "Has this market-based incentive delivered the hoped-for rapid utilisation of abundant offshore wind resources? The answer is clearly no." His view is shared by most developers."
"Progress has been made. The capacity of installed wind farms in the UK doubled in the two years to the end of 2005, and other technologies like clean coal are being developed (npower announced last week that it plans to build a plant in Tilbury). But the experiences of wind farms do not inspire confidence in the next set of promises that the Government will make in its Energy Review. "
"Beset by high costs, the Government's great hope for clean, sustainable electricity is drifting out to sea."
[Click headline for full story.]
By Tim Webb
"Earlier this month, over 300 company executives, consultants and advisers gathered at the Queen Elizabeth II conference centre in Westminster for the annual offshore conference of the British Wind Energy Association (BWEA). Delegates say the mood was not as upbeat as in previous years. During coffee breaks, wind farm developers cornered turbine manufacturers to ask them when supply problems would be eased and the promised, more powerful models introduced. Talking among themselves, the developers agreed that many of the larger projects were no longer viable without more government support..."
"Offshore wind, like much of the policy on renewables trumpeted in the Energy White Paper three years ago, is floundering. Onshore wind isn't doing much better. Both are central to the Government meeting its targets for renewables."
"The current energy minister, Malcolm Wicks, is the third since the last review.... Before he decides whether to sanction the building of more nuclear reactors, the Government is being warned that its last favoured technology, wind power, is in trouble..."
"Rather than becoming cheaper with experience and economies of scale, as the industry and Government had hoped, building offshore wind farms has got more expensive..."
"In the past two years, the cost of building offshore farms has increased from around £1.2m per MW to £1.6m - almost twice as expensive as onshore projects. The soaring cost of steel, and the demand from Asia and the US for wind farms, have pushed up the price of turbines and limited the availability of the equipment needed to install them. Turbine makers like General Electric and Danish firm Vestas are concentrating on the much larger, and more proven, global market for onshore farms. Indeed, while the UK is planning to build at least half its wind farms offshore, the EWEA reports that only 2 per cent of wind-generating capacity in Europe is offshore and this is unlikely to rise significantly...."
"In 2001, in the first phase of the Government's planned development of offshore wind power, it released licences for 13 sites to generate a total of 1,500MW. Of these projects, three are in operation, one is being built and two have been put on hold indefinitely because they are no longer economically viable...'
"The prospects for the much larger second round of projects, slated to deliver between 5,400MW and 7,200MW, are worse still, although they are at a much earlier stage. Once all the planning consents have been received, over the next 12 months, developers will have to decide whether to go ahead, and the signs do not look encouraging."
"Alastair Gill, development manager for "npower renewables", part of Germany's RWE, says: "We are seeing other companies put projects on hold because they can't make the economics work. I cannot say we would definitely go ahead with round two without more government support..."
"Simon Currie, energy finance specialist at law firm Norton Rose, says: "Has this market-based incentive delivered the hoped-for rapid utilisation of abundant offshore wind resources? The answer is clearly no." His view is shared by most developers."
"Progress has been made. The capacity of installed wind farms in the UK doubled in the two years to the end of 2005, and other technologies like clean coal are being developed (npower announced last week that it plans to build a plant in Tilbury). But the experiences of wind farms do not inspire confidence in the next set of promises that the Government will make in its Energy Review. "
Friday, April 14, 2006
Nantucket Voters Soundly Reject Cape Wind on Election Day, April 11, 2006
Non-binding ballot question #8 put this question before Nantucket voters;
"Shall the Town of Nantucket support the generation of wind power as proposed for a site in Nantucket Sound?"
The results? - 2,156 residents voted “No.” Voters in favor- 1,054. Cape Wind opponents outnumbered supporters two-to-one in the island election. We are good sports and will not gloat over the victory- we expected it.
Audra Parker and Charles Vinick of the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound check the ‘Question 8’ tally just after 8pm.
[Click on photos for a larger view.]
Mid-afternoon at the rotary: on the left, ardent Cape Wind supporter, Stephen Peckham; center, Jack Coleman, tireless blogger/journalist and media adviser for Clean Power Now. On the right stands Barbara Durkin, courageous Cape Wind opponent from Central Massachusetts. Throughout the day people on both sides of the issue remained cheerful and civil.
In the late afternoon, Mr. Peckham cruised the streets near the polls in his Ford Expedition SUV. I would have thought Mr. Peckham would not be caught dead in a SUV. Ordinarily, renewable energy proponents are outraged at just the sight of an SUV and claim the large vehicles are destroying 'Planet Earth.' Seems Mr. Peckham does not share this concern- a point he and I most likely agree on.
Mr. Coleman, on the other hand, frequently chastises SUV drivers, and even SUV riders. The day after the election on Nantucket, Jack criticized Senator Ted Kennedy for "...hopping into - could the symbolism be more fitting? - a large SUV," following the ceremony in Boston where the new Massachusetts health-care bill was signed by Governor Romney. See Jack C.’s Wind farmer’s Almanac blog post here
Follow this link and see another example of how the sports utility vehicle has been targeted by local renewable energy supporters.
Mr. Peckham earns my respect for thumbing his nose at the “…all SUV’s are bad!...” concept. I have to confess however I’m surprised to see him make this clear break with today's 'greenie' thinking about the harm SUVs do to the environment. S. Peckham has claimed over and over that New England air pollution presents a serious threat to public health- although I dare say he is mistaken, and even hysterical, about the issue. He has asked for instance;
"For how much longer do we want to continue to burn fossil fuel and pollute the air that we breathe over the Cape and the islands?"
So, I have to ask;
Shouldn’t Mr. Peckham, of S.M. Peckham Electrical Associates, be driving a smaller vehicle when he is out campaigning for Cape Wind Associates?
Thanks for the laughs Steve.
