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Weathering Opposition, Cape Cod’s Cape Wind Prevails March 2009, Electrical Worker While Cape Wind has been mired for nearly a decade in red tape and agency reviews, advocates for the nation’s first proposed offshore wind farm cleared a major hurdle in January when the U.S. Minerals Management Service issued its positive final assessment of the project. According to clean energy activists and experts, the review helps clear the lane for the construction of the $1 billion project consisting of a 130-turbine farm five miles off the coast of Massachusetts in Nantucket Sound. The wind farm could generate 454 megawatts, or about 75 percent of the area’s electricity. Labor leaders are looking forward to the 1,000 union jobs the project will create, 60 percent of which will be with the IBEW. Boston Local 103 has had a large stake in the development of the project since the beginning. “When this finally goes through, it’s going to be huge,” Local 103 Business Agent Marty Aikens said. He estimates that more than 50 applications for similar projects will sprout up across the East Coast once Cape Wind’s mettle is tested. “Lawmakers around the nation are going to look at this and say, “Hey, we can do that for our state, too.’ “This is the perfect job at the perfect time,” Aikens added. Since 2002, various state and federal agencies have vetted the Cape Wind project to determine its potential effects, primarily on tourism and wildlife. The Minerals Management Service, an agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, released a massive report last spring showing that the farm will have little to no adverse effects (see “Feds Approve East Coast Wind Farm,” IBEW Journal, Spring 2008). Cape Wind proponents are hoping for final approval from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar soon. Cape Wind hasn’t been without controversy. Opposition from some residents in the area has centered on concern for wildlife and the turbines’ aesthetics. Cape Wind’s major opponent, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, has spent $15 million fighting the project. Local 103 Business Manager Mike Monahan said the group is mostly helmed by a small, moneyed few with beachfront property who see the project as a potential eyesore. “They talk like they’re concerned about the environmental impact, but they’re really just a wealthy minority taking a ‘not in my backyard’ approach to the issue,” Monahan said. The naysayers haven’t gained much traction with the general public. Surveys show that an overwhelming majority of residents in Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod and Nantucket support the project. The wind sector has enjoyed some robust growth lately. Employment in the industry shot up from 50,000 workers in 2007 to 85,000 last year. At the same time, the nation’s wind power generating capacity rose by 50 percent. In February, the Global Wind Energy Council announced that the U.S. is now ranked first worldwide in wind power installations. But the industry is far from recession-proof. Last summer, factories rushed to keep up with demand for turbine parts. That demand has fizzled during the current recession. Storm clouds are on the horizon for the green sector as many companies are laying off workers. If the economy fails to get a needed shot in the arm, some smaller wind projects may fall by the wayside, American Wind Energy Association CEO Denise Bode said. “Projects are in danger of being stalled if they don’t have the capital to build them,” Bode said. Aikens and Monahan stressed that with its strong financial backing, public interest and political support – Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is an outspoken booster of the project – Cape Wind remains fairly immune to market whims. There is a chance that lawsuits by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound could hinder progress, but Local 103 leaders remain optimistic. “Our opponents’ arguments are appearing less credible, the project has the needed money and we have a lot of momentum on our side,” Monahan said. “I’m confident that we’ll see the light at the end of tunnel very soon.” Return To Working Green Wind Power...

According to clean energy activists and experts, the review helps clear the lane for the construction of the $1 billion project consisting of a 130-turbine farm five miles off the coast of Massachusetts in Nantucket Sound. The wind farm could generate 454 megawatts, or about 75 percent of the area’s electricity.

Labor leaders are looking forward to the 1,000 union jobs the project will create, 60 percent of which will be with the IBEW. Boston Local 103 has had a large stake in the development of the project since the beginning.

“When this finally goes through, it’s going to be huge,” Local 103 Business Agent Marty Aikens said. He estimates that more than 50 applications for similar projects will sprout up across the East Coast once Cape Wind’s mettle is tested. “Lawmakers around the nation are going to look at this and say, “Hey, we can do that for our state, too.’

“This is the perfect job at the perfect time,” Aikens added.

Since 2002, various state and federal agencies have vetted the Cape Wind project to determine its potential effects, primarily on tourism and wildlife. The Minerals Management Service, an agency under the U.S. Department of the Interior, released a massive report last spring showing that the farm will have little to no adverse effects (see “Feds Approve East Coast Wind Farm,” IBEW Journal, Spring 2008). Cape Wind proponents are hoping for final approval from Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar soon.

Cape Wind hasn’t been without controversy. Opposition from some residents in the area has centered on concern for wildlife and the turbines’ aesthetics. Cape Wind’s major opponent, the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound, has spent $15 million fighting the project. Local 103 Business Manager Mike Monahan said the group is mostly helmed by a small, moneyed few with beachfront property who see the project as a potential eyesore.

“They talk like they’re concerned about the environmental impact, but they’re really just a wealthy minority taking a ‘not in my backyard’ approach to the issue,” Monahan said.

The naysayers haven’t gained much traction with the general public. Surveys show that an overwhelming majority of residents in Martha’s Vineyard, Cape Cod and Nantucket support the project.

The wind sector has enjoyed some robust growth lately. Employment in the industry shot up from 50,000 workers in 2007 to 85,000 last year. At the same time, the nation’s wind power generating capacity rose by 50 percent. In February, the Global Wind Energy Council announced that the U.S. is now ranked first worldwide in wind power installations.

But the industry is far from recession-proof. Last summer, factories rushed to keep up with demand for turbine parts. That demand has fizzled during the current recession. Storm clouds are on the horizon for the green sector as many companies are laying off workers. If the economy fails to get a needed shot in the arm, some smaller wind projects may fall by the wayside, American Wind Energy Association CEO Denise Bode said.

“Projects are in danger of being stalled if they don’t have the capital to build them,” Bode said.

Aikens and Monahan stressed that with its strong financial backing, public interest and political support – Massachusetts Gov. Deval Patrick is an outspoken booster of the project – Cape Wind remains fairly immune to market whims. There is a chance that lawsuits by the Alliance to Protect Nantucket Sound could hinder progress, but Local 103 leaders remain optimistic.

“Our opponents’ arguments are appearing less credible, the project has the needed money and we have a lot of momentum on our side,” Monahan said. “I’m confident that we’ll see the light at the end of tunnel very soon.”

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Weathering Opposition, Cape Cod’s Cape Wind Prevails

While Cape Wind has been mired for nearly a decade in red tape and agency reviews, advocates for the nation’s first proposed offshore wind farm cleared a major hurdle in January when the U.S. Minerals Management Service issued its positive final assessment of the project.